Jan 17, 2013

Sanity and the Sandy Hook Plan

The President’s plan to address gun violence in the wake of Sandy Hook is far stronger on gun control than it is on mental health, but I am not unhappy with it. There is a built-in Round Two that offers real hope for progress.

Of the dozen legislative proposals, only one aims squarely at mental health, providing financing to expand mental health programs for young people. There’s more mental health content among the 23 executive actions, but most of these are leftovers, overdue action items addressing technicalities within the health care system.

It’s the last item on the list that offers hope for the future:
Starting a national dialogue on mental health led by Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education.
That dialogue may actually help us turn a corner. We need to talk about mental health to change mental health.

I volunteer to host the first chat.

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