Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this amendment increases access to pediatric mental healthcare by providing $9 million in grants to improve access to behavioral integration and pediatric primary care. I thank the chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee for his agreement to our other amendment to boost the workforce. We have a massive workforce shortage in the field of mental health. What good is it to have good wishes among Members of Congress for treatment, yet people can't get it? There is a shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists for the 17 million children with a mental health condition. We have 9,000. We need over 30,000. There is a shortage of psychologists, and 36 States have a shortage of psychiatric nurses. As a matter of fact, half of the counties in America have no psychiatrists, no psychologists, and no clinical social worker. So for children with primary mental health problems, it is a desert for treatment. {time} 2115 They sit on long waiting lists. Their symptoms worsen. A study called the RAISE Program--Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode--found that if we provided treatment initially for those who show their initial psychotic episode, it improves their prognosis over their lifetime. But delaying treatment actually causes them harm. When you have no care, you have that harm. For those few psychiatrists and psychologists out there, what are they told to do in rural areas?…”