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Recruiting Champions for Mental Health and Substance
Use Disorders on Capitol Hill
Science Policy staff worked along with other Public Policy
Office staff, the Government Relations Office in the Practice Directorate, and
CEO Norman Anderson to draft letters urging members of the House of
Representatives to join two House Caucuses that we hope will raise the profile
of mental health and substance use disorders in what will likely be a very tight
budgetary climate during the next congress.
The Congressional Mental Health Caucus, founded in 2003, is a
bipartisan group of House Members concerned about mental health services and
research issues. In addition to helping inform Representatives and their staffs
about mental health issues, its members work to improve the accessibility and
quality of mental health care. The caucus, Co-Chaired by Representatives Tim
Murphy (one of four PhD psychologists in the House) and Grace Napolitano, had 80
Members in the 108th Congress, but only five were Republican, so Republican
membership recruitment will be particularly important for 2005.
The Congressional Caucus on Addiction, Treatment and Recovery,
founded in 2004, serves as a groundbreaking forum for Members of Congress and
their staff to discuss problems associated with addiction and promote solutions
to these problems. The primary purpose of the Caucus is to inform, educate and
raise awareness about chemical addiction and promote access to treatment and
recovery. The Caucus, co-chaired by Representatives Jim Ramstad and Patrick
Kennedy, had 56 members in the 108th, and with 15 Republicans will likewise seek
greater participation by Republicans in the 109th.
Tailored letters from Dr. Anderson were sent to the 335 members who belonged to
neither
Caucus, the 62 members who belonged to the Congressional Mental Health Caucus
but not the Congressional Caucus on Addiction, Treatment and Recovery, and the
38 members who belonged to the Congressional Caucus on Addiction, Treatment and
Recovery but not the Congressional Mental Health Caucus.
Read
Dr. Anderson's letter
View
the membership roster of the
Congressional Mental Health Caucus [Excel 10K]
View
the membership roster of the Congressional Caucus on Addiction, Treatment and Recovery
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to SPIN December 2004
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