State Rep. Mary Welander at the National Council on Mental Wellbeing in Washington, DC. Contributed photo.
State Rep. Mary Welander (D-114) was sent to the Washinston, DC to advocate for mental health legislation and expansion on behalf of the Connecticut General Assembly at this year’s National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
At the conference, Welander joined discussions with fellow legislators, public health officials and care providers from across the country and shared her legislative efforts and successes to address and bolster children’s mental health in Connecticut. The conference provided information on how to implement and reimagine mental and behavioral health policies from the ground up.
“It is an honor to be asked to represent your state in our nation’s capital for any scenario, but to be nominated because I have made it a legislative priority to protect our kids through better mental health practices is one I am even more grateful for,” Welander said. “I can only hope that my outlook, perspective and legislative work so far has taught at least one person something that they can then bring back to their home state to progress policies that put children first. I know I have learned a tremendous deal at NatCon22 and am excited to share these new ideas with my colleagues back in Connecticut.”
At the conference, Welander shared recently released data provided from the working group she helped establish which identified 36 high-need sites in the state for strategic expansion of school-based health center services. Data from this report will also offer guidance to newly proposed mental health-based legislation like SB 1, which would allocate funds to those identified high-need sites.
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing was founded in 1969 to help address policy and social change on behalf of nearly 3,500 mental health and substance use treatment organizations and the more than 10 million children, adults and families they serve.