Families affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary School Tragedy joined with Sen. Chris Murphy to applaud the progress made on the 2016 Mental Health Reform Act in Congress.
A key committee approved the measure with bipartisan unanimous support this week.
The bill now goes to the full US Senate for consideration.
“This might be our one opportunity to bring the two parties together and do something really meaningful for vulnerable people all across this country," said Sen. Murphy during a press conference where he was joined by mental health advocates as well.
The proposal would provide additional grant funding to local governments and providers around the country to increase access to mental health services. The measure also includes new accountability requirements for insurance companies to make sure they are providing mental health benefits adequately based on plan coverage.
“We passed a law years ago that said if you’re an insurance company you’ve got to cover mental illness the way you cover physical illness and even though your benefit plan may tell you have the ability to get covered for mental illness, that’s not how it plays out in real life," Sen. Murphy said.
Mark Barden, who lost his son at Sandy Hook in December 2012, has been vocal in his effort for more strict gun controls and increased and improved mental health services. Barden appeared with Sen. Murphy Friday, in support of the action in Congress.
“It will aid in early identification for children, that will help in the access to quality mental healthcare that they need," he said.
Barden says he's willing to be a public face and provide any support necessary to prevent anything like what happened in Newtown from ever happening again.
“One of the things I lay awake thinking about what could have been done to prevent what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School where my little son was murdered," Barden said. "If that individual could have been identified and gotten into the proper services then none of this would have happened."
