WASHINGTON DC (September 5, 2019) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles "Chuck" Grassley is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to explain why it hasn’t adopted recommendations to improve accountability of grants awarded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). His inquiry comes as recent government reports on trends in mass violence highlight serious mental-health issues as a common element among many perpetrators of mass violence.
In a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Sen Grassley cited a recent report by the US Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), which indicated that nearly half of the perpetrators of mass attacks in the last two years had been diagnosed or treated with mental illness prior to the attack. Last year alone, 67 percent of all perpetrators of mass attacks exhibited mental health symptoms prior to the attack.
While the vast majority of people who have mental illness are not violent, it is critical to ensure that limited federal resources are targeted to the most effective behavioral health-services. However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and HHS Inspector General found that SAMHSA, which makes grants to support these services, has not adequately tracked and evaluated all of its grant programs. The agency also did not consistently document funding decisions related to its grant awards in prior years, according to GAO, suggesting a continued need for enhanced internal oversight. SAMHSA has been slow to adopt recommendations by the government watchdogs to improve its program oversight.
In his letter, Sen Grassley called on HHS to adopt these watchdog agencies’ recommendations to enhance grant program oversight and better promote access to treatment of childhood trauma. Sen Grassley also requested an inventory of grant programs to prevent violence as well as metrics on grantee vetting and program performance.
Sen Grassley is the author of the EAGLES Act, which expands access to NTAC’s threat assessment and training programs to better identify and help individuals inclined toward violence so they do not become a threat to themselves or others.
Text of Sen Grassley’s letter to Azar at link.
