Federal Bipartisan Roadmap For Mental Health Reform

Mental Health Leaders Release Roadmap for Reform
Hill Event and Release Mark 2nd Anniversary of Groundbreaking Federal Report

MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Charles Konigsberg, 202-587-2984 chuck.konigsberg@mhreform.org
Mental Health Leaders Release Roadmap for Reform
Hill Event and Release Mark 2nd Anniversary of Groundbreaking Federal Report
WHEN:
Wednesday, July 27, 2005, 8:45 a.m.
WHERE:
LBJ Room, 2nd Floor, U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.
WHAT:
Press Conference. Breakfast will be served.
WHO:


Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN), Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Rep. Ted Strickland (D-OH)

Michael F. Hogan, Ph.D., chairman, President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Charles G. Curie, MA, ACSW, administrator, SAMHSA, DHHS

Michael Faenza, president and CEO, National Mental Health Association

Suzanne Vogel-Scibilia, M.D, president, NAMI

Daniel Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., exec. dir., National Empowerment Center

Charles S. Konigsberg, director, Campaign for Mental Health Reform

Background--Sixteen national organizations will come together in an unprecedented coalition as The Campaign for Mental Health Reform (CMHR) to release a landmark report: Emergency Response: A Roadmap for Federal Action on America’s Mental Health Crisis.
The CMHR release marks the second anniversary of the groundbreaking report by the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health which concluded in July 2003 that the U.S. mental health system is “fragmented and in disarray, lead[ing] to unnecessary and costly disability, homelessness, school failure and incarceration.”
In releasing the Roadmap report, CMHR proposes specific action items Congress and the Administration should take to address the critical issues identified by the President’s Commission.
The Campaign has been organized as the mental health community’s united voice on federal policy.