Over the past two legislative sessions, at least 36 state legislatures have increased generalfund appropriations for inpatient and outpatient mental health care for children, adolescents and adults. And nearly every state has enacted new laws in areas ranging from jaildiversion strategies to schoolbased behavioral health services to programs aimed at reducing the stigma of mental illness. Thirty state policy initiatives enacted in 2013 received the goldstar “best practices” designation by theNational Alliance on Mental Illness.
