This space was already dedicated to Suicide Prevention Awareness month (which is this month) two weeks ago, but it seems germane to that topic to note that Governor Ned Lamont on September 10 announced the establishment of the Connecticut Office of the Behavioral Health Advocate, a new independent state office statutorily assigned to assist Connecticut residents with accessing mental health and behavioral health care resources, supporting behavioral health providers with receiving timely payments from health insurance carriers for services provided, and advocating for greater access to behavioral health care and resources with the overarching goal of improving consumer outcomes.

The Newtown Bee wants to applaud the creation of such an office, as lack of mental health services is often cited as an important cause of many societal ills such as suicides, drug use, school shootings, and other violent crime. Creating a stronger safety net around mental health, and getting young people struggling with mental health issues the help and services they need as soon as they need them, as well as identifying those who may need help but are not reaching out for it, will in general produce better outcomes for those individuals and hopefully drastically reduce incidents of poor mental health leading to negative outcomes for the sufferers and those around them.

Created by legislation approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by Lamont, this independent office is within the Connecticut Insurance Department for administrative purposes only and is led by a behavioral health advocate who is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature. After an exhaustive search, Governor Lamont appointed Howard Sovronsky to serve in this role. Sovronsky was confirmed by the legislature during the recently adjourned regular session and is now serving in the position.

“Access to mental health services is one of the most pressing needs of our time, and it needs to be treated just as we do for any other physical health situation,” Lamont said. “Over the last several years, I’ve partnered with the state legislature to enact some of the strongest mental health parity and coverage laws in the nation, and this new office will provide the residents of our state with an advocate to help break down the barriers that still stand in the way of true mental health equity. Howard Sovronsky has a great depth of knowledge on this issue, and he is passionate about increasing access to care. He is the exact kind of person we need in this advocacy position.”

A licensed clinical social worker for more than 40 years, Sovronsky has served in leadership positions in local government, hospitals, and within Connecticut’s nonprofit community mental health sector. Most recently, he served as chief behavioral health officer at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, where he helped lead the hospital’s response to the emerging children’s behavioral health crisis. He also served for several years as chief operating officer for Community Health Resources in Windsor, where he led operations of the behavioral health network.