Delaware officials and local community partners joined the White House officials Monday to discuss President Biden’s priorities.
The meeting reflected on how the agenda laid out in Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this month has, and will, affect Delaware.
Many attendees highlighted the importance of Biden’s focus on mental health, protecting the environment, investing in infrastructure, and supporting veterans.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports over half of Americans say the pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health.
And in Delaware, suicide remains the 2nd leading cause of death amongst youth ages 10 - 24.
Rabbi Michael Beals is Chair of the Delaware Council of Faith-Based Partnerships. He says Biden’s focus on mental health comes from a place of empathy.
“In President Biden’s State of the Union address, he has done much to begin the process of equalizing mental health and physical health,” Beals explained. “As a rabbi, and as a parent in Delaware, I could not be more grateful.”
The Biden Administration says it’s taken note of COVID’s effect on mental health, and laid out a groundwork for combatting the youth mental health crisis across the country.
This means helping children get back on track with schooling, holding social media platforms accountable for exacerbating negative mental health outcomes, and getting more Americans the mental health services they need.
And New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer pointed to the Biden Administration giving local governments the freedom to address specific problems in their communities.
“Our federal government not only is providing tremendous support here in New Castle County, and not only providing tremendous support to the over 35,000 counties, cities, and towns across our country, this administration is also providing unprecedented levels of discretion to communities to build our own future,” said Meyer.
Meyer added while the administration is providing the vision, resources, and agenda - local governments are refining and executing that vision.
In New Castle County, he says that’s meant investing American Rescue Plan funding on building community efforts in areas such as employment, equity, and housing.
