Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 7666, a bipartisan response to rising substance use disorders and mental health needs in our communities.

The need for this bill is clear.

We've heard about the growing mental health crisis, including about alarming rates of mental health hospitalizations, suicide rates and depression. The need for mental health services continues to grow, including among our children. In my district, the emergency department at Children's Wisconsin saw a 60 percent increase in young patients who attempted suicide between 2020 and 2021.

Substance misuse also remains a crisis in our communities. Milwaukee county has among the highest rates of overdose deaths in Wisconsin and has seen high numbers of emergency calls related to overdoses in the past few years. According to Milwaukee County, from 2014 to 2020, the opioid overdose fatality rate in the country was 30.9 per 100,000 persons, more than twice the rate statewide.

This bill includes strong provisions to reauthorize and revitalize federal programs that support access to treatment and services, while boosting access to crisis services. The whole continuum of services needs to be strengthened to ensure that no one in need of help goes without.

The bill would also reauthorize and increase funding for the Mental Health First Aid grant program. Mental Health First Aid is an evidenced-based program that teaches ordinary people how to identify, understand, and respond to the signs of mental illness and substance use disorder.

The bill would also reauthorize the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Grant, a program that supports the ability of pediatric primary care providers to deliver mental health care with the help of rapid consultation with psychiatrists, social workers, and/or psychologists. The program also provides training and education on early identification, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral health condition, allowing more families to access high-quality mental health treatment in their pediatrician's office.

I am pleased to offer an amendment that will improve this bill by ensuring that state and local officials who administer programs serving pregnant and postpartum individuals are consulted by those operating the new maternal mental health hotline. This hotline will provide free and confidential support before, during, and after pregnancy providing yet another tool for those in need.

Through programs such as WIC, SNAP and the Maternal and Child Health Service Block grant, among others, the federal government reaches numerous pregnant and postpartum individuals. State and local officials are key partners in the operations of those programs and often are on the frontlines of reaching and serving populations that would immensely benefit from access to this important new resource. It only makes sense that they be involved in efforts related to making this hotline truly effective and that individuals know about the resources it offers.

I thank the chairman and Ranking Member for their support of my amendment. I urge my colleagues to support it and the underlying bill.

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