Draft Bill

The Public Mental Health Restoration and Kirkbride Reestablishment Act of 2025

Section 1. Short Title

This Act may be cited as the “Kirkbride Reestablishment Act of 2025.”

Section 2. Congressional Findings

Congress finds the following:

The deinstitutionalization and privatization of mental health services, accelerated during the 1980s, contributed to the closure of state psychiatric hospitals and the reduction of long-term, publicly funded mental health care.
The absence of sufficient public mental health facilities has resulted in a national crisis, with individuals suffering from profound mental illness often left untreated, homeless, incarcerated, or otherwise without adequate care.
Historically, the “Kirkbride Plan” hospitals, while imperfect, were designed to provide humane, long-term treatment in therapeutic environments.
The restoration of publicly funded, state-administered mental health hospitals, updated to modern medical standards, is necessary to address today’s widespread crisis of untreated severe mental illness.

Section 3. Purpose

The purposes of this Act are to:
(a) Reverse the privatization of mental health services by restoring federal and state responsibility for long-term care.
(b) Reestablish and modernize state-operated public mental health hospitals modeled on the Kirkbride principles of structured, therapeutic environments.
(c) Ensure the availability of involuntary and voluntary commitment options for individuals suffering from profound mental illness who are a danger to themselves or others.
(d) Provide sustainable federal funding for construction, staffing, and operation of public mental health hospitals.

Section 4. Reversal of Privatization Measures

(a) Repeal of Block Grant System — The Community Mental Health Block Grant program established under the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980, as modified in subsequent amendments under the Reagan administration, is hereby repealed.
(b) Restoration of Federal Oversight — Federal funding for state mental health systems shall be directly administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through a new Office of Public Mental Health Facilities.
(c) Termination of Private Contracts — No federal funds may be used to contract with for-profit entities for the operation of long-term psychiatric facilities.

Section 5. Establishment of Kirkbride Public Mental Health Hospitals

(a) Mandate for States — Each state shall, within 10 years of enactment, establish at least one Kirkbride-modeled public mental health hospital for the treatment of individuals with profound or chronic mental illness.
(b) Design Standards — Hospitals shall incorporate the following principles:

Therapeutic architecture with natural light, outdoor space, and communal areas.
Adequate residential capacity to provide long-term care.
Separation of patients by level of need, gender, and risk category.
Integration of modern psychiatric, medical, and rehabilitative services.
(c) Federal Funding — The federal government shall provide 80% of construction and operational costs; states shall provide 20%.

Section 6. Involuntary Commitment Standards

(a) Revised Legal Standard — States shall adopt uniform criteria for involuntary commitment, allowing for treatment of individuals who:

Pose a danger to themselves or others; or
Suffer from profound mental illness impairing their ability to function in society.
(b) Due Process Safeguards — Individuals subject to involuntary commitment shall be guaranteed timely judicial review, access to counsel, and periodic reassessment of their condition.

Section 7. Workforce Development

(a) Recruitment and Training — A national program shall be established to recruit and train psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and support staff for Kirkbride hospitals.
(b) Loan Forgiveness — Mental health professionals who serve a minimum of five years in a Kirkbride hospital shall be eligible for federal student loan forgiveness.

Section 8. Funding Authorization

(a) Appropriations — There is authorized to be appropriated $50 billion annually for fiscal years 2026–2036 to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(b) Priority Grants — Initial priority grants shall be awarded to states with the highest rates of untreated severe mental illness, homelessness, and incarceration due to psychiatric disorders.

Section 9. Reporting and Oversight

(a) HHS shall submit an annual report to Congress on the progress of hospital construction, admissions, outcomes, and effectiveness of treatment.
(b) An independent oversight commission shall monitor compliance with humane standards and patient rights.

Section 10. Severability

If any provision of this Act is held invalid, the remainder shall not be affected.