21st Century CURES Act

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In December 2016, Congress passed and President Obama signed the 21st Century CURES Act to bring needed reforms to our nation’s mental health system and provide federal support to states and localities seeking to find more effective ways to solve the problem. The 300+ page bill authorizes $1 billion in grants for states over two years to fight the opioid epidemic; encourages states to provide community-based alternatives to institutionalization for those with serious mental illness; seeks to make treatment programs more accessible, including for the justice-involved population; seeks to speed development of new medicines and medical devices; seeks to increase the number of crisis mental health beds; authorizes an additional nearly $5 billion for new medical research; strengthens mental health parity requirements; reauthorizes the Mentally Ill Offender and Crime Reduction Act grant program; and, establishes an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use at the Department of Health and Human Services with experience in mental health and substance use treatment.

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View the section-by-section summary of the 21st Century CURES Act.