HHS Awards Nearly $245 Million to Support Youth Mental Health and the Healthcare Workforce
The U.S. Health and Human Services Administration (HHS) announced this week it awarded nearly $245 million in funding from the
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to support youth mental health and help the healthcare workforce address mental health needs.
The funding—released through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)—is for a variety of programs and grants, including Project Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education (Project AWARE) to help develop and support school-based mental health programs and services; Mental Health Awareness Training grants to prepare and train school personnel, emergency first responders, law enforcement, and others to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges to enable early intervention; the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative to improve treatment for children, adolescents, and families who have experienced traumatic events, and more.
In its announcement, HHS noted that the
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act included nearly $60 million to support the integration of mental health training into the training of primary care clinicians, with a specific focus on preparing primary care providers to treat the mental health needs of children and adolescents.
“Often the first person you turn to when you or your kids need mental health support is your trusted primary care provider—yet for too long, we haven’t given those primary care providers the mental health training they need to help, HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said in the
announcement. “With funding from the
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Health Resources and Services Administration is investing in making mental health a part of primary care training so that there is no wrong door when your family needs support.”
National Academies to Host Virtual Webinars About 988 Implementation on Jan. 20 and 23
The National Academies Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders will host two virtual webinars about the challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the 988 behavioral health crisis hotline at the state and local levels.
The discussions will provide an overview of how 988 has been implemented and will also feature best practices. The two-hour webinars will be held on Friday, Jan. 20 and Monday, Jan. 23; both will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Click
here to register.
CMS to Host National Stakeholder Call with Administrator Brooks-LaSure on Jan. 24
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a national stakeholder call featuring CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and her leadership team to discuss the agency’s accomplishments in 2022 and priorities for 2023.
Click
here to register.
Register Today for the 2023 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Atlanta
The 2023 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit will be held in Atlanta from April 10-13 and will include nearly 100 educational sessions organized in nine different tracks to highlight the most effective strategies for prevention, treatment, and recovery.
The meeting’s advanced rate ends on Jan. 27. Click
here to register.
NABH’s 2023 Priorities Featured in Mental Health Weekly & Alcohol and Drug Abuse Weekly
In case you missed it, NABH President & CEO Shawn Coughlin discussed the association’s priorities for 2023 and NABH Director of Quality and Addiction Services Sarah Wattenberg reflected on accomplishments of 2022 and hopes for the New Year in
Mental Health Weekly and
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Weekly, respectively.
Reminder: Please Submit Data to Enhance NABH’s Managed-Care Advocacy Efforts
Thank you to all members who have submitted data to NABH’s denial-of-care portal. Your data will help NABH highlight problems in the field related to health plan denials and timeliness.
Several policymaking entities are interested in these data, which could support advocacy for expanded access to care. For new participants, please e-mail
Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, for support.
Save the Date for the NABH 2023 Annual Meeting!
Please mark your calendars and plan to join us in Washington, DC from
June 12-14, 2023 for next year’s NABH Annual Meeting! Details coming soon.
Fact of the Week
In a cohort study of 5,142,577 commercially insured adults across all 50 states, the weekly rate of in-person mental health service utilization decreased by more than 50% after the Covid-19 pandemic started; however, concurrent increases in telehealth led to a slight increase in total utilization for anxiety disorders and stability in total volume of service for other disorders, according to a new
study published in JAMA Health Forum.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.
