On Thursday, February 17th, the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held an investigative hearing on ‘Americans in Need: Responding to the National Mental Health Crisis.’ The Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, making it a key committee in any significant effort to enact behavioral health
On Thursday, February 17th, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking feedback from a diverse array of stakeholders on topics related to public health care access; topics include things such as enrolling in and maintaining coverage, accessing services and supports, and ensuring adequate provider payment rates,
Researchers at Columbia University’ Center on Poverty & Social Policy have been tracking the impact of the CTC on child poverty monthly. According to a research roundup on the first six months of the CTC, payments were shown to reduce food insufficiency, help families address basic needs, and had no discernable impact on parental employment.
New research published last week on February 15, 2022, More comprehensive sex education reduced teen births: Quasi-experimental evidence, provided further evidence that comprehensive sex education does have an impact on reducing teen pregnancy in the United States. The authors of the study state, “Our results show that federal funding for more comprehensive sex education reduced
The FRAC released its newest report, The Reach of Breakfast and Lunch: A Look at Pandemic and Pre-Pandemic Participation. This latest report highlights the efforts of locals schools and administrators to make meals available to children throughout the pandemic, as well as the successes of the nationwide school nutrition waivers that were signed by the
On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, the Senate Finance Committee started their series of hearings on mental health with Protecting Youth Mental Health: Part I – An Advisory and Call to Action. This series of hearings will focus on five areas of behavioral health: youth mental health, mental health workforce, parity between mental and physical health,
On a webinar, hosted on Thursday, February 10, 2022, new research, the First Randomized Controlled Trial of Poverty Reduction in Early Childhood, focused on the impact that cash assistance to families can have on infant brain development. Presenters Sonya Troller-Renfree and Greg Duncan outlined findings that expands the understanding and the implications of poverty on
Last Tuesday and Wednesday two key congressional committees began a set of bipartisan discussions on the challenges of access to mental health and substance use services. On Tuesday the Senate HELP Committee held their first hearings and on Wednesday the House Ways and Means Committee focused hearings on the behavioral health challenges. The subject and
On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions held a hearing entitled “Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Responding to the Growing Crisis.” Chairwoman Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) highlighted that millions of people across the country face mental health disorders, while 130 million Americans live in areas with
On Wednesday, February 2nd, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on "America's Mental Health Crisis." The full 42-member Committee heard testimony from: Dr. Wizdom Powell (Director of the Health Disparities Institute and Associate Professor of Psychiatry) focused on four main points, youth as a target population in the mental health crisis, the