From November 2001 NASW NEWS
Copyright ©2001, National Association of Social Workers, Inc.

Emergency Mental Health Bill Drafted

NASW Urges That All Social Workers Be Included as Providers

Chances of passage of a mental health funding bill are excellent.

By John V. O'Neill, MSW, NEWS Staff

NASW's government relations staff in early October was working closely with Senate members and staff in drafting a bill that could authorize as much as several hundred million dollars for mental health needs resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"They routed the proposed legislation to us, asking our guidance on how authorized money could best be utilized," said Francesca Fierro O'Reilly, NASW senior government relations associate. "Our goal at NASW is to ensure that social workers at every opportunity are eligible for these monies, whether it's grants for hotlines, for training, for planning, for research or other funding channels."

NASW is advocating that all social workers, not just clinical social workers, be included as providers of many services and that funds be administered not just through the Department of Health and Human Services, but also through agencies like the Department of Education to school social workers, said O'Reilly.

The measure was initially intended to become part of the Department of Defense authorization bill, but when no unanimous agreement could be reached, it was made a stand-alone bill. Chances of passage of a mental health funding bill were excellent, said O'Reilly at press time.

Members of Congress have heard about the large mental health needs of survivors and rescue workers after smaller disasters, like the Oklahoma City bombing and the crash of TWA flight 800, and understand that the needs stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist acts will be many times greater, O'Reilly said.

At a Sept. 26 hearing on the proposed bill, Spencer Eth, vice chairperson of psychiatry at Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Center in New York City, said the facility had received 17,000 disaster-related telephone calls since the terrorism. "I fear we have just scratched the surface of the need for mental health care for traumatized and grief-stricken victims," he said.

Likely components of the bill include funding for:

• Planning for creation of programs.
• Training of mental health professionals.
• Short- and long-term provision of mental health services.
• Dissemination of materials so that professionals have information to help clients.
• Research to learn about outcomes.

The bill would make private and public entities eligible for funding.

NASW's government relations staff has been working mainly with Sens. John Warner (R-Va.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Susan Collins (D-Me.).

"With the large turnover of members and staff, our job is to keep reminding them of the role and contributions of professional social workers," said O'Reilly.

Among points being made to senators are that government figures show there are more clinical social workers than clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse specialists combined [June 1999 News] and that 40 percent of specially trained Red Cross Disaster Services Human Resources System volunteers are social workers.

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