I think we can officially say that the 2020 elections are over. The 117th Congress is in session, and President Biden has been sworn in. But 2021 has gotten off to a rocky start: Our thoughts are with the lawmakers, staff, reporters, and law enforcement officers who experienced the trauma and violence that took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and we hope that they are all able to access mental health support if they need it.
Moving forward, we are hopeful that this Congress will prioritize a number of much-needed mental health reforms—starting, of course, with COVID-19 recovery efforts. If they’re not sure where to start, they can always take a look at our policy platform!
In December, we had the pleasure of speaking with many of you to hear your feedback on our 2020 efforts and your hopes for next steps. Based on that feedback, Mental Health for US has made the difficult decision to go dormant until the next election cycle.
An intermission will enable us to raise funds, renew the coalition, and adjust our policy platform as needed. Please know that we remain dedicated to elevating mental health and addiction issues in national political discourse and are eager to begin this work again ahead of the 2024 election cycle, if not sooner. The Mental Health for US website and existing resources will remain live, so please feel free to use and modify those as needed.
We are deeply grateful for all of our coalition members, especially the 11 organizations that served as leaders. In addition to your ongoing work to improve mental health and addiction care in this country, you helped get candidates on the record about mental health and addiction and got out the vote in the mental health community—all in the midst of a global pandemic.
We don’t want to miss an opportunity to thank our incredibly generous sponsors—especially our champion sponsors The Kennedy Forum, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Kaiser Permanente, and the National Council for Behavioral Health—for supporting Mental Health for US.
It has been an honor to work with you all over the past year and a half. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email.
Best,
Casey Dillon, casey.dillon@curastrategies.com
Alex Dinkel, alex.dinkel@curastrategies.com
Anne Woodbury, anne.woodbury@curastrategies.com