Behavioral Health
Governors play a critical role in addressing behavioral health in their state, including both mental health and substance use disorders. The Behavioral Health Program supports governor’s offices by providing evidence-informed promising and best practices that promote behavioral health to improve the lives and wellbeing of their constituents.
Our Focus Areas
- Evidence based policies for reducing overdose
- Mitigation of trauma and adverse childhood experiences to prevent substance use disorder
- Implementation of a continuum of care to address substance use disorder
- Mental Health Promotion
- Reducing infectious diseases related to drug use
Meet The Team
- Marianne Gibson
Program Director - Dana Heilman
Senior Policy Analyst - Abigail Smith
Policy Coordinator
Behavioral Health Library
Governors Lead on Solutions to Improve Mental Health in the Workplace
More than half of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental health condition in their lifetime and may experience associated barriers to entering and maintaining employment. At a time when ...
Briefing on State Implementation of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
On Thursday, April 20, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted its monthly briefing for the Criminal Justice Policy Advisors (CJPA) network. The briefing discussed recent state initiatives to implement the ...
Governors’ Top Health Priorities in 2023 State of the State Addresses
As the country continues to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governors have highlighted the need to continue to invest in and support the health and well-being of ...
Strengthening Youth Mental Health – 2023 NGA Winter Meeting
NGA Chair New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy opened the first plenary session of the 2023 NGA Winter Meeting with an overview of his 2022-2023 Chair’s Initiative: Strengthening Youth Mental Health ...
Governor Murphy and Governor Cox On The NGA Winter Meeting
NGA’s 115th Winter Meeting runs February 9-11,2023. We spoke to NGA Chair New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and NGA Vice Chair Utah Governor Spencer Cox about the meeting. What Do ...
Strengthening Youth Mental Health by building awareness and Reducing Stigma
Building awareness of youth mental health conditions and understanding sources of and solutions for stigma were the focus of the second convening of NGA Chair Governor Murphy’s Initiative on Strengthening ...
DPAD Learning Collaborative
In January 2023, participants from Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania attended the kickoff meeting for the National Governors Association’s (NGA) Learning Collaborative on Strategies to Support the Development of ...
governors and states meet to talk prevention and resilience in youth mental health
On October 18-19, 2022, in Salt Lake City, Utah, National Governors Association (NGA) Chair New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and NGA Vice Chair Utah Governor Spencer Cox held the first ...
Supporting Workers with Disabilities by Addressing the Mental and Behavioral Health Workforce Shortage
A lack of psychiatrists, clinical social workers, therapists and other healthcare workers severely limits a state’s ability to serve workers experiencing stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions that ...
