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Your Voice Has Been Heard!

Thank you for advocating for behavioral health this legislative session!

Due in large part to your advocacy -including more than 300 emails sent by YOU - the MA Legislature has followed through on its commitment to meeting the behavioral health needs of Massachusetts residents. In the final days of the legislative session, legislators passed a FY23 State Budget and a separate Mental Health Omnibus Bill, providing a range of critical behavioral health supports, services, and protections.

Both significantly improve care and address inequalities in access to effective services for people at risk of or living with behavioral health conditions across the lifespan.

Your legislators played a pivotal role in crafting and passing both of these comprehensive pieces of legislation for people of all ages with behavioral health conditions.

Thank Your State Representative and Senator TODAY for their dedication to meeting the behavioral health needs of the people of the Commonwealth!

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Key elements of the FY23 State Budget include, but are not limited to:

Expanding outpatient and urgent behavioral health services at MassHealth by $115M, enabling individuals and families in crisis to receive care in therapeutic community-based settings instead of in a hospital emergency department (ED).

Funding Network of Care Massachusetts, a free online resource to help users find care and support in their communities. Network of Care Massachusetts includes a comprehensive service directory, searchable by keyword and zip code, with over 5,000 mental health and substance use listings.

Supporting the continued collaboration between MAMH and the BIRCh Center to establish a School Mental Health Technical Support Center, supporting administrators, teachers, and staff in schools, a setting where youth are 3x more likely to access behavioral health services when offered.

Learn more here.

Key elements of the mental health omnibus bill include, but are not limited to:

Addressing the Emergency Department "boarding" crisis that that results in delayed and inconsistent care, especially for children and adolescents.

Expanding the capacity of 988 - the new, nationwide 3-digit crisis line - to provide resources and connection to mobile crisis intervention when appropriate.

Requiring insurance companies to address barriers to behavioral health care, including requiring coverage for annual mental health wellness exams and medically necessary behavioral health emergency services.

Learn more here.

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MA reps and senators

Subject: Thank you for supporting the behavioral health needs of Massachusetts residents

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I am writing to you as a constituent to thank you for supporting the needs of Massachusetts residents by passing a FY23 State Budget that prioritizes behavioral health and for voting yes on the omnibus mental health legislation (S.3097) to improve access to behavioral health care to all in the Commonwealth . People with behavioral health conditions have experienced long-standing inequities and disproportionately suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting all families and communities. Passage of these comprehensive and thoughtful bills provides a range of critical behavioral health supports, services, and protections to people at risk of or living with behavioral health conditions across the lifespan. The Mental Health Omnibus Bill represents true consensus, tackling some of the most vexing barriers to behavioral health care in detailed and innovative ways. It deals with both longstanding problems, while supporting a progressive vision to address behavioral health issues by: Addressing the emergency department "boarding" crisis that results in delayed and inconsistent care, especially for children and adolescents. Expanding the capacity of 988 - the new, nationwide 3-digit crisis line - to provide resources and connection to mobile crisis intervention when appropriate. Requiring insurance companies to address barriers to behavioral health care, including requiring coverage for annual mental health wellness exams and medically necessary behavioral health emergency services. The FY23 State Budget is exceptionally strong for behavioral health, having a positive impact on individuals with behavioral health conditions and their families, through: Expanding outpatient and urgent behavioral health services at MassHealth by $115M, enabling individuals and families in crisis to receive care in therapeutic community-based settings instead of from a hospital emergency department. Funding Network of Care Massachusetts, a free online resource to help users find care and support in their communities. Network of Care Massachusetts includes a comprehensive service directory, searchable by keyword and zip code, with over 5,000 mental health and substance use listings. Supporting the continued collaboration between MAMH and the BIRCh Center to establish a School Mental Health Technical Assistance Center, supporting administrators teachers, and staff in schools, a setting where youth are 3x more likely to access behavioral health services when offered. These and other provisions included in the Mental Health Omnibus Bill and FY23 State Budget reflect the strong commitment you and your fellow legislators have to meeting the needs of the people of the Commonwealth. Once again, thank you for your dedication to providing people with a range of critical behavioral health supports, services, and protections.

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Jessicalochelle@mamh.org

Your Voice Has Been Heard!

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Your Voice Has Been Heard!

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Thank you for taking action today!

Your advocacy makes a difference!