Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act of 2025
The Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our Communities Act of 2025 would amend the Public Health Service Act to create a national outreach and education effort focused on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. The bill aims to reduce stigma around behavioral health and substance use, improve access to culturally and linguistically appropriate services, and address data gaps by disaggregating information for AANHPI subgroups. It also requires formal studies on two critical areas: the behavioral health needs of AANHPI youth and the AANHPI behavioral health workforce, with findings to inform policy and program actions. The act would authorize modest federal funding to support these activities. Key elements include a coordinated outreach strategy involving multiple HHS agencies and community organizations, annual progress reports to Congress, and targeted research with disaggregated data to better understand subpopulations within AANHPI. The funding is relatively limited but focused on establishing and evaluating a national strategy, improving data, and expanding the AANHPI behavioral health workforce.
Key Points
- 1National AANHPI Behavioral Health Outreach and Education Strategy: Requires the Secretary to develop and implement a culturally and linguistically tailored outreach plan, coordinated with HHS agencies (NIH, CDC, Office of Minority Health) and community organizations, to reduce stigma and promote awareness of behavioral health symptoms and evidence-based treatments.
- 2Public Reporting and Evaluation: Beginning within one year of enactment and annually thereafter, the Secretary must report on how the strategy increased awareness of mental health and substance use disorders in AANHPI communities.
- 3Funding for Outreach Strategy: Authorizes $3,000,000 per fiscal year from 2026 through 2030 to support the national strategy.
- 4Systematic Review and Report on AANHPI Youth Behavioral Health: Requires a comprehensive review of prevalence, risk factors, root causes, suicide attempts, overdoses, and treatment among AANHPI youth, with a public report due within one year of enactment and ongoing data disaggregation.
- 5Systematic Review and Report on AANHPI Behavioral Health Workforce: Requires a review of the number, licensure, practice settings, language/cultural capabilities, barriers to education/training, and engagement with federal workforce programs for AANHPI behavioral health workers, with a public report due within one year and ongoing data disaggregation.
- 6Data Disaggregation and Privacy: Across all studies and reports, data must be broken out by race/ethnicity, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, region, disability status, and other relevant factors, while protecting privacy.
- 7Definitions and Scope: Defines AANHPI and “behavioral health worker” (licensed or certified providers across mental health and substance use disciplines). The term “Secretary” refers to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.