U.S. Reps. Lance and Matsui Introduce Bill to Expand Funding for Community Mental Health Services

Press Release

Reps. Leonard Lance (NJ-07) and Doris Matsui (CA-06) introduced a bill today to significantly boost funding to expand and strengthen community mental health and behavioral health services across the country.

The Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act aims to fund mental health planning grants in two dozen states, including New Jersey and California, through an initiative based on their 2014 Excellence in Mental Health Act signed into law by President Obama in 2014.

"This measure is directly tackling one of the most significant mental health challenges -- access. The Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act will enable more states to experiment with the tools and practices to fix our Nation's broken mental health care system. By expanding the law to include more states, we encourage greater collaboration and testing in finding out what solutions work, how best we care for those who need treatment and what we can do to keep people safe. The Excellence in Mental Health Act is the most significant work Congress has done on mental health care. We should expand it and keep the momentum going," said Congressman Lance, a member of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.

"Expanding the Excellence in Mental Health demonstration project would be an important milestone in our efforts to tackle comprehensive mental health care reform," said Congresswoman Matsui. "The Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act will give more states the opportunity to benefit from high quality, evidenced-based, and community-driven mental health care that patients and families so desperately need. We must bring mental health up to a level playing field with the rest of our nation's health care system, and incentivizing states to improve the delivery of mental health care at the local level through this demonstration project will help us achieve this goal."

Under the current law, funding is limited to eight states. Last year, 24 states were selected to work with interested community mental health centers, federally qualified health centers, veterans clinics and other mental health organizations to design a state program that meets the new standards for Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers. The Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act will fund community mental health services for all 24 states -- a major step toward fully equipping quality mental and behavioral health services nationwide.

Today's announcement builds upon the lawmakers' past efforts. The 2014 Lance-Matsui Excellence in Mental Health Act has been called one of the most significant steps forward in community mental health funding in decades. The new law focused on improving quality standards and fully funding community services, offering patients increased services such as 24-hour crisis psychiatric care, counseling and integrated services for mental illness.

Praise for the Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act:

"This legislation is a critical step forward in making mental health and addiction care available to every American in need," said Linda Rosenberg, President & CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health. "The Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act will expand Americans' access to lifesaving mental health and addiction care, while supporting providers with the resources to not only immediately help each individual who walks into a clinic, but to also coordinate their behavioral and physical health needs. Every state that is working to transform its care delivery system deserves to be able to do so. The National Council pledges to continue working with Senators Debbie Stabenow and Roy Blunt and Reps. Leonard Lance and Doris Matsui to ensure that all 24 states have the opportunity to implement Excellence Act resources."

Debra L. Wentz, Ph.D., President and CEO of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. (NJAMHAA) expressed her strong support for the expansion of the Excellence in Mental Health Act demonstration program to 24 states. "I applaud the leadership of Representatives Lance and Matsui in introducing the Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act. It is imperative to ensure that communities across the nation have the clinical and fiscal means to serve every child and adult in need of mental health and/or substance use treatment. The quality work that is going in to the development of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) should not be discouraged in two thirds of the states that have undertaken this challenge. The infrastructure needed to become a CCBHC is daunting and the data monitoring and reporting requirements would serve the field well. All states that meet the rigorous standards should be able to participate."

"Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School that took the life of my sweet little son, Daniel, we at Sandy Hook Promise have advocated for the expansion of critical mental health services so that more people can have access to high quality, integrated mental health care, and those who are in crisis can get help before anyone gets hurt," said Mark Barden, Advocacy Director at Sandy Hook Promise. "The Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act is an important step toward providing effective, quality mental health care nationwide. These grants will undoubtedly save lives and we are grateful to Senators Stabenow and Blunt for their leadership and tireless advocacy."

The Expand Excellence in Mental Health Act is supported by over 50 mental health organizations including: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, American Psychological Association, Clinical Social Work Association, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Eating Disorders Coalition, Mental Health America, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Council for Behavioral Health, Sandy Hook Promise, among many others.

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