Mayor Freddie O’Connell has signed Executive Order 4 to update the Metro Behavioral Health and Wellness Advisory Council, effective July 1, 2024. The Council will now have a membership of 11 to 15 individuals from diverse backgrounds who will meet monthly to identify and promote community behavioral health priorities, best practices, and strategies for improving mental health and reducing addiction in Nashville.
“We want to ensure Nashville is a safe, stable, and nurturing community for people who experience or who have a loved one who experiences behavioral health challenges, and the Behavioral Health and Wellness Advisory Council plays an important role in bringing diverse viewpoints and recommendations for increased equity in the systems that encounter people living with behavioral health challenges,” stated Mayor O’Connell.
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During a meeting on June 6, 2024, the Behavioral Health and Wellness Advisory Council reviewed five priority areas:
1. Obtain resources needed to assume a coordinating role to promote population and behavioral health and wellness in Metro Nashville.
2. Elevate prevention, harm reduction, and trauma-informed approaches as priorities of behavioral health systems.
3. Implement strategies to expand access to culturally and linguistically responsive services.
4. Establish a process for system performance monitoring and data-driven decision making.
5. Implement strategies to eliminate the practice of emergency department (ED) boarding of children and youth.
“People across our community have lots of different experiences when it comes to mental and behavioral health, and their needs are just as varied,” said Dr. Ann Melville-Chester, Director of the Division of Behavioral Health and Wellness at the Metro Public Health Department. “Addressing those needs requires a variety of different perspectives, something the Behavioral Health and Wellness Advisory Council is better suited to do now than ever.”
Advisory council members serve for a term of three years and may serve no more than two consecutive terms. The advisory council meets monthly. The next scheduled meeting of the BHWAC is August 1, 2024, at 5 p.m.
For more information on services available for Nashville residents, visit the Public Health website at Nashville.gov.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a behavioral or mental health crisis, call the free, confidential crisis hotline by dialing or texting 9-8-8 from anywhere in the U.S. You can also chat with a trained counselor by visiting 988lifeline.org/chat.
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RTA Endorses Nashville’s Transportation Improvement Plan
The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has endorsed Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s Choose How You Move transportation improvement program, which aims to modernize Nashville’s transit system through new sidewalks, smart traffic signals, enhanced bus services, and safety improvements. The plan seeks approval from voters on the November 5 ballot to leverage federal funds for regional transportation access enhancements over the next 15 years.