Transcripts For CSPAN White House Mental Health Summit Part 2 20240713

Hello everyone we will go ahead and start the final panel today im kde sullivan at the department of justice i just want to say thank you so much to the white house and the president the Domestic Policy Council steve wagner, thank you so much for hosting this and taking this serious issue and elevating it in this way thanks to all participants and at this time i have the easiest job of all the moderators today because look at this amazing panel and i have to do very little introductions and i will start with a man President Trump talks about secretary carson leads us at head currently but i just want to point out he has had an amazing career as a doctor and is a passionate advocate for housing issues in this country we cannot ask for anyone better. Thank you so much. I just want to point out with the department of justice you have done some amazing work to highlight issues with landlord tenants to make sure they are protected. We appreciate that but we have had the opportunity with that issue so with that if you can make remarks, thank you. It is a pleasure to share with you some thoughts on Mental Illness and i want to thank President Trump for showing up in this area and this is something he has been very concerned about and not just because of all the crazy people he has to deal with up on the hill he has given a lot of serious thought to this issue and to help with the 47 Million People American Adults living with some form of Mental Illness to recognize the nations opioid epidemic. That takes so holistic approach to recognize is not just physical structure about a place where social cultural and economic engines are formed in places where families are raised and memories created and education and opportunity begins. That means we dont just need Healthy Homes but Healthy People living inside of those homes and when the problems facing living with Mental Illness go unresolved its usually not out of credulous or people who are evil but its because people dont think about these issues. Coming from a long career in medicine with focus on the human brain a Mental Illness and the health of the mind obviously this is a very important subject to me. In fact when i entered middle school i thought i would be a psychiatrist i was a psych major in college i had an interesting professor i was gonna be a great psychoanalyst prickle obviously went from the intangible to the tangible aspects of the brain. But really i have remained very concerned about Mental Health in general. When the child has a brain condition that requires surgery, so often it can affect the behavior it can be disturbing until the problem is fixed sometimes it is the first manifestation by working it with so many hardships i learned a beautiful lesson that just because you have the condition that renders you abnormal doesnt mean you have fun dont have significant potential everybody has dreams and the role of this administration is to help all americans to realize those dreams that are possible when applied to godgiven talent. The first steps to help is getting healthy and there are a number of ways we are working on that. First, head her head housing and urban development often raffles for those who do not have a house or home. Homelessness is an issue impacting cities across the country and Mental Illness often plays a significant role leading to maintain a home. And it is true when it comes to veterans who frequently have some significant problems that have been caused by them joining the military. People were never actually on the front lines in combat but the artillery is firing her having a concussive injury to your brain that has artie shown the same kind of changes that we have seen in professional Football Players so this is not to be taken lightly by any stretch of the imagination. And my time as secretary having a chance to walk through the streets of skid row, shelters and new hampshires yesterday and san antonio meeting with veterans who are facing a lot of hardships and it really is a terrible situation. Fortunately we are making great strides. Our recent 2019. In Time Homeless data shows 800 more Homeless Veterans were housed between 2018 and 2019 continuing a nationwide decline to reduce almost a 50 percent decline of Homeless Veterans over the last decade and this accelerated over the last couple of years and this progress has prompted 78 communities in 33 states to declare an end to veteran homelessness in our country connecticut virginia and delaware have also declared an end to veteran homelessness which means more veterans are off the street with a place to call home. Much of this can be contributed to the continuum of care program the Grant Program that provided a record two. 3 billion to support thousands of local homelessness and hud administered help to Homeless Veterans from the hud program that provides housing and the v. A. Provides the Clinical Services and management services. We tried to provide housing that doesnt Work Services just doesnt work but provided together we have a large percentage of people being able to move on to better facility like yesterday in texas 90 percent of the people who come in are actually able to graduate into selfsufficiency. In the past decade more than 100,000 vouchers have been awarded to this program serving the needs of 170,000 Homeless Veterans. The program got a shot in the arm yesterday when we announced 23 million more dollars to 16 local agencies to continue and expand this Program Going beyond veterans homelessness for all groups the latest data found once in the state of california experiences 60 