HR-7237 : Still Just a Bill

Reauthorizing Evidence-based And Crisis Help Initiatives Needed to Generate Improved Mental Health Outcomes for Patients Act of 2022 or the REACHING Improved Mental Health Outcomes for Patients Act of 2022

This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 various activities related to mental health services and resources. It also establishes grants for assisted outpatient treatment programs.

Specifically, the bill reauthorizes a policy laboratory housed within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that promotes evidence-based practices and service delivery models.

Additionally, the bill reauthorizes grants and similar assistance for

• projects and programs to address priority mental health needs of regional and national significance,
• integrated primary care and behavioral health care at the community level,
• community-based systems to respond to behavioral health crises,
• programs to raise awareness about mental health services and resources in communities and train community members about how to respond appropriately and safely to individuals with mental disorders,
• suicide prevention and intervention programs for individuals over age 25 who are at risk of suicide, and
• assertive community treatment programs for individuals with the most severe functional impairments associated with mental illness.

The bill also requires the Center for Mental Health Services within SAMHSA to award grants to localities, mental health systems, mental health courts, or other entities for assisted outpatient treatment programs (i.e., medically prescribed mental health treatment that is lawfully ordered by a state or local court and that a patient receives while living in a community).