and will be even more so in the near future as the effects of the pandemic continue to ripple out.
SAMHSA received $425 million in the first COVID-19 relief package signed into law in March – the CARES Act. The money was distributed to states and used for direct care for people with serious mental illness and substance-use disorders who could not otherwise get care because of virus-related restrictions, and for boosting support for mental health support lines, said Dr. McCance-Katz.
A senior SAMHSA spokesperson said the agency is “hopeful that we will see additional resources in the upcoming stimulus for mental health and substance abuse” that Congress is still working on.
“We need bold steps from our government and the business community alike,” former Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, founder of The Kennedy Forum, said in the statement from the new coalition. “We encourage all state governments to engage with mental health leaders, bring them into pandemic-related responses, and actively facilitate their communication with communities across the country,” said Mr. Kennedy, who is a part of the new coalition.
Mr. Kennedy is also cochair of the Action Alliance’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention National Response to COVID-19, which unveiled its own six-priority Action Plan earlier in December.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.