Mental Health

Since the early 1960s, US policymakers have sought to assist persons living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) and persons living with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) to live on a human scale with their clinical and service needs met in their communities. More

Context: Politics is increasingly important to many Americans. Yet little is known about how the increasing centrality of politics affects… More

For patients who have exhausted evidence-based therapies—including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), atypical antipsychotics, and cognitive behavioral interventions—access to experimental treatments should be no less available than it is for individuals with refractory cancer or Parkinson’s disease. More

Mental health among US working-age adults notably worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, following a steady decades-long decline. The impact of states’ COVID-19 policies on mental health has received much attention; however, less is known about the impact of a broader set of long-standing and overarching state policy contexts. More

In July 2021, to alleviate material hardship, Congress temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC), one of the largest income transfer programs in the United States. Prior research has linked the expansion to improvements in material hardship, food insecurity, and parental mental health. This study is among the first to examine its association with child well-being. More

In 2021, Congress expanded the earned income tax credit (EITC)—the largest US poverty alleviation program—to young adults without children who had previously been ineligible. More

Individuals with behavioral health disorders are more likely to experience substantial harm from a police encounter, prompting reforms to minimize encounters between police and people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. One strategy involves expanding partnerships between certified community behavioral health clinic (CCBHC) mobile crisis teams and emergency response systems, often through two models: 911 referral, wherein a CCBHC’s behavioral health practitioner–only team responds to 911 calls, and co-response, wherein a CCBHC clinician joins a police or emergency medical services (EMS) team. More

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s cuts to Medicaid will heighten the nation’s behavioral health crisis. Nationally, each year an estimated 20 to 25% of children and adults have a mental illness1 and 17% of adults and 9% of adolescents have a substance use disorder. More

Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) are an effective legal tool for reducing firearm suicide by temporarily removing access to firearms for certain individuals who exhibit dangerous behavior. Unlike most state laws restricting access to firearms based on status, ERPOs are predicated on the assessment of future risk of harm to self or other, as determined by civil court file finding. More

The United States is facing an ongoing mental health and substance use crisis. In 2023, 58.7 million US adults had a past-year mental illness, 46.3 million had a substance use disorder (SUD), and 20.4 million had both. More