Kennedy, Green Introduce SAMHSA Reauthorization

Congressmen Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) and Gene Green (D-TX) this week introduced legislation to reauthorize the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The lawmakers say that this legislation will make needed improvements to the delivery of mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services.

"This includes provisions I’ve championed for several years to enhance the ability of community mental health organizations to meet serious mental health and substance abuse needs by authorizing grants for the co-location of primary and specialty care into community-based mental health settings, integrating treatment for mental health and substance abuse co-occurring disorders, expanding tele-psychiatry in medically underserved areas as well as addressing mental health workforce issues," said Congressman Green. "These improvements to current SAMHSA policies will give individuals improved access to mental health and substance abuse services."

Last year, approximately 20 million people failed to receive the substance abuse treatment they needed, and an estimated 10.6 million adults reported an unmet need for mental health care.

To accomplish its work, SAMHSA administers a combination of competitive, formula, and block grant programs and data collection activities through the Center for Mental Health Services, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and the Office of Applied Studies, which has primary responsibility for the collection, analysis and dissemination of behavioral health data. This legislation will reauthorize and modernize the programs in SAMHSA.

“This bill acknowledges that many individuals receive their treatment and recovery services through faith- and community-based organizations,” added Congressman Kennedy. “This legislation takes important steps to ensure that those organizations are prohibited from discriminating in employment with their use of Federal funding. I believe this legislation crafts a solution that balances the civil rights protections which I have fought for my entire career with the critical need to expand access to substance abuse and mental health treatment and recovery services.”

Rep. Kennedy, author of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, is co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery.