PROGRAM AREAS

In addition to supporting new and untested ideas to decriminalize mental illness, the Foundation, in partnership with "Solutionists" — practitioners, judges, people with lived experience, and policy experts who participated in our inaugural Global Solutions Lab — has identified the following funding priorities:

• Implementation of 988, the new national mental health crisis hotline +
  In response to the growing number of suicides and mental health crises in the United States, Congress passed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020. The law designates 988 as a nationwide crisis hotline number, effective July 2022. The creation of 988 represents a tremendous win for mental health advocates, who for years have been sounding the alarm about our country’s growing behavioral health crisis, a reality made exponentially worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although 988 could be a game changer for the nation’s response to mental health crises, much depends on how it is implemented and how that implementation is woven into mental healthcare, both before, during, and after a crisis.  Click here to read our take on 988.
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• Scale evidence-based diversion practices and centers of excellence +
  Scaling programs and practices that have been proven effective is critical to diverting people with mental illness from the criminal legal system to mental health care services in their community— by addressing prosecutorial reform and judicial education, housing insecurity, and improved access to healthcare.
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• Increase the size of the mental health workforce +
  Improving people's ability to access mental healthcare is a fundamental first step in the decriminalization of mental illness. However, mental healthcare eludes many individuals, in part, because they live in “treatment deserts,” face insurance barriers, lack culturally competent providers in their communities, and more. In order to decriminalize mental illness, it is critical to grow a racially diverse, culturally competent, and strong mental health workforce. This requires that the mental health workforce, including peer specialists and community health workers, have the training, support, skills and compensation required to do the work. And regulatory barriers, such as those that bar access to telehealth services, need to be adjusted. 
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• Support the passage of Medicaid Reentry Act +
  People with mental illness who are incarcerated face enormous challenges to accessing appropriate mental healthcare upon reentry. One easy solution is to ensure continuity of care from prison to community by continuing Medicaid reimbursement for services received while an individual is incarcerated, instead of ending these benefits as is currently the case. The Medicaid Reentry Act would resume benefits for Medicaid-eligible individuals 30 days before they are released, which would allow providers to avoid a gap in coverage upon an individual’s return to the community. This policy change could be particularly helpful for individuals with mental illness who cycle in and out of jails and could lead to increased retention in treatment. 
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 Click here to read the full report from our 2021 Solutions Lab where these priorities were explored and defined.

Below is a list of the Foundation’s current (as of August 2021) grantee partners in our decriminalization of mental illness program:

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Council of State Governments Justice Center

Healthy Brains Global Initiative

Inseparable

Kennedy Forum

Lemonada Media

Mindful Philanthropy

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

National Council for Mental Wellbeing

The Path Forward

Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene

The Steinberg Institute

Trevor Project

University of Chicago Health Lab