Join us at this year’s Indiana Mental Health Roundtable Summit as we bring leaders together to strengthen the mental health ecosystem for those who serve. Explore bold strategies, smart policies, and powerful partnerships supporting veterans, military members, law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency responders.
Three plenary sessions and fourteen breakout session options provided attendees a variety of local and national perspectives, topics, and items for consideration for participation in changing the mental health status quo.
True to the mission of the Indiana Mental Health Roundtable, the Summit centered on combining forces across fields to combat youth mental health issues; increasing affordability and access to care; and advocating for systemic changes in mental health workforce, education, culture, and evidence-based care.
Breakout session recordings and resources can be found below.
Local mental health organization, here*, hosted a reset room for conference attendees to care for themselves amidst the busyness of the event; additionally, here* curated small group conversations around topics impacting attendees: loneliness and community at work, men’s mental health, reliance on phones and social media, and burnout
The Demo Arena featured Innovations in mental health—from AI tools to care coordination software—with founders sharing their solutions to gaps in the mental health care system and needs of service providers and individuals seeking care.
Multiple sessions addressed mental health adjacent topics, including accessing nature as a remedy to burnout, creating supportive work cultures, and analyzing the healthcare landscape.
Between access to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline materials on the back of State Fair program to the direct outreach efforts of IMHR, the Lt. Governor’s Office, and strategic partner organizations, over 20,000 State Fair attendees participated in this year’s Mental Health Matters Day.
Partner organizations present at Mental Health Matters Day included the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA), Riley Children’s Health, Purdue University, Mental Health America of Indiana (MHAI), Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Community Fairbanks Recovery Center, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, Indiana Youth Institute, CareSource, NAMI Indiana; additional partner organizations— The Indianapolis Colts Kicking The Stigma and the Indiana Council of Community Mental Health Centers—donated giveaways to increase engagement with mental health-related materials and information.
In addition to the extensive outreach to Hoosiers, visitors from other states who stopped by at the booths exhibited gratitude that Indiana led meaningful mental health awareness events and also happily took information about 988 with them to disseminate to their own communities outside of Indiana.
Notable statistics shared at the State of the Child included the fact that over 1.5 million children live in Indiana, and Indiana has moved up from ranking 28th nationally to ranking 24th nationally in child well-being.
In addition to the Indiana Youth Institute, partnering organizations Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY) and the Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana supported the day; MCCOY’s Youth Day at the Statehouse invited over 250 youth to participate in advocacy and educational efforts.
Governor Eric Holcomb proclaimed February 19, 2024, as the Day of the Child.
Hosted by MHAI President and CEO Stephen C. McCaffrey and Chair of the IU Department of Psychiatry Dr. Leslie Hulvershorn, the symposium featured sessions led by prominent Indiana University and Mental Health America of Indiana professionals in addition to forerunners in the mental health field from other organizations.
As tradition, the Heroes Recovery Luncheon honored multiple individuals and their families who have dedicated their lives to promoting recovery for individuals dealing with mental illness and/or addiction.
60 organizations from the mental health field exhibited as vendors for the event, contributing to opportunities for attendees to connect with and learn about service offerings from across the state.
The documentary follows Randy and Angie Eugenio, who lost their son Tate to suicide in 2021, and Jaqueline and Shawn Scott, who give viewers insight into what life with mental illness can look like for a Hoosier family, as they tell their stories to bring about increased awareness of the needs and challenges faced by Indiana youth and their families. IU School of Medicine’s Department Chair of Psychiatry, Dr. Leslie Hulvershorn, MD and Dr. Michele Thorne, PhD share their perspectives as care providers about current failings in the mental health system and propose solutions to improve the system.
After the documentary showing, Riley Children’s Health Chief Strategy Officer, Tyler Leishman, moderated a panel consisting of the families and practitioners spotlighted in the film to discuss ways to address mental health needs of youth and work toward a more effective mental health system.
Riley Children’s Health has led the development of a statewide pediatric behavioral health plan and provided access to this plan to event attendees and invited the audience to participate in the work of bringing about improved youth mental health and become involved as Riley Child Health Champions.
Keynote speakers widely renowned science educator Bill Nye and elementary principal Dr. Belinda George gave inspiring talks to conference attendees, encouraging them to not underestimate the power of their choices in creating ripple effects that can, ultimately, change the world for the better.
The current state of youth mental health was addressed in multiple session topics ranging from understanding the data around social factors influencing mental health to addressing needs through youth empowerment; culture and systems change; and improvement of youth worker, educator, and family wellbeing.
Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) acts as a major change agent to improve the lives of Indiana’s children through data dispersal, education efforts, connection of people and organizations, and advocacy.
The purpose of the Vitality Grant is to increase capacity and funding for programs and projects that support mental health systems reform and/or juvenile justice in Indianapolis.
The first round of the Vitality Grant opened and was awarded in the summer of 2023; a second round will open and be awarded in the summer of 2024. Funding has been made possible for this grant through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
15 organizations have been awarded funding from this round, and their information, project and program descriptions, and funding amounts are linked on MHA Indy’s website.
Jay Chaudhary, Director of the Division of Mental Health, stated in his opening remarks that prevention is an education issue; through such work, addiction can end before it begins.
Evidence-based prevention programming in Indiana runs the gamut of target demographics and exists on multiple levels (e.g., state and local organizations) and in multiple sectors (e.g., education, public health, nonprofit, etc.) for a comprehensive approach to addressing substance use.
