This past week, tens of thousands responded to NAMI’s call – asking their members Congress to reject budget resolution that would cut Medicaid significantly. While we were unsuccessful in stopping the budget resolution, which passed by one vote, we succeeded in raising the profile of Medicaid. Many Republicans, including President Trump, have now expressed opposition to cutting the program, except for fraud. While cutting down on fraud is vitally important, advocates are concerned that the size of the proposed cuts would require broad-based reductions in eligibility and mental health and substance use services, many of which are optional in state Medicaid programs.

To all the New Jersey advocates, thank you for making your voices heard. The fight is far from over, and what was just passed is likely to change significantly, as the Senate and the House begin negotiating. We will need you to keep speaking up for Medicaid and mental health.

If you live in 2nd, 4th, and 7th Congressional Districts, your voice is especially critical because the Republican majority is narrow and your representatives will be under significant pressure to support cuts. If you don't know your district, check here.

See here for a list of actions you can take to protect Medicaid.

Also, consider sharing your Medicaid story with NAMI NJ.

This week, Governor Murphy gave his final budget address, and the administration released its Budget-in-Brief. The expectation was that there would be steep cuts to reduce the structural deficit the state has been running for the past three years. Governor Murphy proposed to spend a total of $58.1 billion – $70 million less than last year – with the Department of Human Services budget getting a 3% increase at $10.3 billion.

If implemented, one significant policy win would be a $0.40 fee on phone lines to support the 988 system, something for which NAMI NJ has long advocated. This would raise $61 million and provide a sustainable source of funding during a time when federal funding is becoming harder to count on.

Some other Murphy priorities, New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S) and ARRIVE Together remained flat at $43 and $20 million respectively. Additionally, there are some cuts, including two fewer psychiatric residencies and $60 million that had previously been appropriated for recruitment and retention. For more details on how the budget impacts mental health, see NJAMHAA’s summary.

Arlington, VA — Today, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) released the following statement from Chief Executive Officer Daniel H. Gillison, Jr., following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement on February 24 that they will remove burdensome requirements to access clozapine, a lifesaving antipsychotic medication. This announcement comes after a long advocacy push from NAMI and the mental health community and is a great step forward for lifesaving access to care, making it easier for people who will benefit from this medication to access it. Gillison said:

“At NAMI, we believe that all people with mental illness deserve access to effective medication and treatment options. We are encouraged to see that the FDA listened to advocates in the serious mental illness community and took an important step to make clozapine, a lifesaving antipsychotic, available to more people by removing burdensome requirements. Clozapine is an important medication for people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, and this will be a game changer for people who rely on clozapine.”

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Lawmakers are set to vote Thursday on a bill that would require the state attorney general to review, and potentially revise, the policy that dictates when New Jersey’s police officers can use deadly force.

The legislation was prompted by the killing of Victoria Lee, a 25-year-old Korean American woman, according to Assemblywoman Ellen J. Park (D-Bergen). Fort Lee police shot and killed Lee after her family called 911 for help while she was experiencing a mental health crisis in July.

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Black men across the country face significant challenges when compared with other demographic groups, including economic, health care, and educational disparities as well as systemic racism and social injustice.

In recent years, suicide rates among Black men have climbed, according to the American Psychological Association. In 2013, the total midlife mortality rate from “deaths of despair” — deaths from suicide, alcohol use and drug overdoses — was nearly two times greater among white people than Black people, according to a 2024 research letter published in JAMA Psychiatry. By 2022, the death rate nearly tripled among Black people, rising to 103.81 per 100,000 compared with 102.63 per 100,000 among white people.

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More than 10% of the staff working for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration were fired this month as part of the government-wide cuts to recently hired federal workers ordered by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, task force.

The cuts amounted to around 100 probationary workers, multiple current and former federal health officials told CBS News, and affected multiple teams around the department, ranging from recently hired directors of SAMHSA's regional offices to staff working on projects related to the 988 hotline for people facing mental health crises, which the agency oversees.

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In his first meeting with staff, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he intends to address the possible overmedication of children and the risks of antidepressants, according to an employee in attendance.

The promise echoed an executive order that President Donald Trump issued last week establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which he tasked with reducing chronic diseases, particularly among children. Trump made Kennedy the chair.

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