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The Day – Southeastern Connecticut legislators tackle mental health

CTN News

 

Among the many issues on legislators’ minds this session — such as taxes, crime, energy, COVID-19 recovery, the economy and government accountability — members of both parties have been naming mental health as a focus.

Widespread support for broadening access to mental health care stems from the widely held belief that people’s mental health has deteriorated due to the isolation and other factors caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

As state Rep. Christine Conley, D-Groton, said: “COVID has increased the need for mental health for adults and children.”

State senators and representatives from both parties, including Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, as well as Gov. Ned Lamont have said there needs to be legislation on mental health this session. Somers helped engineer a Republican proposal with a series of policies geared toward greater access to mental health for children and, in general, maternal and workforce mental health, among other issues.

Somers touched on several aspects of the proposal, some of which have been introduced or discontinued before.

“Family care coordinators are meant to be in the school system — not paid for by taxpayers, I don’t want any mandates on school boards — but we could use some of the COVID relief funds” to hire these coordinators, Somers said. “They make the connection between school and mental health services, because school is the first place you notice it.”

She said in conversations with constituents, some have reported having to leave the state and go to Rhode Island or Massachusetts for mental health care because they couldn’t find someone here in Connecticut. Family care coordinators would find care within the state for them, she said.

In order to attract or keep more clinical social workers in the state, Somers and her party are supporting requiring the state Husky program to “expand the professionals that qualify for reimbursement to include a licensed social worker with a master’s degree who is…

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