percent increase of homelessness the trend would have been down again this year for the entire country in california they have restrictive zoning laws and development of Affordable Housing is made almost impossible we are continuing to work with them i have a call with mayor garcetti in about half an hour to see if we can bring some common sense to this. But contrary to its happening in california finance reforms to address how to best serve Affordable Housing so based on evidence. Many of you have medical backgrounds and you appreciate doing things and thats not so much the case. And work very hard to twist a lot of arms with that ideology. But these efforts are further supported by the white House Counsel to Affordable Housing to have a privilege to hearing that to remove those barriers that are preventing you from getting housing and those that struggle with Mental Health to struggle with adequate housing and part of the councils work has issued a request for information the rfi for all of the stakeholders to submit to us information that they have on things that are preventing Affordable Housing and we invite all of you contributors to that. Mental illness is often linked to Substance Abuse and i think youve heard quite a bit about that today so i will exercise that portion other than point out in the city like boston Drug Overdose is the leading cause of death among the homeless population. 81 percent of those overdoses are from opioids. It is a real menace and a crisis of hope and another area is bringing hope to people yesterday we opened the h in Vision Center that uses what is already in existence to bring them under the same roof to make them available for people who have been chronically dependent so they can climb those letters of opportunity and realize the American Dream is for themselves i look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and my fellow cabinet members with all of you here as we tackle some of these problems which i think we are eminently capable of fixin fixing, particularly when we recognize that we the American People are not each others enemy and we dont allow people to foment all this hatred and discord and actually focus on our real issues. Can the spirit of america can certainly solve this problem as well. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you doctor carson for taking the time to speak with us now someone who i truly do not believe needs an introduction is Kellyanne Conway she is the counselor to the president. She has an extremely robust background in politics and policy but i will tell you she is smart and feels these issues very deeply and compassionate and caring we are so fortunate to have her working for us with this president and in particular with the Opioid Crisis leading us out of the crisis has been something i think has to be one of your greatest accomplishment accomplishments. Thank you very much. [applause] it has been a privilege and a blessing to work in this white house on behalf of the country i love so dearly i never thought i would be in Public Service at my age but it is something i will treasure because i think it has great real people impact when those who have suffered the loss of loved ones are they themselves are suffering or feel they got a chip on a possible job opportunity or housing opportunity to feel that not on paper was somebody signing something that they feel they could get their dignity back and their feet back on the ground and frankly thats why so many of us work here and continue to work here. You could be one tiny molecule the president asked me early on if i would help to lead his effort with the administration to the Opioid Crisis but also the drug demand and supply crisis its no accident he just described it that way to all of you in the last half hour its opioids and meth and heroin and cocaine and fentanyl marijuana use using by pregnant women for an issue the president talked about recently and that means we refer to it as the crisis nextdoor for two reasons because it is an discriminant the crisis is indiscriminate affects all races both genders all age groups all political affiliation every geographic area, god bless you. And it is indiscriminate not just any Geographic Group that has seeped into every nook and cranny and the second reason refer to it as the crisis nextdoor what i want to touch upon is that we want people to know they are not alone and those of this use disorder or any type of hopelessness that is so powerful to so Many Americans we feel duty bound that stigma and silence and for those who will suffer and that we believe it is a disease not a moral failing it is a disease the parallels between the two as a layperson are extraordinary and eerie in many ways if you look at the statistics Mental Illness and Substance Abuse suicide the leading cause of death we just cannot have that. We should not bear that or look the other way when we know the statistics behind the statistics are people that we know and dont know but every single one has a value and is in need of our help. What i think also about the drug crisis think about the new wonderful statistics that should hearten every one of us and the president believes in each and every one of us has an effect of these positive statistics for the First Time Since 1990 we have a decline in overall overdose death due to drugs five. 1 percent across the board it is down precipitously more in the state of ohio. [applause] it is tremendous. In ohio we are now down 24 percent off the peak in iowa 23 percent. New hampshire 11 percent. West virginia the hardest hit 9 percent so at least were turning in the right direction and i see many people