A Thank You Note from Assistant Secretary Dr. Delphin-Rittmon: Recognizing Four Years of Incredible, Collaborative Progress. (1)

Dear Partners, Colleagues, and Friends:

I’d like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to you and recognize some of our collective, historic work as my tenure as the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use concludes.

As I reflect on my time at SAMHSA, I can vividly remember the pivotal moment our nation was facing four years ago. The Coronavirus pandemic was continuing to impact so many lives and communities all across the country. We were emerging from times of physical exhaustion, social isolation, and mental distress. And we saw that the pandemic not only worsened symptoms for individuals already experiencing behavioral health challenges but also contributed to an unprecedented rise in new cases.

It was so important that we took a moment to identify the greatest needs and highest risks and redefined SAMHSA’s strategy as we moved forward. From the start, your input as we sought public comment for the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan helped inform our work. Then with direction and guidance from the White House, Congress, and HHS, we identified five priority areas and four key principles that we would use as a roadmap for the next four years. We are incredibly grateful for your perspective, your partnership, and your dedication to helping improve the behavioral health of individuals and communities as we work to address these areas.

I want to take a few moments to highlight just a few of our collaborative efforts.

First, our collective work to address substance use and overdose prevention is historic. HHS’ Overdose Prevention Strategy promoted ground-breaking research and advanced the four principles of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery supports and services. Now, our nation is seeing a 14.5% decline in overdose deaths – the first decline in five years – and we have seen a more than 36% increase in naloxone access over the past four years, nationwide. In addition, grantees from SAMHSA’s State and Tribal Opioid Response Grant program – our largest grant program addressing substance use and overdose - have treated nearly 1.3 million people, distributed over 10 million naloxone kits and 16 million fentanyl test strips, and reversed more than 551,000 overdoses in the past four years. Then, our collaborative work to make permanent the COVID-19 flexibilities to CFR Part 8 reversed an outdated, 20+ year-old policy and expanded access to substance use treatment.

Now, more communities have access to life-saving drug overdose reversal medication, harm reduction strategies, treatment, and recovery supports and services than ever before. Your strong commitment to addressing overdose has been truly transformative.

Second, our collaborative work to enhance suicide prevention and mental health services is unprecedented. Four years ago, the nation’s mental health and crisis care system was fractured, inconsistent, and difficult to access. Today, thanks to your extraordinary efforts, we are transforming crisis care into one that provides millions of Americans with culturally competent, compassionate crisis counseling, and crisis stabilization services. With your contributions and expertise we updated the nation’s 10-year-old National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP). Then through your hard work and shared vision, we were able to use SAMHSA’s $1.5 billion investment into the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to significantly increase the number of crisis counselors, and add equitable supports and services such as American Sign Language, Spanish language, and LGBTQIA+ support. Additionally, we have come together to support one of the largest information and awareness campaigns in SAMHSA history so that individuals in crisis know that the 988 Lifeline is available. All of these efforts, and more, have led to a remarkable number of contacts to the Lifeline. In less than three years, there were more than 12.8 million contacts via call, text, and chat, demonstrating the continued need for this life-saving service.

I’d like to also note how grateful I am for your support in growing SAMHSA’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model from about 67 CCBHCs to more than 500. This model continues to show positive improvements in areas such as a client’s overall mental health, homelessness, and substance usage, and we’re eager to continue adding two more states to the demonstration every two years for the next ten years. Communities previously facing shortages in behavioral health providers and services now have someone to call and a place to go 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter who they are, where they live, or their ability to pay.

SAMHSA’s broader, three-part vision for how we reimagined the nation’s crisis care continuum – someone to talk to, someone to respond, and a safe place for help – is coming to life because of your help and shared vision. I am deeply grateful for your partnership and dedication to preventing suicide, addressing system gaps, and building critical connections to sustain and improve crisis care across the nation. Your work is truly making a difference.

Third, together we’ve made great strides to promote resilience and emotional health for young people and their families. We have truly come together to help the many young people who are facing high levels of anxiety, depression, and feelings of loneliness because of their complex needs and challenges presented by modern society. I am so appreciative of the time, collaboration, and support from the diverse array of agencies, organizations, and individuals with lived experiences who have been a part of the Kids Online Health and Safety (KOHS) Task Force and Maternal Mental Health Task Force. These two task forces are firsts in our nation’s history and the perspectives from each member have been invaluable.

In addition, SAMHSA’s Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT), Project AWARE – Advancing Awareness and Resiliency in Education, and other school-based mental health supports and services are continuing to exponentially grow and connect more children to behavioral health care than ever before. With your work and support, about two million individuals have been trained in mental health, prevention, or promotion; more than 1,500 school- and state-based mental health policies have been revised; and more than 320,000 young people have been connected to mental health supports and services through MHAT and Project AWARE. Thank you for working with us to improve the behavioral health of young people, their families, and caregivers.

