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Report of the Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
Support the Campaign |
Contact: Christopher Burley, Bazelon Center,
202-467-5730 x 133 or cburley@bazelon.org;
Bill Emmet, NASMHPD, 703-739-9333 x 136 or Bill.Emmet@nasmhpd.org;
Elizabeth
Adams, NAMI, 703-524-7600, elizabetha@nami.org;
Heather Cobb, NMHA, 703-797-2588 or hcobb@nmha.org
Kerry Releases Mental Health Policy Statement
Campaign for Mental Health Reform Statement to the Media
ALEXANDRIA, VA (September 12, 2003)– The Campaign for Mental Health
Reform commends Presidential hopeful John Kerry today for releasing a statement
on mental
health policy.
The Campaign finds it heartening that today two democratic presidential
candidates chose to highlight the importance of mental health issues. Perhaps,
at last, politicians realize that preventable suicides, rampant unemployment
and disproportionately high rates of incarceration and substance abuse among
people with mental illnesses are unacceptable outcomes for our nation.
A primary goal for whoever wins the 2004 presidential election should
be to fix the nation's broken mental health “system.” For
too long, the needs of adults and children with mental illnesses have
been ignored – it is time they became a national priority.
The Campaign looks forward to working with John Kerry and all other presidential
candidates – as well as President Bush – to transform America’s
mental health system into one capable of promoting recovery from mental
illness for the millions of people with unmet mental health needs.
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The Campaign for Mental Health Reform has been organized as the
mental health community’s united voice on federal policy. Its goal is to
make access, recovery, and quality in mental health services the hallmarks
of our nation’s mental health system. Its members include organizations
representing millions of people with mental or emotional disorders and their
families and service providers, administrators and other advocates.
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