are in their chair. So i you have been on the frontlines for a very long time and you have been day by day and stepbystep with setbacks wondering where is the money where is the help. Why doesnt somebody raise more money and awareness and education information. I feel that we are chipping away to say slowly doesnt change overnight so we do feel there are little shades of hope that we should keep pushing forward but i would like to tell you something that is country incredibly divided especially this week a country that is divided there is no division whatsoever when it came time for Congress Last year to vote with little comprehensive peace of legislation hr six past with every single democratic vote. Think about that people say would like to vote for this or the trade deal or the Workforce Development but i want to win. Hr six is so overwhelmingly a win for people of this country including every single democrat so that was wonderful was an important bipartisan moment since he has been here because theres money for treatment and recovery and patient assisted treatment and more important resources respect for first it responders Border Patrol those that are out at their own peril i dont know what they will find when they look in the car in search and eight yearold whos running over by himself and carrying illicit drugs they dont know what they will see or what the dogs will find but yet they have more money to do that they have the respect of the entire administration. We have so much more money for prevention education and Workforce Development, the number of babies born taken the first breath of life already chemically dependent is five times the level of the tribal communities we are doing something about that the first lady who have had a great enormous privilege of working with she has raised attention to this issue another issues so the newborn and the mother can Stay Together its better for the newborn and the mother. She is already wracked with guilt about what has happened and now she and her newborn are safe and they have survived to keep them together even just today there was an announcement of a new grant to the Moms Initiative maternal. Maternal opioid something but it was a positive. The upshot is eight or nine coordinating agencies and a lot more money and awareness some people get the information they need a lot of people dont know its harmful to the baby in utero theyve never been told thats the back to back successful feedback days it such a simple message and free of charge to tell americans in your community and circle of life you can bring back the unused expired unneeded drugs no questions asked just bring them back google has been an amazing partner and facebook and others but google has invested so much money and personnel and time in connecting americans with 5200 and counting places to return those unused drugs and medical devices type into the google bar and use prescription or takeback that tells you immediately how to get there. So i think the private sector sees from the Public Sector they step up we are very aware of what weve been doing for years on Substance Abuse and violence of homelessness and we know it all runs together for im also very happy to report there seems to be a greater awareness words like fentanyl in narcan. That is incredibly important because Everyday Americans can see that we should end the First Advisory that we should arm ourselves with narcan and know how to use it you really could save a life i know we are a layperson we have medical professionals but for us to get that message out we spend so much time talking about things that are not as relevant or urgent is what we talk about today and that is our one criticism when i talk about is incomplete coverage we share joint custody of the country and we should find a responsible way to coparent there is so many things were not telling americans and the most important measure in that regard recently is defined treatment. Gov locator that locator shows the technological abilities that government has so you can customize and type in veteran medicaid Medicare Private insurance temporary outpatient i need temporary inpatient you can customize it by gender or age before it was quantity over quality then it sends 500 locations you dont go to a single because its so overwhelming now it really is for you and that is a great example of a smarter and more responsive federal government trying to align itself with the great efforts you have made over the decades semi final message is very simple, thank you the president thinks you you saw his remarks before but it didnt include what he said you think youre underappreciated and nobody sees your work it is very appreciated and then it has such a real people impact of rpi that we strive for and that just made a little bit of difference every single day from the bottom of my heart thank you and god bless you. [applause] runs the National Drug policy. Jim, if you want to make some comments, thank you. Mr. Carroll is this better . I feel like i have many titles. The director is probably not a title you are familiar with. It is known as the u. S. Drug czar. I am thinking that i have ben to my left, kelly and to my right, and katie to my right, i think my new title should be a thorn between roses. As the director, i am charged with the responsibility to make sure that the 36 billion that the government spends is consistent with the president s view of how to tackle this issue. Im extraordinarily blessed, i have a president that communicates on the issue from the beginning. And that is why i have so many other people out there fighting this. When before have you heard a