Below is a summary of recent developments and compelling news stories from across the country highlighting America's broken mental health treatment system and how to fix it.
Treatment Advocacy Center in the News
Repeal the Discriminatory IMD Exclusion Now
Legislative and Policy Counsel Michael Gray wrote an op-ed in The Hill urging Congress to repeal the discriminatory IMD exclusion or, in the alternative, for states to enact their own waivers. The op-ed currently has 782 shares and 186 comments. Read more here.
A Call for Police Reform in Massachusetts
Treatment Advocacy Center's research on the number of mental health calls police respond to was cited in an editorial about the push for police reform in Massachusetts. Read more here.
Treatment Advocacy Center's Summer Interns
Meet and learn more about Treatment Advocacy Center's 2021 summer interns. We are so thankful for all their hard work and dedication. Our organization benefited tremendously from their outstanding contributions to our team and mission. Read more here.
A Conversation Celebrating BIPOC Mental Health Month
July was Black Indigenous People of Color Month, and we spent the month celebrating this across all of our social media channels. If you missed this exciting content you can follow us using these links, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedInand Instagram.
We also hosted a discussion last week about the important one-pager the research team produced, "Racial Disparities in Individuals With Co-occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders." George Washington University Professor Jameta Barlow joined our DJ Jaffe Advocate Sabah Muhammad to talk about the one-pager and their reflections on the intersection of race and serious mental illness. The conversation was moderated by our Director of Research Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq.
RESEARCH WEEKLY: July 2021 Recap
DATAPOINT of the month
$92,000 per year excess societal costs per person with schizophrenia
According to a new report by the Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance (previously Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America), each individual with schizophrenia amounts to $92,000 per year in excess societal costs. Included in the calculation includes direct costs such as health care, social security, housing services and criminal justice system costs as well as indirect costs including reduced wages, caregiver unpaid wages and lower quality of life.
