Mental Health and the Role of the States
Type
Policy Brief or Report
Year
2015
Level
State
State(s)
All States
Policy Areas
Children & Families, Civil Rights, Economic Justice, Education, Health, Housing, Public Safety
Millions of Americans have one or more forms of mental illness. These conditions have wide-ranging health, economic, and social consequences. For example, mental illness is a major factor in homelessness and incarceration. And serious mental illness - defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that causes significant functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities - costs the country about $200 billion in lost earnings annually.