Ayotte Applauds House Passage of Mental Health First Aid Act

Statement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today applauded the House of Representatives' recent passage of the Mental Health First Aid Act (H.R. 1877), which is the companion to legislation (S. 711) she introduced in the Senate last year. The Mental Health First Aid Act would expand mental health first aid training and help the public identify, understand, and address crisis situations safely. A version of Ayotte's legislation allowing states and school districts to make this training available to school personnel was included as an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act last summer and was signed into law as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95). Additionally, a modified version of the Mental Health First Aid Act was included in two separate pieces of mental health reform legislation-the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 (S. 2680) and the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015 (S. 1893), the latter of which previously passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

"I'm grateful that my colleagues in the House passed this important legislation to equip members of the community, including first responders and others on the front lines, with the necessary training and knowledge to identify warning signs of mental health crises and help direct individuals to proper treatment," said Senator Ayotte. "We should be doing everything we can to strengthen our mental health care system, reduce the stigma associated with mental health disorders, and get those in need the treatment they require. This legislation is a step in the right direction, and I'll continue to push for the Senate to take up and pass critically important mental health reform legislation."

Ayotte helped introduce similar legislation last Congress, and provisions of her bill were included in the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act, which received 95 votes on the Senate floor when it was offered as an amendment. The updated bill would provide grants for mental health first aid training programs for groups of eligible individuals such as teachers, first responders, police officers, school and college administrators, veterans, and nurses, among others in the community. The bill also calls for protocols for initiating timely referrals to mental health services available in the community and places a particular focus on making training available in rural areas.

Under the bill, mental health first aid training would help: teach the warning signs and risk factors for schizophrenia, major clinical depression, panic attacks, anxiety disorders, trauma, and other common mental disorders; teach crisis de-escalation techniques; and provide trainees with a five-step action plan to help individuals in psychiatric crisis connect to professional mental health care.

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