Closing the Care Divide: Policy Recommendations for Advancing Mental Health Treatment Engagement of Marginalized Racial and Ethnic Groups

Mental health conditions carry significant societal and economic burden. However, treatment needs remain unmet and engagement with the mental health care system is low, particularly for communities who face systemic inequities that widen care gaps as a result of access to education, housing, and health care. To address mental health treatment disparities, we propose supporting the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act (H.R.3548/S.1700) that would fund research on therapies tailored to individual lived experiences, increase provider availability and competency to serve clients representative of the US population, and develop outreach strategies to destigmatize mental health and promote treatment engagement in underserved communities.