Lance: First round of Excellence in Mental Health Act grants awarded

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) said on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the first round of state grants to expand mental health care under the Excellence in Mental Health Act, which was signed into law last year.

Lance and U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) introduced the measure.

“Too often, we are reminded that our nation’s mental health care system is not working nearly as well as it should. Urgent reform is needed to fix this broken system and assist people in getting the care they need,” Lance said. “Fewer than one-third of Americans with diagnosable mental illness actually get treatment, and at least 25 percent of returning troops from Iraq and Afghanistan will experience some type of mental-health condition.”

As directed, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $24 million in grants, including $1 million to New Jersey, to help provide community-based mental and substance-abuse treatment. The Mental Health Act is designed to expand access to mental health care and comes as the nation confronts many challenges from unmet mental health care needs.

The law will give community mental health centers the opportunity to expand their services and obtain necessary designations to provide 24-hour psychiatric care and better integrate physical checkups with mental health services.

Lance and Matsui want their law to put community mental health centers on more equal footing with other health centers by improving quality standards and expanding access.