The Way Forward: A discussion on the future of mental healthcare

For decades, our mental health and substance use care systems have been siloed and chronically underfunded. People living with serious mental illness were more likely to be living on the streets, languishing in jails, or dying prematurely rather than receiving compassionate treatment. Only 10% of those seeking treatment for substance use disorder were able to get it. And all that was before COVID-19 arrived. Just as we were unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, we were even less prepared for an unprecedented mental health crisis afflicting half of all Americans.