[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 87 (Friday, May 4, 2018)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19897-19898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09730]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 87 / Friday, May 4, 2018 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 19897]]


                Proclamation 9735 of April 30, 2018

                
National Mental Health Awareness Month, 2018

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                During the month of May, we observe National Mental 
                Health Awareness Month and reaffirm our commitment to 
                improving the overall health and well-being of our 
                Nation. America has made tremendous strides in 
                providing treatment and recovery support services for 
                individuals who experience mental illnesses. Yet sadly, 
                stigma and misconceptions about mental illness persist. 
                The negative stereotypes surrounding mental illness 
                deter people who may experience these disorders from 
                getting help that can improve their lives and their 
                ability to achieve their full potential.

                Approximately one in five Americans experiences a 
                mental illness, yet only about one third of them will 
                access treatment. For this reason, my fiscal year 2019 
                budget request to the Congress includes $10 billion in 
                new funding to combat the opioid epidemic and address 
                serious mental illness. This funding will improve 
                access to evidence-based treatment services for those 
                who are seriously mentally ill. My budget also requests 
                new funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
                Services Administration to ensure more adults with 
                serious mental illness receive Assertive Community 
                Treatment, an evidence-based practice that provides a 
                comprehensive array of services to reduce costly 
                hospitalizations. Additionally, my budget maintains 
                funding for the Community Mental Health Services Block 
                Grant, which helps ensure that individuals with serious 
                mental illness receive appropriate treatment in a 
                timely manner. Further, it includes new targeted 
                investments to help divert individuals with serious 
                mental illnesses from the criminal justice system and 
                into treatment. Finally, it funds important suicide 
                prevention activities.

                As part of an ongoing effort to improve the quality and 
                availability of treatment for people with mental 
                illnesses in our healthcare systems, I appointed the 
                first Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and 
                Substance Use to ensure that all agencies are working 
                together to increase access to the best treatment and 
                recovery services possible. This will accelerate 
                research and innovation through the Department of 
                Health and Human Services and other executive 
                departments and agencies. Additionally, we have 
                launched the inaugural Interdepartmental Serious Mental 
                Illness Coordinating Committee, which will improve the 
                lives of individuals and families who have been 
                affected by serious mental illness. This Committee will 
                coordinate services across multiple agencies and will 
                serve as a national model to improve access to 
                evidence-based treatment and services most needed by 
                persons with severe mental illness or those who are 
                seriously disturbed emotionally.

                This month, and always, we pledge to strive to 
                eliminate the stigma of mental illness by increasing 
                awareness for all Americans that these illnesses are 
                common and treatable, and that recovery is possible. 
                Through these efforts, our neighbors, co-workers, 
                family, and friends affected by mental illness will 
                know that there is hope for recovery and hope for 
                healthier, more productive lives.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution

[[Page 19898]]

                and the laws of the United States do hereby proclaim 
                May 2018 as National Mental Health Awareness Month. I 
                call upon all Americans to support citizens suffering 
                from mental illness, raise awareness of mental health 
                conditions through appropriate programs and activities, 
                and commit our Nation to innovative prevention, 
                diagnosis, and treatment.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                second.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2018-09730
Filed 5-3-18; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F8-P