Hi John,
Since first taking office, my priorities have been centered around the needs of children and families. As we near the end of the 116th Congress, I wanted to give you an update on the work I have been doing as your representative in Washington.
Just a few days before Walter Wallace Jr. was shot and killed by police while experiencing a mental health crisis in West Philadelphia, I worked with several of my colleagues to introduce The Mental Health Justice Act.
This bill would provide grants and training to ensure that cities have mental health professionals available to respond to 911 emergency calls for people in the midst of mental health crises.
Before Thanksgiving, I met with the West Philadelphia Consortium, a mental health crisis response center that Walter Wallace Jr. visited for regular support, just blocks away from his family's home. The director of the West Philadelphia Consortium has stated that if their mobile crisis team, rather than the police, were called, Walter could be alive today.
When the Wallace family called for help, they should have been answered by mental health professionals, not police. But as a society, we have failed Black people -- and as a society, we have failed people with mental illness.
I know we have a long road ahead of us to repair the trust and faith lost between our police and the communities they serve. The culture of policing must change, and policing of mental illness must end.
All summer long, our country cried out for change -- and that change requires all of us to make it happen.
You have my word that I will fight like hell to get this bill passed, and I will continue to fight for policies that will protect Black lives in southeast Pennsylvania and across this country.
I hope you will remain committed to this fight for justice with me.
Best,
Mary Gay
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Scanlon For Congress
PO Box 263
Swarthmore PA 19081 United States
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