Behavioral Health and Social Determinants of Health

A governor is uniquely situated to look across the state and coordinate action among state agencies, communities and stakeholders. Many governors are actively engaged in aligning multiple health delivery system reform efforts with broader population health strategies and exploring economically sustainable models.  One focal point of the NGA work with states is in establishing or scaling up cost-effective programs for individuals with complex care needs. Many of those individuals have unmet behavioral health (mental illness and/or substance misuse) and social service needs that are better served in the community and outside of acute care or institutional settings.  To that end, NGA is providing states technical assistance around a number of policy priorities in behavioral health including:

  • Improving outcomes and reducing cost of care for complex populations
  • System-level behavioral health and primary care integration
  • Capacity building in rural and underserved areas
  • Supportive housing
  • Behavioral health in criminal justice involved

NGA Resources

Governors Lead the Way on Behavioral Health Workforce Needs

Governors Lead the Way on Behavioral Health Workforce Needs

New research from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing shows that 83% of the behavioral health workforce believes providers will not be able to meet the demand for mental health ...
Governors Lead on Solutions to Improve Mental Health in the Workplace

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

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

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 ...
DPAD Learning Collaborative

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

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

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 ...
National Recovery Month - 2022

National Recovery Month – 2022

National Recovery Month, which started in 1989, is a national observance held every September to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, the nation’s strong and proud recovery ...
Supporting and Sustaining Access to Harm Reduction Services for People Who Use Drugs

Supporting and Sustaining Access to Harm Reduction Services for People Who Use Drugs

Harm reduction approaches are focused on minimizing the health, social and economic effects of drug use, including infectious disease spread and overdose with humility and compassion toward people who use ...
Behavioral Health Equity for All Communities: Policy Solutions to Advance Equity Across the Crisis Continuum

Behavioral Health Equity for All Communities: Policy Solutions to Advance Equity Across the Crisis Continuum

As a point of interception, equitable crisis response provides an opportunity to disrupt a cycle that has perpetuated longstanding challenges in underserved communities. (Download) Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic called widespread ...