By American Psychiatric Association, May 19, 2021
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday announced plans to establish a Behavioral Health Coordinating Council focused on collaboration and strategic planning across the department. The council will “ensure that millions of Americans receive prevention, early intervention, treatment, and recovery services for mental illness and substance use disorders,” an APA news release stated.
APA applauded the Biden-Harris administration for creating the council, which will be composed of senior leadership from across HHS. It will be co-chaired by Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, M.D., and Acting Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Tom Coderre. In an HHS news release, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra noted that he is convening the council because the COVID-19 pandemic “calls for department-wide coordination.”
“APA looks forward to continuing to work with the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, the Assistant Secretary for Health, and other HHS leadership on innovative and action-oriented approaches,” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., said in the APA release. “This Council has great potential to ease the challenges we face as we begin to recover from the pandemic’s impact on our society, and APA looks forward to assisting in [these] efforts.”
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