Never in the history of America have we known
so much about mental health and how to enable people with mental
illnesses
to live, work,
learn, and participate fully in the community.
Recovery from mental illness is now a realistic hope. Yet, much of what we know
is not accessible to the people who need it most.
Today,
we are on the threshold of achieving the promise of transforming
mental health care in America. Government-Federal, State,
and local-and thousands of organizations in the private sector
are joining together to transform the mental health service delivery
system across the Nation. While the States serve as the focus of
many transformation activities, the Federal government has seized
the opportunity to model collaborative activities and to support
other critical participants in both the private and public sectors.
Transformation is a deep,
profound, and continuous process along a continuum of innovation. It is a way
of creating something possible from the perceived impossible. It implies
profound change-not at the margins of a system, but at its very core. In
transformation, new sources of power emerge and new competencies develop.
Opportunities and challenges are looked at with a new perspective.
An unprecedented number of
Federal Departments, agencies, and offices have taken the initiative to
formally collaborate to transform the mental health system. The
Federal Mental Health
Action Agenda
structures this continuing
collaborative effort.
This
Federal Mental Health Action
Agenda is the collaborative product of U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) agencies and offices, along with five other
Departments and the Social Security Administration as follows:
- Department of Education
- Department of Health and Human
Services
- Administration on Aging
- Administration for Children and
Families
- Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality
- Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
- Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services
- Health Resources and Services
Administration
- Indian Health Service
- National Institutes of Health
- Office for Disability
- Office for Civil Rights
- Office of Public Health and
Science
- Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration
- Department of Housing and Urban
Development
- Department of Justice
- Department of Labor
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Social Security Administration
In
developing this document, each participating Federal Department
and agency created an inventory of its current mental health activities.
An additional list was created by each Federal partner outlining
proposals for transforming programs and practices. From these inventories
and lists of transforming activities, this first Federal Mental Health Action Agendawas
developed.
Transformation requires
vision, action, and accountability. The President has provided vision through
his New Freedom Initiative. With this Action Agenda, the Federal agencies
commit themselves to action and accountability in pursuit of this vision. Now,
it is essential that others including consumer, family members, providers,
payers, and policy makers continue to contribute in the extraordinary process
of transforming mental health care throughout our Nation.
