Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28) in introducing the Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act to increase awareness and access to mental health care throughout the AANHPI community.
“Accessing mental health care continues to be a challenge for Nevadans from all backgrounds,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “I’m focused on improving access critical health care for AAPI Nevadans. Together, we can reduce the stigma around mental illness and keep our kids and families safe.”
According to data collected by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), members of the AANHPI community have the lowest rates of mental health service utilization of any racial/ethnic group, with only 35 percent of Asian adults with a mental health problem receiving treatment in 2023. In 2023, an estimated 65 percent of the AANHPI community, who met criteria for a mental health problem, did not receive necessary treatment. And, even though suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States, it is the leading cause of death for AANHPI youth ages 10 to 24, and they are the only racial or ethnic group in this age category whose leading cause of death is suicide.
Specifically, the Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act would instruct SAMHSA to:
- Establish a national outreach and education mental health and substance misuse strategy for the AANHPI community by partnering with advocacy and behavioral health organizations that have an established record of serving AANHPI communities; and
- Conduct research and collect disaggregated data on the state of behavioral health among AANHPI youth and on the shortage of AANHPIs in the behavioral health workforce.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a leader in the Senate on mental health issues. She helped fund and implement the 988 Suicide & Crisis lifeline, and passed bipartisan legislation to expand behavioral health crisis support services. She successfully fought to include $1 billion to support mental health services in schools in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
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