Minnesota Senator Helps Launch Bipartisan Mental Health Caucus

(KNSI) — The new bipartisan U.S. Senate Mental Health Caucus launched on Wednesday as a forum for Senators and their staff to collaborate on and promote mental health solutions.

Democratic U.S. Senators Tina Smith of Minnesota and Alex Padilla of California, along with Republican Senators Joni Ernst of Iowa and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, were driving forces behind the new caucus. Smith says of the first four who signed on, each has experiences with mental health challenges.

Smith is a member of the Senate Health and Education Committee and has openly spoken on the Senate Floor about dealing with depression when she was in college.

Others who readily joined in include U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Fetterman (D-PA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Fetterman has been very open about his mental health challenges, and Senator Ernst is the first female combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate. She has watched fellow soldiers struggle with PTSD, anxiety and depression when they came home.

In an interview with KNSI News, she explained how encouraged she was that so many of her colleagues on both sides of the aisle jumped at the chance to do something like this. “I think it’s just a sign of how much people are focusing on the importance of mental health and how committed we are to really helping people who suffer with it. One in five Americans will experience some mental health challenge over the next year, and yet many people still really struggle to get access to the care that they need. And there’s still a stigma out there, which causes people to be sometimes afraid to speak out and get what they need. I think having this caucus will start to break down some of that stigma, and really will allow us to figure out how to take even more action to help people who need it.”

The members are just getting the ball rolling but already have a focus. “First is making sure that the laws that we have already passed are implemented. Last year, we passed historic levels of support to address the mental health crisis, and thanks to that, we’re already seeing schools in Minnesota that are able to hire counselors and other mental health providers. We’re seeing improvements in the kind of mental health care that folks who get their health insurance from Medicare are able to get. And then the second thing is we’re going to be out in our states, talking to people and finding out what more we need to do.”

In recent years, Congress has worked on a bipartisan basis to implement crucial mental health services, including establishing the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

The full mission statement of the Senate Mental Health Caucus is available here.

___