Rep. Tim Murphy Wins Javits Award
Abstract
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), who spearheaded the effort for mental health reform in Congress, was chosen to receive APA’s 2017 Jacob K. Javits Award for Public Service. The award was presented by APA President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D., at the Opening Session.
Murphy, a clinical psychologist, was the author of the 2014 Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. After two years of debate and compromise, the legislation was included in the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama last December. APA President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D., attended the signing.
The bill represents the first major mental health reform in decades. “It was a bruising battle,” Murphy told the audience. “We didn’t get everything we needed, but we need everything we got. This is our joint accomplishment. We know what mental illness does to an individual, a family, a community, and a nation. This is our time to make sure our nation addresses its most serious public health problems.”
A commander in the Navy Reserve, Murphy is assigned to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where he continues to practice psychology in the Traumatic Brain Injury/PTSD Inpatient Unit. ■
