Key wins in annual funding legislation include numerous opportunities for psychology

APA works all year to secure federal funding for key federal research, education, workforce, health and childhood development programs. Below are some of the key funding wins for psychology for 2019.

Increasing federal support for psychology workforce development

APA secured substantial investments in several critical workforce training programs, as well as new programs that would support the education and training of health service psychologists. APA advocacy efforts resulted in:

• $18 million for the Graduate Psychology Education Program to provide training and stipend support for psychology trainees and additional congressional language to increase training in evidence-based behavioral interventions for pain management.

• A $27 million increase to the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program to establish the Mental and Substance Use Disorder Workforce Training Demonstration Program to support medical students and other health professions trainees in behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment.

• $12 million for a new Substance Use Disorder Treatment Workforce Loan Repayment Program, which APA worked with members of the Mental Health Liaison Group to advance.

• A $1 million increase to the Minority Fellowship Program, which has been a longtime priority for APA to diversify the psychology workforce and would be funded at $14.2 million.

For more information, contact Alix Ginsberg, MPH.

Securing commitments for new gun violence prevention research

In a historic move, Congress provided $25 million for firearm injury and mortality prevention research to study the underlying causes and evidence-based methods of injury prevention. The funding — $12.5 million each to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — is the first time in over 20 years that Congress has dedicated money for gun violence prevention research. APA was active throughout 2019 in advocating for research funding for the CDC and NIH, including through a partnership with the gun violence prevention organization Giffordsopens in new window, which led a collaborationopens in new window with a group of leading medical and public health groups.

For more information, contact Ben Vonachen or Craig Fisher.

Gaining funds for psychological research

APA mobilized psychologists on Dec. 10 to urge their members of Congress to increase funding levels for federal research — and members' advocacy made a difference:

• Both houses of Congress were generous to the National Institutes of Health, which will receive $41.7 billion, a 6.65% increase, up $2.6 billion. The agency is directed to provide an update on its support for suicide prevention research in FY 2021. Critical research initiatives included: $500 million for the Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative; $2.8 billion for Alzheimer's disease research; and $3.1 billion for HIV/AIDS research.

• Congress also provided the Institute for Education Sciences $623.5 million, an increase of $8 million, or 1.3%.

• For the National Science Foundation, the spending package includes $8.28 billion — $203.3 million above the FY 2019 enacted level and $1.2 billion above the president's budget request. For NSF research and related activities, $6.74 billion (up $217.2 million, and $1.07 billion above the president's budget request) is provided.

• Congress reauthorized PCORI—the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute — for 10 years. Created by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PCORI funds research designed to help patients and caregivers make “better-informed” health-care decisions.

For more information, contact Angela L. Sharpe, MG or Pat Kobor, MA.

Securing funding for suicide prevention efforts across agencies

Several important funding priorities in suicide prevention, including:

$9.43 billion in discretionary funds for mental health programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including $221.8 million specifically for suicide prevention outreach. Congress also directed the VA secretary to make any necessary improvements to the Veterans Crisis Line operations, including but not limited to ensuring appropriate call center staffing and training.

$10 million for the CDC Injury Control and Prevention Center for new suicide prevention activities in recognition of the impacts and increasing rates of suicide. The agreement directs CDC to focus prevention efforts on vulnerable populations.

$7.98 million for the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Resource Center at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This program builds national capacity for preventing suicide by providing technical assistance, training and resources to assist states, tribes, organizations and grantees to develop suicide prevention strategies.

The bill also directs the National Institute of Mental Health to “prioritize its suicide screening and prevention research efforts to produce risk detention models that are interpretable, scalable, and practical for clinical implementation, including mental and behavioral healthcare interventions.” Similarly, it instructs the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to “address the multiple causes of suicide” and “develop a behavioral health approach focusing on at-risk populations and building the mental health workforce at the community level.”

For more information, contact Heather Kelly, PhD, Craig Fisher, Leo Rennie, Pat Kobor, MA, or Angela Sharpe, MG.

Expanding access to mental health services and prevention programs

There will be new investments in mental health services across the lifespan:

• As a part of the $30 million funding increase for the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, $4 million will be dedicated to ACEs research and prevention and $1 million for the prevention of child sexual abuse.

• The Community Based Child Abuse Prevention Grants received a significant increase of $16.2 million. These grants fund both primary prevention and family strengthening services, which includes mental health and substance use disorder screening and treatment services.

• Congress is also taking steps to address maternal mental health, by directing federal agencies to identify steps they can take to address gaps in maternal mental health awareness, screening, diagnosis and delivery.

• The bills also commit $5 million toward law enforcement mental health and wellness.

For more information, contact Cynthia Whitney.

Supporting investments in K–12 and higher education programs

Investing in critical education and mental health programs:

• Most notably, the Department of Education received $123 million to pilot initiatives focused on social and emotional learning in schools.

• Project AWARE, a SAMHSA program that trains school personnel and increases mental health awareness amongst school-aged youth, received an increase of $31 million.

• Other key investments include increases to the Title IV-A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program and Title II teacher professional development grants.

• The legislation also increases funding for federal student aid programs — including Pell Grants, Federal Work Study and Federal TRIO programs — and maintains support for the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program.

• The Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF), is receiving an additional $50 million, adding to the $700 million total appropriated in the previous two years. The bill also directs the Department of Education to brief Congress on actions either planned or taken to implement the GAO recommendations on improving administration of both TEPSLF and PSLF.

For more information, contact Kenneth Polishchuk or Rosie Sheehan.

Helping to secure health equity for underserved and vulnerable populations

In this area, we'll see:

• Level funding for programs that address mental health and substance use disorders among people living with HIV/AIDS. SAMHSA's funding for its Minority HIV/AIDS program and the Substance Abuse and Prevention Block Grant HIV set-aside received $181 million, level funding to FY 2019. APA's advocacy efforts fought off cuts to these programs, which had been proposed by both the Obama and Trump administrations.

• An increase of $550 million for the Child Care and Development Fund, which will translate to safe, high quality care for thousands of young children in lower income households.

• A $550 million increase for Head Start, including $100 million directed to expanding Early Head Start and $250 million that will be dedicated to quality improvement activities aimed at addressing the rise of adverse childhood experiences and trauma in young children. A $12 million investment in maternal mortality review committees and increased funding for the federal home visiting program by $10 million.

• SAMHSA's National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative received $68.9 million, a $5 million dollar funding increase from FY19. The agreement also includes a $4 million dollar set-aside to prioritize the provision of trauma-informed mental health services for children who have immigrated to the United States without a parent or guardian.

The bill also provides an increase of $3 million from last year's level for refugee and entrant assistance and it directs the Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide reports to Congress on refugee and entrant assistance. Furthermore, the bill encourages the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure current and future arrivals are adequately served.

For more information, contact Leo Rennie, Cynthia Whitney or Serena Dávila.