The Community Substance Misuse Prevention Services grant—funded by the SAMHSA Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Garant and administered through DMHA—invites nonprofit organizations, local governments, and academic institutions to apply for funding to support the implementation of prevention strategies in Indiana communities; the request for funding application is open from October 26, 2023, through December 8, 2023, and anticipates awarding 20-30 proposals.
At no cost to the platform user, Treatment Atlas allows individuals to search for care for themselves or someone else by location and through the option of completing a short, anonymous assessment that helps tailor treatment options to the needs of the individual.
Over 600 state-licensed treatment facilities are listed on the platform. In addition to contact information for treatment options (i.e., location, telephone number, and website), individuals can learn about the types of services provided, payment options available, demographics served, and support services offered by the facilities.
Indiana joins 12 other states in using Treatment Atlas under platform management from Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization working to address the addiction crisis facing the United States. Funding for Indiana’s participation comes from the Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction.
Drawing on his own experiences with mental illness and addiction in combination with his service in public office, Kennedy shared his perspective on the impact of mental health issues and addiction in America, including the need for these issues to be treated as a public health crisis.
In his first book, A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction, which he referenced during the conversation, Kennedy revealed his personal and familial struggles with mental health and addiction; in his upcoming book, Profiles in Mental Health Courage, Kennedy will share the stories of 20 individuals and their families regarding their bravery in navigating mental health struggles.
As an advocate for increased mental health support at the systems level, Kennedy calls for insurance parity, more funding allocation to the reimbursement of mental health care costs, better pay for providers who utilize evidence-based practices in their treatment, and special interest groups around and prioritization of mental health in the political sphere.
Indiana has renewed and sharpened its focus on mental health and substance abuse in the last three years. Prior to this renewed focus, these two crises were vastly underestimated; even the grim statistics—IN spends about $4 billion on untreated mental illness—do not do justice to the issue. On the legislative side, the Indiana Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill I in 2022, which provided $50 million dollars for efforts in prevention, treatment, and recovery. Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch and Senator Michael Crider spoke about the bill, noting that it provided the tools for organizations in attendance at the conference and around the state to further their work.
A priority of organizations working in all three lanes—prevention, treatment, and recovery—is to ensure that mental health and substance abuse are not criminalized. As such, there is a need to provide individuals with resources–someone to call, someone to respond, and somewhere safe to go–outside of the legal system. Organizations such as HART, social work implementation in police departments, and STRIDE, are all crisis-oriented, meaning they respond to individuals who are perceived to cause a threat to their immediate community. These organizations then provide the necessary resources without placing them within the legal system.
For every $1 spent in prevention, $11 dollars is saved in treatment. As such, there is a renewed focus on primary prevention, that is, prevention targeted at students in primary and secondary schools. A strategy which saw success in various organizations is educating the youth on the actual statistics of alcohol and drug use at their age. In almost every study (pre-prevention curriculum), students estimated that the amount of their peers using alcohol and drugs was significantly higher than the actual amount. When students think that “everyone is doing it,” they are much more likely to engage in that behavior themselves. Also, organizations found that younger students (elementary-early middle school) responded much better to prevention curriculum. When students reach high school age, they are relatively set in their perceptions and opinions.
The Conference highlighted results from the recent Indiana youth survey which revealed that 40% of students reported that they felt sad or hopeless. Further, Indiana ranks 26th in the nation when it comes to the prevalence of mental health among youth and access to care.
Dr. Brandie Oliver from Butler University discussed the Comprehensive School Mental Health Framework that the Butler College of Education has crafted. This framework is a Multi-Tiered System of support that has four phases: universal intervention, selective intervention, indicated intervention, and treatment. This layered approach offers a roadmap for stakeholders to address every necessary stage of mental health prevention and treatment.
Speakers from the Department of Education and Richard Fairbanks Foundation introduced Project Aware, an initiative consisting of three, multi-year grants funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Project Aware is being administered by the Indiana DOE and Department of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) to reshape how mental health education and awareness are practiced in schools and communities. The project has invested $25.2 million dollars in infrastructure, capacity building, and tiered interventions across Indiana.
HHS announced the launch of FindSupport.gov, an online hub that connects site visitors with resources for finding care for mental health or substance use issues, learning about signs that show mental health support may be beneficial, navigating treatment and cost options, and accessing SAMHSA’s National Helpline or the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Days prior to this conference, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued the Surgeon General’s Advisory report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” informing Americans about the negative impacts of loneliness on the physical and mental health of the population and providing stakeholders with recommendations for advancing social connection to combat this epidemic. Ensuring that people with mental health and/or substance use issues have connection to care and access to healthy environments that foster positive social relationships links directly to the Surgeon General’s recommendations.
Speakers from government agencies such as Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and Administration for Children and Families (ACF) alongside non-profit organizations like National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and National Association of Counties (NACo) provided insight into independent and collaborative initiatives and resources for further learning for summit attendees.
The conference highlighted findings from the recent Behavioral Health Commission report that found untreated mental illnesses in Indiana cost the state $4.2 billion annually.
State leaders advocated for a $1 per month surcharge on phone bills to pay for a 988 mental health hotline. Note: this replicates the effective 911 surcharge.
Gov. Holcomb, Senate Pro Tem Roderic Bray and House Speaker Todd Huston each committed their leadership to make this issue a priority in the 2023 legislative session.
