Senator Harkin holds hearing on mental health after the Newtown shootings on Capitol Hill.

This is an important moment in history where the nation focuses on the important of addressing mental health through smart and prudent policies.

The EDC is particularly grateful for Senator Patty Murray's strong insistence that the final rule for mental health parity needs to be released no later than April this year!

Here are a few quotes we thought was worth highlighting:
"It is important we don't stigmatize mental health." Senator Franken

"Only 1 in 5 children with mental health issues get treated." Senator Franken

"It is absolutely vital that we detect earlier and intervene earlier with something we know is effective." Tom Insel, Director of NIMH

"You can't have mental health without mental health practitioners. . . I went into graduate school on an NIH grant when this 1963 bill was signed for mental health community centers . . . because of that I was able to go to graduate school and get a master's degree in social work . . . the consequences of well trained people and what they then produce in our society I know is important. Senator Mikulski

"I would agree that we need more practitioners." Pamela Hyde, Administrator, SAMHSA

"We have to make sure that mental health is available to all people regardless of their income all over this country." Senator Sanders

To read the testimony of witnesses see the below pdf files. You can also view the video at http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=b2048a10-5056-a032-529c-340d7ae5f237

Witnesses

Panel I

• Ms. Pamela Hyde, Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD
Download File

• Dr. Thomas Insel, Director, National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
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Panel II

• Michael Hogan Ph.D., Former Commissioner, New York State Office of Mental Health, and Chairman, President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, Delmar, NY
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• Robert Vero, Ed.D., Chief Executive Officer, Centerstone of Tennessee, Nashville, TN
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• George DelGrosso, M.A., Executive Director, Colorado Behavioral Health Council, Denver, CO
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• Larry Fricks, Senior Consultant, National Council for Behavioral Health, Cleveland, GA
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