Suicide Prevention

Congress should pass the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act (Momnibus 2.0) package, which includes 13 bills to address alarming disparities in Black maternal health.

The Department of Education (DOE) should build a standardized framework for schools to implement the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework, establish dashboards for data collection and resources libraries on the MTSS framework, establish a certification program that recognizes districts that have implemented MTSS best practices, and establish a permanent position for school-based Medicaid services to support state education agencies in implementation.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should also clarify that Tier 1 supports under MTSS include prevention and early intervention services under the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) should develop culturally competent guidelines for mental health and substance use service providers[1], particularly those serving predominantly underserved communities—particularly Black/African American; Hispanic/Latino; Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander; American Indian and Alaska Native; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex(LGBTQI+) communities[2][3]—through inclusive and responsive community engagement.

Congress should pass the Behavioral Health Crisis Services Expansion Act to ensure communities have the resources they need to provide services for people experiencing a mental health or substance use (MH/SUD, or “behavioral health”) crisis.[1][2]

Expand the collection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identify (SOGI) information in death records and government surveys on youth to create more accurate data on the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) youth who die by suicide and who attempt suicide.[1]

Congress should pass the Behavioral Health Crisis Care Centers Act, which would provide grant funding for states, cities and counties, and tribal governments to establish, operate, and expand one-stop crisis facilities and wrap-around services.[1][2][3] Additionally, Congress should require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a bundled payment under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) for crisis stabilization services for Medicare beneficiaries in crisis to cover up to 23 hours of crisis stabilization services.[4] CMS should also publish a report examining options for providing Medicare coverage of crisis stabilization services furnished by non-hospital providers that cannot bill Medicare under the OPPS.[4]