Sen. Tina Smith co-chairs new Senate Mental Health Caucus

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) has co-founded a new bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus along with Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). 

“I’m very encouraged that we’ve come together to create this new mental health caucus in the United States Senate,” explained Smith. “It is equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, so strongly bipartisan, and our goal is to lift up and shine a light on the importance of access to mental health care. We hope that by talking about this issue really directly, that it will continue to do the hard work of breaking down some of the stigma that still exists around mental health.”

Smith said that two things are currently on the top of the Caucus’ priority list. The first is two make sure that legislation that has already passed is being implemented properly and reaching people across the country.

The second is to address shortages in mental health care providers, especially in small towns and rural communities.