Advisory: Nat’l Mental Health/Substance Use Recovery Advocates Urge Congress to Reject Plans to Gut Vital Programs

Where: House Triangle (east side of the Capitol), June 11, 2025, 9:00 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, June 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On June 11, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. ET, a coalition of grassroots mental health and substance use recovery advocates from across the U.S. will gather at the House Triangle (on the east side of the Capitol) to call on Congress to craft a budget agreement that will build on longstanding commitments to support the recovery of millions of Americans, and reject harsh budget proposals that will abandon them by taking away the healthcare, housing, and food that are essential to their lives.

“Congress and the White House must expand, not eviscerate, support for recovery and peer support services, housing, employment supports, and crisis alternatives to completely avoidable—and traumatizing—visits to emergency rooms, hospitals, and police involvement,” says Daniel B. Fisher, MD, PhD, a founder and the vice president of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR), which brings together statewide organizations run by people with lived experience of mental health recovery. NCMHR has organized meetings with legislative staff from June 9 through 12.

“As some states move to justify increased institutionalization based on a person’s inability to meet their basic needs, the federal government is considering devastating cuts to the very programs that help people meet those needs," NCMHR board member Luke Sikinyi says. “Gutting them would strip essential supports from over 78 million Medicaid enrollees, nearly 40 million SNAP recipients, and 3.8 million people relying on Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance. We must protect and strengthen these services, not dismantle them.”

“Alternatives such as peer-run crisis respites, warmlines, crisis stabilization units, and crisis outreach must replace institutional care with compassion, connection, and real understanding," NCMHR president Braunwynn Franklin says.

Braunwynn Franklin
President, NCMHR
+1 202-642-4480
braunwynn@313networksolutionsllc.com or info@ncmhr.org

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