Fighting for Real Mental Health Parity

Not enough people are fighting for mental health parity in Congress while more and more communities are suffering the long-term negative impacts of social media, intergenerational and community trauma, economic austerity, and other factors that are leaving too many people – youth, LGBTQIA2S+ communities, parents, and many others – without access to culturally competent and consistent mental health care.

In the Illinois Senate I serve as Vice Chair of the Behavioral and Mental Health Committee. I am proud to have hit the ground running during the pandemic when I began in the Senate by bringing forward unprecedented legislation that requires all Illinois K-12 schools to instruct on where and how youth can access mental health. It also created the first of its kind Student Mental Health Council made up of queer and diverse young people from around the state of Illinois who work to shape mental health legislation and budget priorities. I joined a panel with former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in 2022 to discuss my legislative work to address youth mental health: it is a top priority for me, and I am proud to be fighting for it as an Illinois State Senator.

I can’t wait to fight for mental health in Congress so that it’s treated the same as physical health in our health insurance programs. We have a critical shortage of behavioral health care workers amidst an increasing demand for mental health services. We need more funding provided to states to help increase reimbursement and pay rates for mental health workers across the country. I also strongly support and would bring forward new legislation to increase funding for addiction and trauma counseling programs for those battling with recovery. Mental health parity is systems-level work that can be addressed in many ways by Congress to help heal communities and improve overall health outcomes as a result.