{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-maloney-porter-release-findings-from-first-comprehensive-survey-of-covid-19-outbreaks-in-residential-behavioral-health-and-addiction-treatment-programs", "Warren, Maloney, Porter Release Findings from First Comprehensive Survey of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Residential Behavioral Health and Addiction Treatment Programs", "2020-12-01", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 01, 2020\n\t\t\t Warren, Maloney, Porter Release Findings from First Comprehensive Survey of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Residential Behavioral Health and Addiction Treatment Programs \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tInvestigation\r\nFindings (PDF) Washington, DC - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren\r\n(D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)\r\nand Senate Aging Committees, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), the\r\nChairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Congresswoman\r\nKatie Porter (D-Calif.), a member of Oversight and Reform Committee,\r\nreleased the findings from their investigation into the effects of the novel\r\ncoronavirus in residential behavioral health and addiction treatment\r\nfacilities, and the actions these facilities are taking to prevent and mitigate\r\noutbreaks when they do occur. The lawmakers' investigation, the first national survey of coronavirus in\r\nresidential behavioral health and addiction treatment facilities, revealed that\r\nmore than half of residential behavioral health facilities covered by the\r\nsurvey had at least one coronavirus case, while one in seven facilities had\r\nlarger outbreaks. The investigation also found that limited testing capacity\r\nhas prevented residential behavioral health programs from conducting routine\r\ntesting of their patients and staff, that facilities' paid sick leave policies\r\ndo not provide sufficient coverage for all workers, and that fewer patients\r\nhave been able to receive inpatient care during the pandemic despite an\r\nincreased need for services. These findings highlight the need for greater\r\nfederal support for residential behavioral health programs during the pandemic. \"The economic turmoil and social isolation caused by the coronavirus\r\npandemic has increased the need for substance use disorder, addiction, and\r\nmental health treatment. Our investigation confirms that, just like nursing\r\nhomes and assisted living facilities, residential behavioral health and\r\naddiction treatment facilities present significant risks for COVID-19\r\noutbreaks. The federal government needs to ensure that these facilities are\r\ngetting the test supplies, personal protective equipment and funding they need\r\nto prevent outbreaks so that patients can seek safe inpatient treatment and\r\ncare,\" said Senator Warren. \"As coronavirus cases continue to spike across the United States, we\r\nmust make every effort to protect those who are most vulnerable during this\r\npandemic-including those seeking treatment for substance use disorder,\r\naddiction, and mental illness. Our investigation has identified areas where the\r\nfederal government can support behavioral health and addiction treatment\r\nfacilities in their critical work, and our report makes commonsense\r\nrecommendations to better ensure that patients and staff in these facilities\r\nare adequately protected from the coronavirus,\" said Chairwoman\r\nMaloney. \"The pandemic is attacking both our physical and mental health.\r\nMillions of Americans are isolated, while countless others mourn the loss of\r\nloved ones to COVID-19,\" Congresswoman Porter said. \"It's\r\nessential the federal government fully address the mental health needs of our\r\ncommunities during this challenging time, which starts with providing our\r\nbehavioral health centers with the necessary tools to treat those in crisis\r\nsafely, including personal protective equipment and coronavirus testing\r\nsupplies.\" The lawmakers' investigation found: Residential behavioral health facilities' crucial role in helping\r\nindividuals in need of treatment for substance abuse disorders is particularly\r\nimportant during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time that mental\r\nhealth and substance use disorder needs have increased, providers are operating\r\nwith limited capacity and resources. Given these needs, federal, state, and\r\nlocal governments should provide all necessary assistance and ensure that these\r\nfacilities have adequate testing, personal protective equipment (PPE), and\r\nother resources needed to prevent and control the disease. More than half of residential behavioral health facilities covered\r\nby the survey had at least one case of COVID-19, and one in seven facilities\r\nhad wider outbreaks. More than 50% of the behavioral health facilities\r\nin the survey had at least one case of COVID-19, and 14% had larger outbreaks\r\nof ten or more cases. The surveyed providers indicated that, as of August 2020,\r\n1,785 patients and 2,200 staff members had been diagnosed with COVID-19. This\r\nrepresents an infection rate of 1.8% for patients and 3.3% for staff. While the\r\ninfection rate for patients is in line with the incidence rate of COVID-19 the\r\ngeneral public, staff at the surveyed facilities were 83% more likely than the\r\ngeneral public to be diagnosed with COVID-19 as of late August. These cases\r\ncovered in the survey resulted in 21 total fatalities. Limited testing capacity has led to a lack of testing and passive\r\ntesting protocols in residential behavioral health facilities, which places\r\nworkers and patients at risk. Limited testing capacity is hampering\r\nthe ability of providers' to screen patients and workers for COVID-19. None of\r\nthe behavioral health facility operators reported that they conduct routine\r\ndaily or weekly testing of staff or patients at all their facilities. When\r\ntests are conducted, most facilities report experiencing turnaround times of a\r\nweek or more for test results. Residential behavioral health facilities are not reporting cases and\r\nfatalities to the federal government. Most of the large behavioral\r\nhealth providers indicated that they do not systematically report any COVID-19\r\ncase information to the federal government, explaining, \"Our facilities\r\nare not required to report COVID-19 cases to any federal agency.