WASHINGTON — At this time, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17),voted to cross the Psychological Well being Issues Act, a transformative proposal to confront America’s ongoing psychological well being disaster and assist college students, households and educators thrive. The invoice would assist the behavioral well being of youngsters and faculty workers, strengthen school-based care and enhance protection of psychological well being and substance use dysfunction look after employees and households.
“Our nation is dealing with a psychological well being disaster, and too many younger folks aren’t getting the assist they want,” mentioned Congresswoman Bustos. “As we work to scale back the stigma that stops people from looking for assist, it’s important that sources are available. At this time, I voted to cross laws to enhance psychological well being companies in our colleges and make sure that each American has entry to psychological well being care.”
The Psychological Well being Issues Act would strengthen entry to psychological well being companies and enhance Individuals’ well-being by:
- Directing the Division of Training to award grants to construct a pipeline of school-based psychological well being companies suppliers and improve the variety of psychological well being professionals serving in elementary and secondary colleges in high-need areas;
- Directing the Division of Training to award grants to state instructional companies to recruit and retain school-based mental-health-services suppliers at high-need public elementary and secondary colleges;
- Requiring establishments of upper training to permit incoming college students with present documentation of a incapacity to entry incapacity lodging and requiring establishments to undertake extra clear insurance policies across the lodging course of;
- Making a grant program to extend college students’ entry to evidence-based trauma assist and psychological well being companies by growing modern initiatives to hyperlink colleges and native instructional companies with native trauma-informed assist and psychological well being methods;
- Requiring the Division of Well being and Human Companies to establish evidence-based interventions for Head Begin packages and serving to Head Begin companies implement these interventions to enhance the well being of youngsters and workers;
- Offering the Division of Labor with strengthened authority to make sure that personal, employer-sponsored group well being plans adjust to the necessities of the Psychological Well being Parity and Habit Fairness Act and associated legal guidelines; and
- Banning pressured arbitration agreements in well being care to strengthen the flexibility of Individuals with personal, employer-sponsored well being and retirement plans to carry employers accountable when workers are improperly denied advantages.
The Psychological Well being Issues Act builds on Bustos’ work to guard the constitutional rights of all Individuals to pursue justice. Congresswoman Bustos just lately had laws signed into law to ban pressured arbitration in circumstances of sexual assault and harassment. Bustos can also be a cosponsor of the FAIR Act, which might prohibit the enforcement of obligatory, pre-dispute arbitration provisions in contracts involving shopper, employment, antitrust and civil rights disputes.
The total textual content of the laws will be discovered here. A truth sheet on the invoice will be discovered here.
