WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Ted Strickland (D-OH) received the American Psychological Association's (APA) Outstanding Leadership Award last night for his advocacy on behalf of those with mental health disorders. Rep. Strickland, one of only three psychologists in Congress, was honored at a dinner held during APA's annual State Leadership Conference.
Rep. Strickland has long worked on behalf of psychologists and those with mental health disorders. A member of the influential House Commerce Subcommittee on Health, he is a longtime supporter of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act, which would put insurance coverage for mental health services on par with physical health services.
In addition to his leadership on parity, Rep. Strickland and Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH), authored the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act ( MIOTCRA) to expand on their innovative mental health courts pilot program from 2000. Signed into law by President Bush in 2004, MIOTCRA authorizes $50 million in federal grants to fund increased training for law enforcement officials and mental health personnel dealing with adult and juvenile offenders with mental health disorders. It also will expand prisoners' access to mental health treatment while incarcerated and upon re-entry into the community, and provide additional resources for pre-trial jail diversion programs, mental health courts and related initiatives.
"We need to make sure that cities and states have the tools and education they need to effectively deal with the mentally ill who commit crimes," said Rep. Strickland. "With the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, we are moving forward in addressing the needs of both those with mental health disorders and those who deal with them at the health care and law enforcement levels."
"Thanks to Congressman Strickland's legislative work on behalf of the mental health courts program, the criminal justice and mental health communities will now be able to work together to ensure that both adult and juvenile non-violent offenders with mental health disorders are not simply recycled into the system, but receive the necessary attention and services they deserve," says Russ Newman, Ph.D., J.D., APA's executive director for professional practice.
APA's Outstanding Leadership Award is given annually to a United States Senator or Congressman who has prominently championed the goals of professional psychology.
The American Psychological Association (APA), located in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 55 subfields of psychology and its affiliations with 58 state, territorial, and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting health, education and welfare.