Treatment Advocacy Center Statement on the Nomination of Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon to Serve as Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and Substance Use
The Treatment Advocacy Center, a national mental illness policy nonprofit, welcomes the nomination of Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon to serve as assistant secretary for mental health and substance use in the Department of Health and Human Services.
We look forward to working with Dr. Delphin-Rittmon to implement our shared vision of eliminating the barriers to treatment for people with severe mental illness, including racial disparities in access to mental health care that have too long persisted in this country and represent a denial of basic human rights.
“I welcome Dr. Delphin-Rittmon’s nomination for her strong interest in cultural competence,” said Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center. “Mentally ill individuals from minority groups are strongly disproportionately represented among the mentally ill in jails and prisons and among the homeless. Our current system of treatment has failed badly in treating these individuals. If the assistant secretary is confirmed and could address this issue, it would be a major contribution.
“Perhaps she could propose special incentives or programs through SAMHSA to recruit more minority mental health workers to treat this population, such as student loan forgiveness. I would hope she would also examine why so many mentally ill individuals from minority groups end up incarcerated or homeless when we have known effective programs, such as assisted outpatient treatment (AOT), which have been shown in studies to minimize such outcomes.”
"Dr. Delphin-Rittmon’s focus on how disparities compound other disparities in blocking access to diagnosis and care reveals what we really need to do in order to help ensure that all have the ability to benefit from timely evaluation and treatment for psychiatric illness," said Lisa Dailey, acting executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center. "The barriers to treatment for severe mental illness are not the same for everyone in this country, and our efforts to make care available must recognize this reality."
###
The Treatment Advocacy Center is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness by promoting laws, policies and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supporting the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.