Playbook: Ensuring People Can Get the Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Care They Need

Advocates and state-level policy makers are developing legislative solutions to protect and care for people with mental health and substance use concerns–ensuring they have equal access to affordable and quality health care.

This United States of Care Playbook aims to highlight elements of a successful effort to enact legislation–including messaging, story-telling, and coalition development–that may be replicable in other communities.

Who needs to hear this? We hope state leaders, policymakers, and community partners will find that this case study:

• Explains one approach to identifying and targeting emergent children’s mental health care needs;
• Highlights effective partnerships and messaging decisions to pursue and pass parity legislation; and
• Identifies actions to help states respond to the rising mental health crisis in their communities.