secretary of hud talking about ubstance abuse disorder . The counselor to the president , a woman who quite frankly the person in the white house who sees the president more than anybody else here, talking about it, and getting the president to talk about it . You realize that this is the first president to talk about fentanyl. The Community Drug programs have been around for a long time. We never had a president who has talked about the 800 drugfree Community Programs and it has met with these kids in the schools. We never had a president before talk about the synthetic drugs coming into our country, that are killing so many people with just a few grains of salt, that size. So i am fortunate to be put to share this mission with some incredibly talented people that the president hand selected. You hear about the secretary talking about this, but when i have the ability to call any member of the cabinet, starting with kellyanne, to say we need to see the president , chances are she has already spoken to him about it. And that is because we have a commitment from you all. And when i look in the crowd, i see a lot of faces i know. I have one blessing you dont. I get to leave d. C. Frequently, and so i see the crowd and i see so many people i have met on the road when i am traveling around the country. One thing is clear. We talked about words and new words you hear from the president. One word i think we need to talk about today is stigma. And it is the stigma of Mental Illness and at stigma associated with it and with Substance Abuse disorder. As kellyanne knows, when i first started talking about this job, i didnt tell people why. I asked kellyanne if i could work on this issue, if i could assist her, but i did not tell her why. T was because a few months before, my wife called me and said come home. We are in a crisis. And i did not know it. For reasons it is not my story to tell, but a Family Member came to us and said i have a, dependency to opioids it started with a prescription and i need help. Im about to go down a bad path. And i am embarrassed to tell you and i am embarrassed to tell you that i didnt tell kellyanne and i didnt tell the president when i talked about taking this job why wanted to. , i got to ondcp, i met some extraordinarily talented staff nd some are today. They made me realize that i needed to come forward and say, i am a parent and i have a Family Member, and this is why i am here. O that is why i am driven. You hear about it because it is the crisis nextdoor. You have heard of the president be very open that his brother fred died of addiction to alcohol. So we have a president who is passionate. Kellyanne and alex they all know someone. And that is why under this administration, we have more money trying to get the workforce ready so when there is less stigma and people are willing to come forward, we have professionals there. We are funding more addiction medicine fellowships than ever before. One thing that i also do not think that people who do not study the administration closely like i do, when i am looking at the 36 billion is they think, ok how much is this president , and this Administration Spending on Law Enforcement . Ill bet 30 billion of it, and i ask people on the road i have heard all kinds of things, 35 billion out of 36 billion. I tell them, no, this administration is spending more money on treatment and prevention of than Law Enforcement. We have asked congress and we work very closely with congress to try to get these appropriations because we realize, we talked about it earlier, that we will not arrest our way out of this problem. We are funding more courts out of my office than ever before. We have criminal Justice Reform that has been led by Jared Kushner and Kellyanne Conway as well, to make sure those who have turned their life around are able to get back to employment, get housing, and to be able to mend relationships with their families. And while we are talking about that, i think both kellyanne and ben talked about the cooccurring problem that is so typically found with folks who have any Mental Illness medical illness. The problem of that they are so much more likely, well over 50 more likely to try to illicit drug use. There are a variety of factors. We could talk about that all day. But we know not only are they victimized in terms of housing and victimized in terms of issues, they are also victimized because they are the hardest to reach. They are the hardest to explain why, dont try this substance. And if they are the hardest ones to comprehend because the illness that they are facing, with any Mental Illness is one , of understanding and compassion. Sometimes a lack of friendship and loneliness of someone to be there to say, dont try that, dont do that. It is hard for me not to think about my job every day and the blessings i have with my family. And i get to be able to say that my colleagues are also my friends, who are there for me. So often the people you are treating, the people in your housing dont have that luxury to be able to call up a friend, a colleague, or a Family Member. So that is what we are passionate about, making sure that the about 200 people a day who are dying from various Drug Overdoses have a shoulder to cry on, and an arm to put around them, and sometimes a hand to hold. That is where you come in. You are providing that lifeline. We can give you the funds and we can try to make sure it is getting to the right place but , at the end of the day, the president understands because you heard him talk about it. It is about that relationship. That is why he was thanking you. It is about your ability to reach people and touch