Evaluating State Mental Health and Addiction Parity Statutes: A Technical Report
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Mission
To work collaboratively toward equal treatment of mental health and substance use disorders
through targeted efforts to aggregate and elevate parity implementation work, conduct
research that informs mental health policy, and engage key stakeholders to advance mental
and behavioral health equity.
Vision
To ensure that all people have equitable access to behavioral health care and the opportunities
to achieve optimal health outcomes.
Core Impact Areas
Parity. Promotion of Parity Track (https://paritytrack.org/) and Parity Registry
(https://parityregistry.org),
which is a collaborative forum to aggregate and elevate
parity implementation work.
Equitable Systems of Care. Assessment of state, regional, and national systems of care for
mental/behavioral health disorders.
Culturally Centered, Integrated Care. Continued development of best practice models for
culturally informed integration of primary and behavioral health care, including assessment of
policy implications and solutions to policy and system-level barriers.
Community Engagement to Promote Resilience. Assessment of policy level interventions
that address community-level risk and protective factors to mitigate risk and maximize
resilience. Promote expansion of education reform to 1) include the development of productive
school-community partnerships, 2) increase equitable access to school-based mental health
services, 3) provide for universal mental health screening, 4) create a nation of mindful
educators, and 5) develop innovative ways to support sustainability of these programs. Increase
awareness and understanding of the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on a child's
ability learn. Facilitate resiliency through the promotion of social emotional learning and
character education programs in schools.
