Contact: Christopher Burley, Bazelon Center, 202-467-5730 x 133 or leec@bazelon.org;
Bill Emmet, NASMHPD, 703-739-9333 x 136 or Bill.Emmet@nasmhpd.org; Elizabeth Adams, NAMI, 703-524-7600,
elizabetha@nami.org; Heather Cobb, NMHA, 703-797-2588 or hcobb@nmha.org

Kerry Releases Mental Health Policy Statement

Campaign for Mental Health Reform Statement to the Media

John Kerry's Policy Statement on Mental Health (PDF file - You will need the free Acrobat Reader to view and print this file) President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health - Final Report Campaign for Mental Health Reform website

ALEXANDRIA, VA (September 12, 2003)– The Campaign for Mental Health Reform commends Presidential hopeful John Kerry today for releasing a statement on mental health policy.

The Campaign finds it heartening that today two democratic presidential candidates chose to highlight the importance of mental health issues. Perhaps, at last, politicians realize that preventable suicides, rampant unemployment and disproportionately high rates of incarceration and substance abuse among people with mental illnesses are unacceptable outcomes for our nation.

A primary goal for whoever wins the 2004 presidential election should be to fix the nation's broken mental health “system.” For too long, the needs of adults and children with mental illnesses have been ignored – it is time they became a national priority.

The Campaign looks forward to working with John Kerry and all other presidential candidates – as well as President Bush – to transform America’s mental health system into one capable of promoting recovery from mental illness for the millions of people with unmet mental health needs.

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The Campaign for Mental Health Reform has been organized as the mental health community’s united voice on federal policy. Its goal is to make access, recovery, and quality in mental health services the hallmarks of our nation’s mental health system. Its members include organizations representing millions of people with mental or emotional disorders and their families and service providers, administrators and other advocates.