Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Funding Will Support Training Primary Care Providers to Address Mental Health
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded $12.5 million across five grantees in California through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to help primary care physicians meet families’ mental health needs. These grants will support making mental health part of the training of primary care clinicians, with a specific focus on the mental health needs of children and adolescents. The California awards are part of a total $60 million nationwide investment in this initiative.
“Often the first person you turn to when you or your kids need mental health support is your trusted primary care provider—yet for too long, we haven’t given those primary care providers the mental health training they need to help. With funding from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Health Resources and Services Administration is investing in making mental health a part of primary care training so that there is no wrong door when your family needs support,” said Carole Johnson, Administrator of HRSA.
In California, five grantees will receive about $2.5 million each over 5 years to support integrating mental health into the training of primary care residents, including family physicians, pediatricians and others with a specific focus on treating children, adolescents and young adults. Programs will work with schools, community-based organizations, and other youth settings. The California awardees are:
- Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles
- Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
- Loma Linda University
- University of California, San Francisco
- The Valley Health Team, Inc., a Federally Qualified Health Center in San Joaquin
Administrator Johnson will be visiting Charles Drew University TODAY for a roundtable at 10 a.m. PST to discuss their BSCA-funded program and hear from residents, faculty and medical staff about expanding access to mental health. You can watch the roundtable here.
Addressing the mental health crisis is a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, as part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law by President Biden in June, provided HHS with vital resources to help children and families across the country.
“HRSA investments help train and prepare a health workforce to meet the most urgent needs of the nation’s families and communities,” said Luis Padilla, M. D., HRSA’s associate administrator for health workforce. “Programs like these expand will access to critical mental health services for California youth and help children and families get the support they need in their community.”