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

Hillary Clinton Focuses on Gun Violence Prevention in New York

On Monday, Hillary Clinton attended a number of campaign events across New York. In Port Washington, Clinton and Congressman Steve Israel hosted a round table discussion on the prevention of gun violence. During the event, Clinton explained the importance of introducing federal regulations of gun sales and mandatory background checks. The state of New York, for example, has strict gun laws, but people wanting to purchase a gun can get around them by going to neighboring states such as Vermont. Clinton said, “Here’s what I want you to know: most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.” She continued, “So this is not, ‘Oh, you know, I live in a rural state, we don’t have these problems.’ This is, you know what? It’s easy to cross borders. Criminals, domestic abusers, traffickers, people who are dangerously mentally ill — they cross borders, too. And sometimes they do it to get the guns they use. This has to become a voting issue for those of us who want to save lives.”

Clinton also spent some time in Queens where she spoke with patrons at the Jackson Diner. Following her visit, she took a few questions from reporters and criticized rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, for his inability to answer certain questions about his plans and his record. She said, “I have noticed that under the bright spotlight and scrutiny here in New York, Sen. Sanders has had trouble answering questions. He’s had trouble answering questions about his core issue, namely dealing with the banks. He’s had trouble answering foreign-policy questions. So I look forward to a debate that is in New York with people asking the kinds of questions that New Yorkers ask.”

Hillary also attended two fundraisers in the state. The first was in Mount Kisco and was held at the home of Marco Masotti and Tracy Stein. The second event of the day was in Glen Cove and was hosted by Mindy and Jay Jacobs, Laurie and Marty Scheinman. Also attending the event was Congressman Israel.

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

News Source: The Wall Street Journal, Politico, CBS News

Clinton Speaks with Refinery29

Last week, Hillary Rodham Clinton gave an exclusive interview to the site Refinery29, an independent style and fashion website geared toward women. The topic discussed was sexual assault, especially assaults that take place on college campuses. Clinton addressed that topic last week during a speech at University of Northern Iowa. The key to Clinton’s plan is education and prevention. She said, “This starts at an early age, with the culture playing a role in this, the messages that are sent to young men, the kind of visual images seen all too often, the lyrics of music. We know there’s a kind of pressure or expectation about behaviors that are hurtful. And so, we need to do more, starting in high school, I would argue, to begin to try to change those signals; to begin to try to change the culture.” A video from the interview is above and you can read a transcript HERE.

This weekend, Clinton is scheduled to attend a private fundraiser in California. As always, for all the latest, follow our Scheduled Events page and follow Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

News Source: Refinery29