Rep. Lee Votes to Pass Comprehensive Mental Health Legislation

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Susie Lee voted to pass the Mental Health Matters Act (H.R. 7780), a comprehensive proposal to confront America's ongoing mental health crisis and help students, families, and educators thrive. The proposal takes steps to support the behavioral health of children and school staff, strengthen school-based behavioral health care, and improve coverage of mental health and substance use disorder care for workers and families.

"The pandemic took a toll on Nevadans' mental health, especially our children and teens," said Rep. Susie Lee. "In fact, more than 44 percent of students reported feeling persistent feelings of sadness or loneliness, with nearly 20 percent considering suicide. That's unacceptable. That's why I've introduced the Virtual Peer Support Act, which passed the House earlier this year, and fought to get funding for 49 new counselors in Clark County School District. The Mental Health Matters Act is another important step toward ensuring our students and our educators have access to the mental health care they need and deserve. This is comprehensive legislation to address our mental health crisis by supporting the behavioral health of students and staff, strengthening school-based behavioral health care, and ensuring access to mental health and substance abuse disorder benefits for more workers and families. I'm proud to stand with all Nevadan families faced with mental health struggles by voting to pass this important bill."

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, children have experienced an uptick in mental health challenges; educators have grappled with the task of getting their students back on track; college students with mental health challenges have faced barriers receiving the appropriate education to which they are legally entitled; and far too many workers have suffered from insufficient access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits under their health plans.

To address these challenges, the Mental Health Matters Act would take comprehensive steps to strengthen access to mental health services and improve Americans' wellbeing. Specifically, the legislation:

• Directs the Department of Education to award grants to build a pipeline of school-based mental health services providers and increase the number of mental health professionals serving in elementary and secondary schools in high-need areas;
• Directs the Department of Education to award grants to state educational agencies to recruit and retain school-based mental-health-services providers at high-need public elementary and secondary schools;
• Requires institutions of higher education to allow incoming students with existing documentation of a disability to access disability accommodations and requires institutions to adopt more transparent policies around the accommodations process;
• Creates a grant program to increase students' access to evidence-based trauma support and mental health services by developing innovative initiatives to link schools and local educational agencies with local trauma-informed support and mental health systems;
• Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to identify evidence-based interventions for Head Start programs and help Head Start agencies implement these interventions to improve the health of children and staff;
• Provides the Department of Labor with strengthened authority to ensure that private, employer-sponsored group health plans comply with the requirements of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and related laws; and
• Strengthens the ability of Americans with private, employer-sponsored health and retirement plans to hold plan sponsors accountable when they are improperly denied benefits by banning forced arbitration agreements and ensuring a fair standard of review by the courts.

For the bill text of the Mental Health Matters Act, click here.

For a fact sheet of the Mental Health Matters Act, click here.

For a section-by-section of the Mental Health Matters Act, click here.

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