NV MUST INVEST IN YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH & EDUCATION BY PASSING AJR5

Nevada's mental health system has been underfunded for decades and has been the worst in the nation for years. It is particularly bad for Nevada's children.

While there were already concerns about youth mental health prior to the pandemic, the past two years have exposed children and adolescents to unprecedented events and a general sense of unpredictability in their lives.

Nevada needs sustainable, long-term funding to establish, educate, continue and expand programs to train, recruit, and retain mental health professionals, and to fill considerable gaps in Nevada's mental and behavioral health services system.

Nevada has an opportunity to create a longterm funding source directed towards mental health capacity building, without increasing taxes on Nevada residents or businesses, through a State Lottery.