Rep. Delgado joins members to push Congress to prioritize mental health

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WBNG) -- Congressman Antonio Delgado joined 59 other members of Congress to urge Congress to prioritize mental health issues.

The bipartisan group is urging Congress to add funding for mental health, substance use disorder treatment and medical research in the next COVID-19 relief package.

The group is pushing for these issues to be in that package due to the stress and disruption caused by the pandemic.

Congressman Delgado says state and local funding is going to be key.

"To support the kind of programs that address mental health, substance abuse," Delgado said. "These are the kind of things that our local governments are heavily invested in."

The bipartisan group says having mental and behavioral health support services is going to be a crucial component of recovering from the pandemic.