What Has André Carson Done On Mental Health and Substance Abuse?

Indianapolis Is in Crisis. The Response Has Been Votes and Statements.

Friday, April 24

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Indianapolis, IN — Indianapolis is in a mental health crisis.

 

The numbers aren’t abstract. Marion County has consistently ranked among Indiana's most underserved counties for mental health resources relative to need. The opioid epidemic has devastated neighborhoods across this district—leaving behind grieving families, overwhelmed emergency rooms, and communities that have watched addiction hollow out entire blocks with no adequate system of care to catch the people falling through.

 

Indiana ranks among the worst states in the country for access to mental health treatment. The ratio of mental health providers to patients in Marion County leaves thousands of Indianapolis residents without access to care they desperately need. Crisis response in Indianapolis still defaults to law enforcement in situations that require clinician, a failure of both mental health policy and criminal justice policy that costs lives and perpetuates cycles of incarceration that no one benefits from.

 

André Carson has represented this city for 18 years.

 

He’s voted for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. He’s voted for legislation expanding access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. He’s supported funding increases for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. He’s issued statements when high-profile moments demanded a response.

 

But mental health parity on paper isn’t mental health parity in practice. Insurance companies have violated parity requirements for years with limited enforcement and the congressman with 18 years of seniority and two powerful committee assignments hasn’t made enforcement a visible public fight. The opioid epidemic has ravaged Indianapolis neighborhoods for over a decade and no comprehensive federal strategy specifically designed to address Marion County's unique intersection of poverty, trauma, and addiction has emerged from this office.

 

What serious mental health advocacy looks like in Congress is forcing hearings that put Indianapolis's crisis on the national agenda. Authoring legislation that funds mobile crisis response units as alternatives to law enforcement. Fighting for the community mental health center funding that would put clinicians in neighborhoods that have never had them. Pushing the Department of Health and Human Services to treat Indianapolis as a priority market for behavioral health investment. Building the coalition that makes mental health parity enforcement real rather than theoretical.

 

That work hasn’t been done at the scale this crisis demands.

 

The people who have fallen through the cracks—the Indianapolis residents cycling between emergency rooms, jails, and the streets because there is no adequate system to hold them—deserved a congressman who treated their crisis as a personal mission. Who showed up not just for the vote but for the fight. Who used 18 years of relationships and seniority to force the resources and the attention that Indianapolis's mental health crisis has long required.

 

"Indianapolis is in a mental health and substance abuse crisis that has been building for years," Hornedo said. "The opioid epidemic has devastated this community. Thousands of Indianapolis residents cannot access the mental health care they need. André Carson has cast the right votes when the bills came to the floor. But voting yes is not leadership. Leadership is forcing the conversation, authoring the solution, and making sure Indianapolis isn’t left behind when the resources are being distributed. That fight has been missing. The people falling through the cracks in this city deserved better than that."

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This is part of the Hornedo campaign's daily accountability series, What Has André Carson Done?, running through May 1st. Learn more at georgehornedo.com.

 

Indianapolis deserves more than a vote in Washington. It deserves a congressman who uses the full platform of the office to fight for federal resources, to force the conversation at every level of government, and to show up for this community before the cameras arrive. That's the standard. That's what's been missing.

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RECORD CHECK: The Center for Effective Lawmaking ranks Congressman Carson 197th out of 220 House Democrats in legislative effectiveness. Of his claimed 22 bills signed into law, 2 are standalone enacted bills—the Ariel Rios Federal Building naming and the Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site Act. 

 

73% of Congressman Carson's campaign funding comes from PACs, much of it from corporate PACs including AES Indiana, BlackRock, and defense contractors. Only 7% comes from small-dollar donors.

 

When Julia Carson held this seat, Indianapolis was a competitive Democratic stronghold that helped power statewide wins. Under André Carson, the 7th Congressional District has become the worst in Indiana for voter turnout and Democrats haven't won statewide since 2012.