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Welcome to The Census, your biweekly* roundup of what matters in behavioral health care.

Today, we’re breaking down:

• Peer support’s bipartisan support

• Your latest news headlines in under two minutes

Let’s dive in.

- Shân

*You’re not imagining things, we were in your inbox last week. I'm off for a bit in April, so I rejigged the schedule to bump this one up. That way you don’t miss a beat. See you in two weeks!

What we’re watching this week 

🫂 Peer support is getting some legal love from the feds

Peer support’s been one of your all-time favorite topics from us. And we promised to give you continued updates, so here we go…

A brand new bipartisan bill seeks to boost training and resources for peer support specialists in mental health and addiction care.

In short, the proposed bill: 

• Locks in an official Recovery Office at SAMHSA

• Aims to give peer support specialists the support (😅) they deserve with training, certificates, career paths, etc.

• Pushes for clearer standards and less red tape (especially for folks with past records)

• Tells federal agencies to treat peer support like the real profession it is

The move will likely attract even more funding to peer support startups, which already pulled in a combined $55M+ over 2023/24.

And it’s great news for a behavioral health workforce that’s stretched way too thin — provided training and regulation of peer support specialists adheres to high standards. We’re excited, and hopeful. 

Let’s get to your news headlines.

Catch up quick

This week’s top stories

Latest news

🌿 The use of CBD can lead to meaningful benefits and improve the behavior of children and adolescents with autism, per new research presented at the 2025 European Congress of Psychiatry. We’re watching this space closely, and will share all peer-reviewed updates that emerge.

👀 Texas lawmakers are pushing to ban THC products, saying they’re being marketed to children with “life-threatening” consequences.

⚠️ About 1 in every 31 children was diagnosed with autism by age 8 in 2022, up from 1 in 36 in 2020, according to a just-released report; the CDC attributed the increase to better screening.

😑 Almost a third of Americans have self-diagnosed a mental health condition based on what they have seen online, a new survey shows. 

🗺️ The epicenter of America’s opioid epidemic has shifted from the Northwest to the East, driven by a move from prescription painkillers to fentanyl.

❌ Maryland’s maximum security psych facility lost its accreditation after struggling with safety concerns, understaffing, & excessive leadership turnover.

🧓 80%+ of high-risk seniors on Medicare aren’t getting medication to treat their opioid use disorder, according to a new federal watchdog report.  

💡 An AI analysis of digital health records challenges the long-held belief that social communication factors are crucial in identifying autism.

🪧 Advocacy and research groups joined together to condemn the HHS’s “wasteful, arbitrary, and harmful assault” on drug and alcohol harm prevention.

🧠 Psychiatry is rebranding treatment failure as “treatment resistance,” which critics say blames patients and tries to justify more extreme brain interventions.

👩‍💻 The purging of cybersecurity staff at HHS is threatening the data systems underpinning the health system, current and former department workers say.

💰 CMS announced a 2.4% pay bump for psych facilities starting October 1st, while keeping extra payment caps locked at 2%.

😞 More psych hospital beds are needed for kids, but proposed facilities for minors tend to face severe local resistance.

🤦 False and misleading narratives that suggest people can overdose from merely touching fentanyl are now informing policy and spending decisions.

🤔 Mr. Kennedy has pledged to find the cause of autism by September, sparking concern among experts who fear rushed science and an anti-vaccine agenda.

🍷 An office focused on alcohol-related deaths and harms and worked on policies to reduce them was shuttered by the Trump administration.

🏥 Hmm, that’s interesting: New federal data revealed the best and worst-performing psychiatric hospitals.

Funding rounds & investor moves

🚭 Smoking cessation startup Jones raised $10M to expand its line of ‘cool’ nicotine lozenges.

💰 Valor Healthcare acquired Mission Critical Psychological Services, expanding its telehealth behavioral care for federal agencies and first responders.

Hosting a behavioral health event? You should probably let Turn Productions handle it.

They specialize in event planning, organization, and promotion for behavioral health companies. They have the network and the (rad) people you need. Reach ’em here.

Studies & opinion pieces

🧠 Brain blood flow has been revealed as a key biomarker in depression diagnosis, and possibly treatment (study). 

👁️ Tracking how children’s eyes follow predictable movements could help detect autism early (study).

💡 As states wrestle with behavioral health challenges, studying Medicaid plans could reveal smarter ways to boost access to care (study).

🍔 Eating disorder treatment needs to move beyond one-size-fits-all care and incorporate personalized, biology- and data-driven approaches (study).

🏥 The adaptive reuse of shipping containers offers a cost-effective, scalable solution for developing comprehensive behavioral health facilities (opinion).

🫄 Opioid exposure in the second or third trimester is associated with smaller brain volumes in newborns (study).

🔮 How technology and value-based models will reshape healthcare by 2035 (opinion).

That’s it for this week! See you next time,

- Shân

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

• 📈 Grow your healthcare or wellness business on autopilot. Apply to work with Quantum Leads. 

• ✨ Take all the stress out of hosting your perfect behavioral health event. Chat to the Turn Productions team.

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