people in ways and that i cant. I got a chance to go to phoenix i got a chance to go to a residential facility in arlington, virginia nearby, and i went and met with the eople. It was my third or fourth visit to the Phoenix House in arlington. It is a beautiful way to make sure some of the programs that kellyanne and i are so passionate at the end of the day it is our responsibility to the president and the American People that it is working. I think you very much for allowing us the opportunity to close on this note. Because we have a 5 reduction in the number of americans dying, because we are making sure there are addiction fellowships. There is now at gw a masters of health and addiction medicine it was just announced. I dont know what your mascot is, but congratulations. Colonials. We made some remarkable achievements. As i have talked about, we talked about more money for treatment more money for , prevention, and we could talk about what the attorney general as done. But at the end of the day these , arent numbers, they are people, and that is what we need to remember. So it is great to be with you today. I am sorry you had to go through so many events to end up as me with me is the final speaker but its been great to be able to be here with you. Thank you. [applause] ms. Sullivan apparently, we have questions. Ok, first of all i have to say what i love about working for the administration is we have such a cando attitude. And i want to say that when the president or attorney general, especially attorney general barr says i would like to work on this problem and we need a solution, then you know within the next week they are going to expect you to have a solution. One of the things that you have done, kellyanne, is to leverage federal resources. I am wondering as we envision the future as we continue to work on the drug crisis in this country, addiction crisis and Mental Illness, what do you think are the next necessary steps or things you would like to see, the wish list, if you ill . Kellyanne there is so much to do. One of the things weve been able to do in the white house complex is do a little bit of forensic analysis. What kind of resources do they have . It includes many. It is manpower. You do find, if you are an utsider looking in, you have said for years, why is it so expansive and expensive and invasive and intrusive in the government . We have all of these employees and what do they all do . So when i started the opioid abinet, bringing together 13 and 14 departments and agencies together the question is, what are you doing together . Ome knew right away and some had to go back and do research and see. Sure enough, there are different agencies and departments that have visibility and authority into the overall drug crisis that you may not think of. Hud and labor. We involve them in the cabinet so that the programs and resources they have broadcast to the world that when you are lucky enough to get through one of the Drug Court Treatment programs, and you emerge the other side, our work is not done. Where is the job, housing, skills training . We want to run around and say we have 7. 1 million available jobs and more people that are looking for jobs. But there are people looking for jobs being denied for any number of reasons. So we involve them and away look in the private sector like those in indiana, where i had the privilege of going with a couple of the cabinet members and our second lady. It is one of many of a growing number of employers in the country where if you fail a drug test, instead of firing you and taking away from you your job, which is your springboard to any type of recovery in the end and reassimilation instead of firing you, they hold the job open for you but they demand that you immediately enter a treatment program. And you keep the skills training going. That is a private sector solution that the federal government can amplify and tell thers, look at this model or , you can do this too. E have the usual suspects like dhs doj, ondcp, hhs, fda, and , he rest, cdc, surgeon general, but we also had the state department involved. They studied at the cartels, the Business Models and of the flow of the manufacturing and marketing and money and movement that goes on but the trafficking on with the trafficking and the drug cartels. We have also involved other departments and agencies that you know education, trying to , get this into the curriculum and trying to encourage different districts to adopt it or different Law Enforcement First Responder groups to go back in and talk about this to the schoolchildren or offer free advice on the weekends. First and foremost, it is finding about what everyone is doing and empowering and encouraging and sometimes compelling them to show what they are doing, what is produced. And also to say what would you do next . What are the goals . And i think one of the greatest things moving forward is to make sure that people who are on the front lines in the states, far away from d. C. , understand that we are here as a resource and as a partner. And i am thrilled to know and that the president and the first lady and the Vice President and the second lady and so many people have given this top shelf priority. However, we are not replacing your judgment with ours. You know best. Those who are closest to the people know best. That is why the drugfree Community Grants and to the drug ourts are so important, that money is meant to get directly to the places and the nooks and crannies of the country where it can be immediately deployed. Part of it is information and one thing that is next for us is these analogs. We are pushing toward the end of