Saving Lives Through Increased Support for Mental- and Behavioral-Health Needs
Record date: 2020-10-08
( printed page 63977) Executive Order 13954 of October 3, 2020 Saving Lives Through Increased Support for Mental- and Behavioral-Health Needs By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 . Purpose. My Administration is committed to preventing the tragedy of suicide, ending the opioid crisis, and improving mental and behavioral health. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, these urgent issues were prioritized through significant initiatives, including the President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2020-22510
- Publication date
- 2020-10-08
- Citation
- 85 FR 63977
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
( printed page 63977) Executive Order 13954 of October 3, 2020 Saving Lives Through Increased Support for Mental- and Behavioral-Health Needs By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 . Purpose. My Administration is committed to preventing the tragedy of suicide, ending the opioid crisis, and improving mental and behavioral health. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, these urgent issues were prioritized through significant initiatives, including the President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS), expanded access to medication-assisted treatment and life-saving naloxone, and budget requests for significant investments in the funding of evidence-based treatment for mental- and behavioral-health needs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government has dedicated billions of dollars and thousands of hours in resources to help Americans, including approximately $425 million in emergency funds to address mental and substance use disorders through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The pandemic has also exacerbated mental- and behavioral-health conditions as a result of stress from prolonged lockdown orders, lost employment, and social isolation. Survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that during the last week of June, 40.9 percent of Americans struggled with mental-health or substance-abuse issues and 10.7 percent reported seriously considering suicide. We must enhance the ability of the Federal Government, as well as its State, local, and Tribal partners, to appropriately address these ongoing mental- and behavioral-health concerns. Sec. 2 . Policy. It is the policy of the United States to prevent suicides, drug-related deaths, and poor behavioral-health outcomes, particularly those that are induced or made worse by prolonged State and local COVID-19 shutdown orders. I am therefore issuing a national call to action to: (a) Engage the resources of the Federal Government to address the mental- and behavioral-health needs of vulnerable Americans, including by: (i) providing crisis-intervention services to treat those in immediate life-threatening situations; and (ii) increasing the availability of and access to quality continuing care following initial crisis resolution to improve behavioral-health outcomes; (b) Permit and encourage safe in-person mentorship programs; support-group participation; and attendance at communal facilities, including schools, civic centers, and houses of worship; (c) Increase the availability of telehealth and online mental-health and substance-use tools and services; and (d) Marshal public and private resources to address deteriorating mental health, such as factors that contribute to prolonged unemployment and social isolation. Sec. 3 . Establishment of a Coronavirus Mental Health Working Group. The Coronavirus Mental Health Working Group (Working Group) is hereby established to facilitate an “all-of-government” response to the mental-health conditions induced or exacerbated by the pandemic, including issues related to suicide prevention. The Working Group will be co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, or his designee, and the Assistant to the ( printed page 63978) President for Domestic Policy, or her designee. The Working Group shall be composed of representatives from the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Small Business Administration, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and such representatives of other executive departments, agencies, and offices as the Co-Chairs may, from time to time, designate with the concurrence of the head of the department, agency, or office concerned. All members of the Working Group shall be full-time, or permanent part-time, officers or employees of the Federal Government. Sec. 4 . Responsibilities of the Coronavirus Mental Health Working Group. (a) As part of the Working Group's efforts, it shall consider the mental- and behavioral-health conditions of those vulnerable populations affected by the pandemic, including: minorities, seniors, veterans, small business owners, children, and individuals potentially affected by domestic violence or physical abuse; those living with disabilities; and those with a substance use disorder. The Working Group shall examine existing protocols and evidence-based programs that may serve as models to better support these at-risk groups, including implementation and broader application of the PREVENTS, and the Department of Labor's Employer Assistance and Resource Network on
The excerpt is reproduced from the public federal record and may omit later sections, tables, signatures or attachments. Open the official source for the complete text.
Questions for accountability
- What legal authority does this economy action cite?
- Which agencies or officials were directed to act?
- What measurable implementation, cost, deadline or later court action followed?
How to use this page
This is a source-record entry, not a truth-rating by itself. It preserves the action, date and original government publication so it can be connected to later claims, implementation records, court decisions, costs and measurable outcomes. Editorial claim reviews on this site use separate finding labels and explain the evidence for those findings.