Bob Godfrey

Emergency rooms across Connecticut have been inundated with patients awaiting placement into inpatient psychiatric beds. Our schools are facing a shortage of mental health professionals and have sounded the alarm on the need to expand access and support services.

This session, we focused on responding to the ongoing youth mental health crisis, which has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although our schools have reopened for in-person learning and many precautionary measures have been rolled back, our students are still grappling with the social and emotional consequences. This has manifested in increased rates of depressions, suicide, and self-harm among many adolescents.

We passed historic legislation to address the immediate and long-term mental health needs of our children HB 5001. In addition, this week we approved a state budget plan that makes historic investments in kids' mental health securing allocations for all these programs.

The budget will:

• Assist local schools in expanded mental health staff and access to care
• Provide mental health training to parents, students, and pediatricians
• Help school-based health centers develop new mental health programming
• Create new walk-ins for mental health emergencies
• Establish a new position at the Healthcare Advocate to help families navigate care for children and adolescents
• Expand 24/7 emergency mental health response
• Establish state oversight and coordination of state response to kids' mental health needs
• Expand mentorship opportunities

As we work towards a healthier Connecticut for all, it is vital that we fill the gaps in our children's mental and behavioral health system. This budget, which I supported and the Governor signed, is a good step to safeguarding access to mental health care for our children.