WASHINGTON, DC - Four years after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, meaningful mental health reforms are now law. President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act into law yesterday, which included mental health reforms spearheaded by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA).
The reforms are based largely off Chairman Murphy’s bill, H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, which was introduced after the tragedy in Newtown.
“Innocence was shattered on a cold day in Connecticut four years ago. But out of this darkest of tragedies has risen a glimmer of hope, as the landmark mental health reforms signed into law yesterday were spurred by the events of Sandy Hook," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Chairman Murphy. “Following Newtown, we started a national conversation on serious mental illness and began an in-depth investigation into how the federal government handles mental health disorders. Our multi-year, bipartisan, bicameral effort revealed a broken system and informed our legislative response to overhaul the antiquated patchwork of ineffective programs. Mental illness is no longer a subject for the shadows, and while more work remains, tremendous strides have been made to help families and individuals in mental health crisis. There is reason for hope, as we remember Sandy Hook and the children and teachers lost, we celebrate the step forward to deliver treatment before tragedy."
