Clinton Unveils Comprehensive Agenda on Mental Health (Updated)

Hillary Clinton announced her comprehensive plan to better treat people living with a mental illness. The current mental health treatment policies have been criticized for not properly treating patients. Highlights of Clinton’s plan include the expansion of early intervention programs, a national suicide prevention initiative, increased training for police in dealing with the mentally ill, providing mental health care for those who commit non-violent crimes, expanding employment opportunities, and increasing investments in research for the brain and behavioral research. An outline of the plan is below, and the full plan can be read on The Briefing.

1. Early Diagnosis and Intervention
   • Increase public awareness and take action to address maternal depression, infant mental health, and trauma and stress in the lives of young children
   • Scale up efforts to help pediatric practices and schools support children facing behavioral problems
   • Help providers share information and best practices
   • Ensure that college students have access to mental health services
2. Federal Support for Suicide Prevention
   • Create a national initiative around suicide prevention across the lifespan that is headed by the Surgeon General
   • Encourage evidence-based suicide prevention and mental health programs in high schools
   • Provide federal support for suicide prevention on college campuses
   • Partner with colleges and researchers to ensure that students of color and LGBT students are receiving adequate mental health coverage
3. Integrate our Healthcare Systems and Expand Community-Based Treatment
   • Foster integration between the medical and behavioral health care systems (including mental health and addiction services), so that high-quality treatment for behavioral health is widely available in general health care settings
   • Expand reimbursement systems for collaborative care models in Medicare and Medicaid
   • Promote the use of health information technology to foster coordination of care
   • Promote the use of peer support specialists
   • Encourage states to allow same-day billing
   • Support the creation of high-quality, comprehensive community health centers in every state
   • Launch a nationwide strategy to address the shortage of mental health providers
4. Improve Outcomes in the Criminal Justice System
   • Dedicate new resources to help train law enforcement officers in responding to encounters involving persons with mental illness, and increase support for law enforcement partnerships with mental health professionals
   • Prioritize treatment over punishment for low-level, non-violent offenders with mental illnesses
5. Enforcing Mental Health Parity
   • Launch randomized audits to detect parity violations, and increase federal enforcement
   • Enforce disclosure requirements so that insurers cannot conceal their practices for denying mental health care
   • Strengthen federal monitoring of health insurer compliance with network adequacy requirements
   • Create a simple process for patients, families, and providers to report parity violations and improve federal-state coordination on parity enforcement
6. Housing and Job Opportunities
   • Expand community-based housing opportunities for individuals with mental illness and other disabilities
   • Expand employment opportunities for people with mental illness
   • Expand protection and advocacy support for people with mental health conditions
7. Brain and Behavioral Science Research
   • Significantly increase research into brain and behavioral science research
   • Develop new links with the private and non-profit sectors
   • Commit to brain and behavioral science research based on open data

UPDATE (8/30/16): Hillary for America announced that Clinton and Tim Kaine spoke with the mental health policy community including patients, advocates, researchers, policy experts, physicians, counselors, and service providers. The conference call featured people from across the country and allowed Clinton to speak about her plan and hear feedback from experts.

Following the meeting, Clinton said, “I have heard heartbreaking stories for years about these incredible challenges, but during this campaign, it has seemed like a floodgate has opened from parents and students, from veterans, nurses, doctors, police officers. But I’ve also heard stories of hope and courage – people getting the help they needed, being able to lead happy, healthy, and thriving lives. And cities and states are deploying innovative programs, and that’s what we want to hear more of. We’ve got to break through and break down the stigma and shame. We’ve got to make clear that mental health is not a personal failing. Right now, it is our country which is failing people with mental health issues.”

Kaine said, “I am really happy that today when our campaign rolled out this proposal with respect to comprehensive mental health improvement, that we decided one group of people that we really want to talk to is college students. Most mental health challenges do first present themselves during adolescence or college. So, while even a mental health challenge of an adult later in life may become more manifest, there are early signs about it. One in four college students today do acknowledge that they are dealing with mental health challenges at some point along the way. And it is very important that we are aware of that and that we make clear that it’s normal, there is no stigma associated with it. And we want to make sure that there are appropriate resources, innovative resources, community-based resources so that people can access help, and that the response of society is treatment rather than judgment or pretending that it doesn’t exist.”

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Also, be sure to subscribe to the campaign’s official Podcast, With Her.

News Source: The Briefing, USA Today

Bill, Chelsea, Michelle Kwan Campaign Across the Country for Hillary

On Friday, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan attended a number of events across the country in support of Hillary Clinton. Bill began in Kansas City, Missouri, making up for an appearance he had to previously cancel due to weather. Speaking at the Kansas City Carpenters Union Training Facility, Bill spoke about Hillary’s experience and her plans to build upon progress that has already been made. He criticized Hillary’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders for wanting to scrap health care and start over saying, “It’s a lot easier to go from 90 to 100 than it is to go from zero to 100.” A video from his speech is below.

Bill then traveled to Springfield, Missouri for a rally at the Teamsters Hall. During his speech, he said that it was great to be back in the Ozarks, where he and Hillary were married in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Bill said that Hillary is the best qualified candidate running for either party, and she will make sure everyone has a change in America. He also spoke about a variety of platform topics including heath care and making higher education more affordable. You can watch a video of his speech by CLICKING HERE.

Bill rounded out the day at a Get Out the Vote event in Peoria, Illinois. During his speech, Clinton spoke about Hillary’s plans to boost manufacturing and build on heath care. At one point, Bill was interrupted by a protester. The protester left after shouting above the crowd to which Bill said, “I listened to you, why won’t you stay and listen to me?” He then continued to talk about Hillary’s plans to reduce higher education costs and help those currently paying off student debt.

