APA Member Action Needed on Children's Mental Health Workforce Shortage Bill

A vital children's mental health workforce bill, the Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act, is gaining support in the House and Senate. H.R. 1359, sponsored by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) now has 43 cosponsors, and the Senate bill, S. 1223, sponsored by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Susan Collins (R-ME), now has five cosponsors, yet both bills require much more bipartisan support to begin moving through House and Senate committees. H.R. 1359 has been referred to both the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees, and S. 1223 is before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. If your Representative or Senator is a member of these committees, we ask you to make a special effort.

The Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act would address the critical national shortage of children's mental health professionals by creating educational incentives, including scholarships, grants to graduate schools and a loan forgiveness program, to encourage people to enter various mental health fields, including psychology.

ACTION: Interested APA members are asked to contact their two Senators and House Representative to request cosponsorship of the Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act. Call 1-202-224-3121 to reach the Capitol Switchboard, and ask for your Representative or Senator's office, or give your zip code. When connected to the office, ask for the Health Legislative Assistant. If you leave a voicemail message, include your name and phone number. A sample message is as follows:

"I am ___________ from (your town), and I am calling to urge Sen. (or Rep. )______ to cosponsor the Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act, S. 1223 sponsored by Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Susan Collins, or H.R. 1359 sponsored by Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. This legislation will help children and their families gain access to treatment by increasing the numbers of children's mental health professionals. Please contact Bruce Lesley in Sen. Bingaman's office (or Mike Zamore in Rep. Kennedy's office) to cosponsor this important legislation."

Less than 20% of the estimated 14 million children and adolescents who have a mental disorder receive treatment (Report of the Surgeon General's Conference on Children's Mental Health, 2001). The Child Healthcare Crisis Relief Act is urgently needed to remove one of the barriers to treatment -- the lack of available child mental health professionals.

Please contact APA's Public Policy Office if you have any questions and let Nina Levitt, Ed.D. know if you have made a congressional contact by e-mailing her.

Thank you for your action!

Useful links:

Find your 9-digit zip code (you will need this to locate your Representative)
How to write your Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Contact information for U.S. Senators

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