During the 2023 National Association of Counties (NACo)
Legislative Conference held from February 10-14 in Washington,
D.C., NACo President Denise Winfrey
announced the launch of the NACo Commission on Mental Health
and Wellbeing, which will bring together county leaders from
across the nation to take action to address the mental health
crisis from the county government perspective. NACo President
Winfrey appointed 14 county leaders from across the nation to the
Commission, to be co-chaired by Los Angeles County Supervisor
Kathryn Barger and Kings County, Washington, County Executive Dow
Constantine.
The ending keynote discussion of the NACo Legislative
Conference’s Summit on Mental Health Solutions featured Co-Chair
Barger sitting down with U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to discuss the need for an
all-of-government approach to addressing the mental health
crisis. Secretary Becerra relayed stark statistics on the length
of time from an initial mental health diagnosis to treatment, and
touched on issues such as how the federal government is advancing
its efforts on mental health parity, 988 implementation, and
workforce resilience. A link to the full summit discussion is
available
here (Co-Chair Barger/Secretary Becerra discussion begins
approximately at 1:57).
Under the leadership of the co-chairs, the Commission’s scope
will include the development of policy and programmatic
recommendations at the federal, state, and local levels to
address systemic issues contributing to the mental health
challenges in this country. The Commission will seek to advance
county policy priorities and elevate county voices, through the
following efforts:
Stimulate a national sense of urgency through an
intergovernmental partnership framework, for addressing the
nation’s crisis with mental health and wellbeing of
residents, especially the most vulnerable.
Elevate the national awareness of the roles, innovations
and pain-points facing county governments in addressing this
escalating crisis.
Achieve NACo’s public policy agenda, such as full
implementation of the Mental Health Parity standard, reform the
Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) prohibition, repeal the
Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy for pre-trial inmates, and build
the mental health workforce and continuum of care for the
future.
Align a cohesive national and intergovernmental strategy to
improve and enhance the mental health and wellbeing of all
Americans, with a special focus on the most vulnerable
populations.
More information about the Commission, including the full
membership list, may be found on the NACo Commission on Mental
Health and Wellbeing webpage located
here.
