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Mental Health

6 min read

An estimated 26% of adult Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year — nearly 58 million people. About 6 percent, or one in 17 people, suffer from a serious mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Illness.

Among veterans, an estimated 18.5% to 42.5% of recently returned service members and veterans have been found to have a mental disorder, according to a 2011 Dept. of Veterans Affairs report. And the number of veteran suicide is staggering (and has remained stable for a dozen years): an average of 18 – 22 veterans die of suicide every day. (Source: VA)

POPVOX is highlighting bills in Congress related to mental health and access to mental health services. Weigh in and we’ll deliver your message to Congress, guaranteed. (Learn how POPVOX works.)  

Access to Mental Health Services

Law Enforcement and Gun Control

Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, it is unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person “has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution.” Congress has proposed bills related to firearms and mental illness.

  • Compromise

    The Toomey-Schumer-Manchin Amendment

    Would require states and the federal government to send all necessary records on criminals and the violently mentally ill to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It also extends the existing background check system to gun shows and online sales.

    3,529 people weighed in

  • HR 2910

    Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction Act

    To protect American children and their families from the epidemic of gun violence by banning access to certain weapons, strengthening the Nation’s mental health infrastructure, and improving the understanding of gun violence.

  • HR 577

    Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act

    (And S 572 in the Senate.) To clarify the conditions under which certain persons may be treated as adjudicated mentally incompetent for certain purposes.

    According to bill sponsors: “Currently, veterans who have a VA appointed fiduciary to help them with their benefits are deemed “mentally defective” and are reported to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a system which prevents them from being able to purchase firearms in the United States. The Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act would require that a judicial authority determine that VA beneficiaries pose a danger to themselves or others before they can be added to the FBI’s NICS.” 

  • S 162

    Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act

    (And HR 401 in the House.) To reauthorize and improve the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004. 

Students and Schools

  • S 195

    Mental Health in Schools Act

    (And HR 628 in the House.) To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects relating to children and violence to provide access to school-based comprehensive mental health programs. 

  • HR 1100

    Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act

    To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve mental and behavioral health services on college campuses.

  • HR 3536

    S.O.S. Act

    To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to support teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental health conditions and suicide prevention efforts.

  • HR 320

    Student Support Act

    To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for assistance in hiring additional school-based mental health and student service providers.

  • S 648

    Helping Educators Support All Students Act

    To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to support teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental health conditions.

Mental Health Professionals

  • S 1815

    Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Act

    (And HR 1037 in the House.) Amends the Public Health Service Act to include occupational therapists within the definition of “behavioral and mental health professionals” for purposes of the National Health Service Corps. 

  • HR 1236

    Amendment to Title 10

    To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the inclusion of a behavioral health professional on any physical evaluation board that considers issues of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or other mental health condition.

Mental Health Research

Seniors

  • HR 1464

    Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act

    To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide notice to members of the Armed Forces, beginning with recruit basic training and the initial training of officer candidates, regarding the availability of mental health services, to help eliminate perceived stigma associated with seeking and receiving mental health services, and to clarify the extent to which information regarding a member seeking and receiving mental health services may be disclosed.

  • S 1119

    Positive Aging Act

    To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for integration of mental health services and mental health treatment outreach teams.

Servicemembers and Veterans

  • S 562

    Military Mental Health Empowerment Act

    Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance), particularly those provided in rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, and in hospice programs.

  • S 1703

    Information to Armed Forces About the Mental Health Service

    To require the provision of information to members of the Armed Forces on availability of mental health services and related privacy rights.

  • S 1583

    Mental Health Support for Veteran Families and Caregivers Act

    To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an education program and peer support program for the education and training of family members and caregivers of veterans with mental health disorders.

  • S 819

    Veterans Mental Health Treatment First Act

    To amend title 38, United States Code, to require a program of mental health care and rehabilitation for veterans for service-related post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, or a related substance use disorder.

  • HR 1725

    Veterans Mental Health Accessibility Act

    To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for unlimited eligibility for health care for mental illnesses for veterans of combat service during certain periods of hostilities and war.

  • HR 3387

    Classified Veterans Access to Care Act

    To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the mental health treatment provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to veterans who served in classified missions.

  • HR 975

    Servicemember Mental Health Review Act

    (And S 628 in the Senate.) To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend the duration of the Physical Disability Board of Review and to the expand the authority of such Board to review of the separation of members of the Armed Forces on the basis of a mental condition not amounting to disability, including separation on the basis of a personality or adjustment disorder. 

  • HR 1463

    Military Suicide Reduction Act

    To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the mental health assessments provided to members of the Armed Forces deployed in support of a contingency operation.

  • HR 3499

    Rural Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act

    (And S 1155 in the Senate.) To provide for advance appropriations for certain information technology accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to include mental health professionals in training programs of the Department. 

  • S 294

    Ruth Moore Act

    (And HR 671 in the House.) To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the disability compensation evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans with mental health conditions related to military sexual trauma. 

  • S 810

    Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act

    To require a pilot program on an online computerized assessment to enhance detection of behaviors indicating a risk of suicide and other mental health conditions in members of the Armed Forces.

Children and Families

  • HR 1827

    Pediatric Subspecialty and Mental Health Workforce Reauthorization Act

    Reauthorizes through FY2018 a pediatric specialty educational loan repayment program for health professionals providing pediatric medical subspecialty, pediatric surgical specialty, or child and adolescent mental and behavioral health care in an area with a shortage of the specified pediatric subspecialty that has a sufficient pediatric population to support the subspecialty.

  • HR 3717

    Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act

    To make available needed psychiatric, psychological, and supportive services for individuals diagnosed with mental illness and families in mental health crisis.

Native American Communities

Please keep in mind that highlighting a bill doesn’t imply a POPVOX endorsement in any way. Rather, we’re simply trying to offer one more way to stay informed of an overwhelmingly complex legislative system.

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