House And Senate Diverge On Mental Health Services Funding; Advocacy Needed

House Bill Would Increase All Programs, Create New Initiative for Seniors

October 18, 2001—The spending bills for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education have finally advanced through the congressional appropriations process. The House passed its bill last week and the Senate bill is expected to reach the floor soon. Conference decisions to reconcile funding differences between the two bills will follow quickly. While the House bill would increase spending on Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) programs by more than $50 million over last fiscal year, the Senate bill shows only a $5 million increase (see chart). Advocates need to remind appropriators of the importance of funding mental health services for children and adults with severe mental, emotional and behavioral disorders.

The CMHS programs for which the House bill would increase funding include:

• the mental health block grant,
• children's mental health services program,
• PATH program for the homeless mentally ill,
• protection and advocacy agencies, and
• the discretionary program known as the Programs of Regional and National Significance.

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The House bill also earmarks new funding for certain programs. The earmarks include:

• $5 million for jail-diversion grants that would provide community-based treatment for the growing number of individuals with a mental illness who come into contact with the criminal justice system;
• $5 million to provide evidence-based mental health outreach and treatment to the elderly, to begin addressing the large percentage of older Americans who will experience mental disorders but do not receive specialty mental health services because of stigma, denial of problems, access barriers and lack of coordination between mental health and aging networks; and
• $10 million for continuation and expansion of youth violence-prevention programs.

Action Needed Now

Contact the key appropriators: Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Representatives Ralph Regula (R-OH) and David Obey (D-WI), and all members of the House and Senate Subcommittee with jurisdiction over mental health funding (see list), who are likely to be appointed to the conference committee. Urge them to:

• accept the higher funding levels for all Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) programs now contained in the House bill (see chart); and
• support the earmarks in the House bill for the CMHS jail-diversion grant program, the school-violence program and the new seniors mental health initiative.

What You Can Do

• Phone: You can phone Senators and Representatives through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
• Write or fax a letter to:
  • The Honorable (first and last name), United States Senate, Washington DC 20510
  • The Honorable (first and last name), United States House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515
• Email is rarely read. If you must email, it's critical to begin the message with your name, address and zip code to show that the message is from a constituent. You can look up your Senator or Representative and find email forms.