\" As a\r\nresult, federal government officials, prospective patients, and the public do\r\nnot have a full picture of COVID-19 occurrence and fatality rates in\r\nresidential behavioral health facilities. Paid sick leave policies do not provide sufficient coverage for many\r\nworkers at residential behavioral health facilities. While most of the\r\nsurveyed providers have adapted their paid sick leave policies to accommodate\r\nworkers diagnosed with COVID-19, only one makes paid sick leave accessible to\r\n100% of employees. Two providers offer only six days of paid sick leave per\r\nyear, far short of the recommended two-week quarantine period. Several do not\r\noffer coverage to part-time workers, leaving 10-30% of workers with no paid\r\nsick leave at all. Every not-for-profit provider surveyed reported providing\r\ntwo weeks of paid leave to employees diagnosed with COVID-19, whereas some\r\nfor-profit providers failed to offer their employees this comprehensive paid\r\nleave protection. Fewer patients have been able to receive inpatient care, despite an\r\nincreased need for services. Several providers reported that\r\noperational changes to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have limited admissions\r\nto their inpatient programs, despite increases in inquiries and other evidence\r\nthat the pandemic has intensified the need for mental and behavioral health\r\ncare. Providers have shifted to telehealth to meet patients' needs. This\r\ndecline in the number of patients receiving inpatient treatment may represent a\r\npotential public health problem on top of the ongoing COVID-19\r\npandemic-underscoring the need to provide inpatient facilities with the\r\ntesting, equipment, and resources needed to respond to the pandemic. The investigation makes clear that residential behavioral health facilities\r\nand their patients and workers are facing significant challenges during the\r\nCOVID-19 pandemic. To address these challenges the lawmakers recommend: \r\n Enhanced federal data\r\n     collection requirements for residential behavioral health providers that\r\n     receive federal funding, including regular reporting of data on COVID-19\r\n     testing and cases for both patients and staff, which is shared\r\n     transparently with the public.\r\n  \r\n Federal funding and use of\r\n     the Defense Production Act to increase availability of PPE, testing\r\n     supplies, and test processing capacity, in order to support safe operation\r\n     of behavioral health programs.\r\n  \r\n Additional federal funding\r\n     for behavioral health providers, including inpatient programs, to address\r\n     the increased costs of providing essential care.\r\n  \r\n Universal paid sick leave of\r\n     at least two weeks for all behavioral health staff, including part time\r\n     workers.\r\n Senator Warren, Chairwoman Maloney, and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass)\r\npreviously released\r\nfindings from a survey showing dangerously high rates of coronavirus infections\r\nat assisted living facilities, which similarly are not required to report case\r\nor fatality data to the federal government. Senator Warren has repeatedly called for more detailed national COVID-19\r\ndata reporting in order to treat and contain the virus and address how the\r\nvirus is disproportionately impacting communities of color. She has advocated\r\nfor better reporting standards and protections in congregate settings like schools,\r\nnursing\r\nhomes, assisted\r\nliving facilities, prisons,\r\nand workplaces such as meatpacking\r\nplants. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has consistently highlighted the\r\nimportance of supporting those on the frontlines of America's addiction\r\ncrisis. In 2019, the Committee held three hearings to examine the federal\r\nresponse to the opioid crisis and the need for robust, sustained funding to\r\nprovide treatment and wraparound services to those recovering from\r\naddiction. In January 2020, Chairwoman Maloney assumed the lead\r\nsponsorship of the late Chairman Elijah Cummings' CARE Act-landmark legislation\r\nintroduced with Senator Warren to provide critically-needed, sustained funding\r\nto states, cities, counties, and community-based organizations directly\r\nresponding to the nation's opioid epidemic. The CARE Act has been\r\nco-sponsored by more than 100 Members of Congress and has been endorsed by more\r\nthan 200 organizations. Congresswoman Porter has been a staunch advocate for improving mental health\r\ncare throughout her time in Congress, and she's redoubled her efforts during\r\nthe COVID-19 pandemic. In June, she introduced the Stopping\r\nthe Mental Health Pandemic Act to strengthen the ability of\r\nmental health providers to deliver care to our community during the pandemic.\r\nShe has also introduced bipartisan legislation\r\nto better enforce laws that insurance companies treat mental health care the\r\nsame as other types of medical care. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-maloney-porter-release-findings-from-first-comprehensive-survey-of-covid-19-outbreaks-in-residential-behavioral-health-and-addiction-treatment-programs"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.332608051598072, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}