Chelsea spent the day attending events across the state of Florida as they gear up to vote in the Democratic primary on March 15. She began the day in Tallahassee where she spoke at two separate events. During each of the events, Chelsea spoke about her mom’s record and experience and called the 2016 election “the most important presidential election in my lifetime.” She criticized Republicans for their proposed policies saying, “The racism, the sexism, the Islamophobia, the homophobia, the anti-immigrant rhetoric, the anti-workers rhetoric … it is an almost endless list. And then the policy ideas that flow from that – to build a wall, to expel 11 or 12 million people who are here working hard for lives of dignity and opportunity and promise for themselves and their families, to keep a list of every American Muslim. We need a president to stand up and protect our values.”

Chelsea then attended events in Sarasota and St. Petersburg. At each of the events she, again, spoke about the importance of the 2016 election and how it will have ripple effects on the economy and Supreme Court. She also spoke about Hillary’s plans to build upon the progress of the last eight years and improve heath care, address gun violence, and make a college education more affordable. She said, “Clearly we don’t live in a single issue country and we need a president that understands that as President Obama certainly does.” A video from the St. Petersburg event is available on C-SPAN.

In California, Kwan attended three fundraisers. The first was in San Jose, then Kwan headed to Oakland for an event hosted by Assemblymember Rob Bonta, Sonia Delen, Andy Duong, Dr. Rollington Ferguson, and Zach Wasserman. The final event of the day was a fundraiser in San Francisco. Kwan met with a number of female lawyers at the event hosted by Sara Brody, Lindsay Carlson, Lauri Damrell, Lisa Gilford, Gay Gunfeld, Valerie McGinty, Drucilla Ramey, Ann Patterson.

For all the latest, follow our revamped Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Peoria Journal Star, KOLR, The Kansas City Star, Bradenton Herald, Tallahassee Democrat

2015 Year in Review

This year has been busy for Hillary Clinton. Before announcing her presidential campaign on April 12, Clinton gave a number of paid speeches. But after announcing her campaign, Clinton began traveling around the country visiting with Americans and hosting rallies and town halls. As she has visited 38 states and spoke with thousands of Americans, she has outlined a solid platform and her vision for the future of America. By my count, Clinton hosted or attended over 250 events this year, and her schedule is sure to pickup as primary season begins. Below are some of the 2015 stats released by Hillary for America:

• 18 Social media platforms
• 38 states visited (plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico)
• 92% of donations are $200 or less
• 524 Questions answered at town hall events
• 89,000+ Volunteers
• 168,396 miles Clinton has logged on the campaign trail
• 5,520,00+ Doors knocked and phone calls made by volunteers

As for 2016, it is going to be an important year with the first Democratic primaries beginning in just over a month. Our support is critical to ensuring that Clinton is not only the Democratic nominee, but the next President of the United States! Please take the time to Donate to the campaign and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

On a personal note, this website is an individual effort. I started this site in 2013 with the primary goal of providing easy access to Clinton’s speeches as she traveled across the country because I know the frustration of trying to locate videos and details from rallies she has held in the past. This year, there were 268 posts added to the site, and by my count, there are 241 events listed on the 2015 archive page. It has been a busy, but exciting year. The highlight for me was getting to attend Clinton’s rally in Tulsa earlier this month. After a successful 2015, Hillary Clinton Speeches begins 2016 with a new a look, but the same goal…providing everyone with the latest Hillary Clinton news from the campaign trail.

With over 210,000 page views and hundreds of new followers on WordPress, Facebook, and Twitter in 2015, I want to thank everyone for their continued support. I am looking forward to 2016 and electing Hillary Clinton as the 45th President of the United States!

News Source: Hillary for America

Foreign Policy Focus of Third Democratic Debate

US Democratic Presidential hopefuls (L-R) Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley participate in the Democratic Presidential Debate hosted by ABC News at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on December 19, 2015. AFP PHOTO / JEWEL SAMAD / AFP / JEWEL SAMAD (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

On Saturday night, Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley appeared on stage at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire for the third Democratic primary debate. The primary topic of the evening was foreign policy, a strength for former Secretary of State Clinton. Before getting into the debate, Sanders took a moment to apologize to Clinton for his staffers accessing the Clinton campaign’s proprietary voter data. It was revealed this week that Sanders’ staffers found and downloaded campaign data that should have been protected. The DNC has acted swiftly barring the Sanders campaign from accessing voter databases. Clinton’s campaign has been careful to respond, though her staffers and supporters have gone after the Sanders campaign. Clinton thanked Sanders for his apology and said, “Now that, I think, you know, we’ve resolved your data, we’ve agreed on an independent inquiry, we should move on, because I don’t think the American people are all that interested in this.”

The moderators, ABC’s David Muir and Martha Raddatz, then asked the candidates about a variety of topics, including a few domestic questions about taxes, health care, and gun control. But the focus of the ABC debate was foreign policy. Clinton and Sanders debated the removal of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011and the power vacuum that followed. Sanders argued that the chaos was predictable, but Clinton reminded Sanders that he voted for the Senate resolution calling for Gaddafi’s removal and the intervention of the United Nations. On the foreign policy front, the candidates also discussed ISIS, terrorism, and a number of other topics. As with previous debates, the three candidates were careful about going after each other. Clinton only attacked when provoked, and she focused her criticism on Republicans, particularly Donald Trump. It was clear that Clinton is planning for the general election. A full video of the debate is below.

For all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Business Insider, CNN, Time