the year to make sure that we continue them and expanded them. That will be a big one. And also to make people like china be held to account. China doesnt want to be the u. S. s most prolific and successful drug dealer. The president said the president xi one year ago at the g20, you have to get them out of our country. He is telling mexico we are at war with the drugs, what are you doing . Get it out. We need to hold people to account and stop looking the other way and say it is too big to tackle. We tried and failed, too big to tackle. Too big is exactly why you do start to tackle it. It is changing the ethos and the modus operandi and also making sure that we go forward day by day and try to coordinate and fund and bring along those who are closest to the people in need. Mr. Carroll can i add to that . Ms. Sullivan i was going to give you your own question, but go ahead. Mr. Carroll i mentioned how fortunate i was to have this staff. Cece, she has been here more than a few years working on these issues, but i also have been able to bring a whole government approach. How many of you believe you live in a rural area . Who is most rural . Mississippi. Mr. Carroll there you go. We will bless mississippi. And miss hazelette, we brought her from the department of agriculture to work on rural issues involving Substance Use disorder, involving the opioids and the other drugs flowing into our communities. And working with secretary perdue we launched a website , here at the white house with many thanks to ann, who has been traveling probably more than i am, for a website just for Rural America dealing with Substance Use disorders and to make sure they can go to this one place to find it. We also brought folks over from the department of education. We now have a School Resource guide working with the department of education here at the white house on this issue for teachers, educators, staff, so they have examples of curriculum to use with their students. One thing is very clear, we are not going to have a one National Curriculum on Drug Prevention for eighthgraders. We have to let local communities decide how to work this best. Hat is how we do it with the drugfree Community Programs and that is what we did with the School Resource guide, so people can go in, teachers, educators, to see curriculum other teachers have developed. They can look what has a fifth grade teacher done . They can see examples. And i will tell you if you go , visit the website, just google School Resource guide and he will be able to find it it wont , be the worlds flashiest, prettiest website. It will get there in another month or so, it will look extraordinarily pretty. But right now it is useful. Dont let perfect become the enemy of the good. It is a useful site. It works. You can go to it and use the resources. Right now, it is available for teachers out there. There is one that looks perfect right now. But like we said, you can go in by zip code and find one in your area. And it is a remarkable tool to be able to find and show people about. It is a great example of all of these departments and agencies coming together. Ms. Sullivan i want to thank you so much and coming from the department of justice, and on behalf of the attorney general these issues are of utmost importance. We work hand in hand with both ondcp and the white house. And i want to thank all of you. I want to stress how the federal government does interrelate with our public partners. Kellyanne, you brought up some amazing examples of that. I would love to delve into that more deeply, but we are out of time. Thank you very much. I think we are ready for closing remarks. Thank you. [applause] mr. Carroll it is working . Thanks. I am not going to keep you any longer. I just want to thank you all for coming. On behalf of the Domestic Policy Council, i want to thank you for all the work you do and work you will be doing. We have started a major push here on Mental Health treatment. You have heard about the opioid fight that we began in the very beginning and we made more progress against opioids than we have on the serious Mental Health side, but it is just beginning. We got 328 million in Additional Resources in the funding bill that just passed today. And there will be more announcements in 2020 with new opportunities and strategies to fight serious Mental Health disease and help people with serious Mental Health disease. I know it has been a long day and you have got to be a little tired, but again, i want to thank you and let you know that we need your help at the state and local level, and we need your help at the expert level to get this done. This president is committed to it and we have a full administration that really wants to make an impact here. Thank you, again. [applause] thank you. Cspans Live Campaign 2020 coverage continues saturday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern with hawaii congresswoman in hudson, nanch. Sunday at 2 00 p. M. Eastern. Former Vice President biden in new hampshire. Monday at 2 00 p. M. Eastern. Andrew yang in nashua, nanch and Elizabeth Warren in boston. Live on cspan online at cspan. Org or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Go shopping and see what is now available at the cspan online store including our all new campaign 2020 tshirts, sweatshirts and hats. Go to c spanstore. Org. Jane fonda, lily tomlin and environmental as part of weekly demonstrations, occurring through thed in of january through the end of january called fire drill fridays. After remarks, the speakers marched to the Capitol Steps in which several people, including lily tomlin, were arrested during the protests. [applause]