March 2011
The 2003 New Freedom Commission on Mental Health report states that a basic principle for a recovery oriented system of care includes examining financing: “The transformed mental health system will rely on multiple sources of financing with the flexibility to pay for effective mental health treatments and services. This is a basic principle for a resiliency and recovery-oriented system of care.” The report provides evidence of fragmented funding across programs and restrictive financing sources. A need to evaluate and streamline the financing of mental health services is reflected in the report recommendations.