Federal Government Releases 70-Point Mental Health Transformation Plan 

The federal government released a 70-point agenda to transform Mental Health Services at the federal level. The departments within this transformation include: Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the Justice Department, Labor Department, Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration. A few points outlined by the cabinet members included:

• Reinforce the message that mental illnesses and emotional disturbances are treatable and that recovery is the expectation
• Act immediately to reduce the number of suicides in the nation through implementation of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, launched by HHS in 2001
• Help states develop the infrastructure necessary to formulate and implement comprehensive state mental health plans that include the capacity to create individualized plans of care that promote resilience and recovery
• Develop a plan to promote a mental health workforce better qualified to practice mental health care that is culturally sensitive and based on evidence-based practices in both specialty settings and at the primary care level. Initiate a national effort focused on the mental health needs of children and promote early intervention with informed parental consent for children identified to be at risk for mental disorders. Prevention and early intervention can help forestall or prevent disease and disability
• Expand the "Science-to-Services" agenda to develop new toolkits outlining evidence-based practices for use by providers, administrators, educators, and consumers
• Increase the employment of people with psychiatric disabilities
• Design and initiate an electronic health records and information system that will help providers and consumers better manage mental health care and that will protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumers' health information