Fourth, we’ve advanced important work integrating behavioral and physical health care. None of these milestones would have been possible without the remarkable work of SAMHSA grantees implementing programs like SAMHSA’s Promoting Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health Care (PIPBHC). Grantees have significantly improved health outcomes for individuals with serious mental illness or chronic diseases. For example, in 2024, grantees reported reductions of 30% or more in feelings of depression and hopelessness, along with notable decreases in hospitalizations, incarcerations, homelessness, and emergency room visits.

SAMHSA grantees have also made tremendous progress in expanding the reach of the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) public health model to primary care, community health settings, and schools for children, adolescents, and adults. Their work resulted in a 128.8% increase in clients reporting no use of alcohol or illegal drugs at their six-month follow-up.

Additionally, we are appreciative of your support as we announced SAMHSA’s first funding opportunity to implement the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM), which is designed to identify and treat behavioral health conditions in primary care settings.

Thanks to the innovative efforts of SAMHSA grantees, the integration of behavioral and physical health care will continue. We deeply appreciate the tireless commitment and impactful work of every grantee who has brought these initiatives to life.

Fifth, our work to strengthen and support the behavioral health workforce continues. SAMHSA’s progress in strengthening and supporting the behavioral health workforce would not have been possible without the incredible efforts of grantees and stakeholders.

Together, we’ve introduced culturally-focused workforce resources and new tools like the Behavioral Health Workforce Career Navigator. New Centers of Excellence have been funded to support American Indians and Alaska Natives, Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, and women, all firsts in SAMHSA history. Your contributions have also accelerated the adoption of peer support workforce standards, enabling greater recognition and integration of this vital workforce. With more than 82,000 peer support workers now in the field, we’re already seeing their impact on augmenting provider resources.

These milestones reflect our collaborative commitments to ensure behavioral health is equitable, inclusive, and accessible to some of the most vulnerable and at-risk populations. Your work is creating a stronger, more inclusive behavioral health system for everyone.

Finally, our partnerships and work incorporating SAMHSA’s four core principles of equity, trauma-based care, data and evidence, and recovery, throughout behavioral health supports and services have been remarkable.

Through the leadership of SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity (OBHE) and dedication from SAMHSA grantees, we’ve refined and developed quality improvement plans to address disparities through the Disparity Impact Strategy 2.0. We’ve also expanded access for non-English preferred speakers by implementing a Language Access Plan and launching Spanish language tools such as EncuentraApoyo.gov. Together, we’re identifying areas of significant need and helping more people identify resources and explore treatment options than ever before.

Next, with the release of SAMHSA’s first Data Strategy, our collaborative efforts with grantees and stakeholders are improving how we collect, maintain, and disseminate high-quality data. For the first time in SAMHSA history, we published equity-focused products using data from our National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to help inform and guide behavioral health efforts. We are so pleased to make this data available so together, we can reach historically underserved and underrepresented populations.

We’re also seeing grantees and stakeholders continue important trauma-informed work through programs like ReCAST, Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma. ReCAST grantees are helping young people and their families who experienced community trauma connect to mental health services and training the mental health workforce on topics like violence prevention and other trauma-informed approaches.

Finally, our work in recovery is truly possible because of your support. I’m so pleased to have established the first-ever Office of Recovery (OR), and I’m grateful for your continuous input and guidance to help inform our work. Together, we have improved recovery-focused supports and services like recovery housing; identified opportunities to partner across communities; and truly lifted up the voices of individuals in recovery through SAMHSA’s Art of Recovery and the Recovery Challenge, for example. And we’re continuing to strengthen the ecosystems that promote recovery through health, home, purpose, and community.

Even with this remarkable progress, we have so much more to do. We all know someone affected by mental health or substance use conditions and this makes our work as important today, as it was four years ago.

As my tenure concludes, I’d like to share how being part of such an intelligent and passionate team at SAMHSA has been incredibly fulfilling. When I was first appointed, it felt like I was coming home. I was so looking forward to getting started in this role as Assistant Secretary. I believed doing this work would be a true team effort and would take a village. And that’s what created, together.

The village that stands today is deeply committed and passionate about helping advance the behavioral health of our nation and helping individuals and communities address behavioral health challenges. I am so appreciative of your hard work and invaluable partnerships throughout my tenure.

Thank you for being part of our village. I am truly grateful. I look forward to seeing this wonderful momentum continue.

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon
Assistant Secretary
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration