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APA honors Calif. Rep. Doris Matsui
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
mental health weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7583
pISSN - 1058-1103
DOI - 10.1002/mhw.31823
Subject(s) - legislation , honor , mental health , excellence , political science , health care , law , psychology , public administration , library science , psychiatry , computer science , operating system
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) on March 11 awarded Rep. Doris Matsui (D‐California) the association's Jacob K. Javits Award. The APA presents this award to a lawmaker or policymaker who has demonstrated distinguished leadership in supporting the profession of psychiatry and mental health advocacy. Named for former Sen. Jacob K. Javits of New York, it is the highest honor the APA confers on a public servant. Among the highlights of Rep. Matsui's recent work on helping patients and their families, she championed the Excellence in Mental Health Act to expand Americans' access to community mental health centers and introduced legislation to expand the program in 2018. She worked across party lines to secure passage of the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016, far‐reaching legislation with numerous provisions intended to reform and improve the nation's mental health care system. She was instrumental in passing legislation that increased patient access to substance use disorder treatment, a bill aimed at fighting the opioid epidemic.