[1]Cori Bush

John,

I’m proud to share that Cori has introduced the Helping Families Heal Act,
a groundbreaking piece of legislation that seeks to provide mental health
resources and support for people impacted by police violence.

Cori drafted this piece of legislation with Lezley McSpadden. Lezley’s
son, Michael Brown Jr., was murdered by a since-terminated Ferguson police
officer in 2014 and whose death sparked a movement for racial justice.
Cori spent over 400 days protesting for justice on the Ferguson Frontline
in the wake of Michael’s death.

Now, Cori is using her position in Congress to ensure that the families
left behind by acts of violence have the resources they need to begin
healing while we work towards ending police brutality full-stop.

Still, American police fatally shoot over 1,100 people annually — and
their violence disportionately takes Black victims. In 2021, police
killings accounted for 1,055 deaths in this country, breaking the record
for a statistic that is already underreported.^2

We cannot go on like this, John.

The Helping Families Heal Act is first-of-its-kind and a critical first
step to support communities devastated by violence. This legislation will
fund mental health resources to support those impacted by police violence
by:

* establishing the Helping Families Heal Program under Health and Human
Services to implement community-based mental health programs and
services to victims and families who have experienced law enforcement
violence;

* creating the Healing for Students Program under the Department of
Education to increase mental health resources for students and school
personnel impacted by law enforcement violence; and

* allocating $100 million to support mental health resources and improve
access to mental health services for those harmed by police violence.

We know that the hyper-vigilance necessary to exist in these conditions,
increases depressive symptoms and furthers the mental health disparity
between Black and white people. Studies have shown that police killings of
unarmed Black people are responsible for more than 50 million additional
days of poor mental health.^1

[ [link removed] ]Now, I ask you to help keep the first activist from the movement in
defense of Black lives elected to federal office in Congress — will you
chip in $20.22 to re-elect Cori today?

In solidarity,

Adrastos Da Silva
Campaign Manager, Team Cori

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^1 Amanda Geller, Jeffrey Fagan, Tom Tyler, & Bruce Link, [ [link removed] ]Aggressive
Policing and the Mental Health of Young Urban Men, 104 Am J. Pub. Health
2321 (2014).

^2 [ [link removed] ]Fatal police shootings in 2021 set record since The Post began
tracking, despite public outcry, Washington Post, February 9, 2022.


 


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