Editorial Note: This article contains inaccuracies regarding former First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s history of mental health advocacy, ignoring her foundational work during the 1970s and 1980s. It is currently under review by our editorial team.
For three decades, one Atlanta institution has kept mental health at the center of the national policy conversation. This May, the Carter Center gathered clinicians, lawmakers, advocates and patients for its 30th annual Mental Health Forum — a milestone that underscored both how far the movement has come and how much work remains.
A Legacy Rooted in Atlanta
The forum traces its origins to the mid-1990s, when former First Lady Rosalynn Carter made mental health her signature cause and transformed the Carter Center’s public-health portfolio into one of the most influential platforms in the field. What began as a small convening of researchers and advocates has grown into a nationally recognized event that regularly shapes legislative agendas and clinical guidelines.
“Thirty years ago, the idea that mental health deserved the same policy infrastructure as heart disease or diabetes was still a hard sell,” said one longtime forum organizer. “This forum helped change that.”
The 2026 edition drew hundreds of attendees to the Carter Center’s Copenhill campus, blending panel discussions with interactive workshops and first-person testimony.
This Year’s Focus Areas
Speakers and panelists zeroed in on several themes that reflect the current state of mental health care in the United States:
- Youth mental health. Presenters examined the surge in anxiety and depression diagnoses among children and adolescents, with particular attention to the role of social media and pandemic-era disruptions in learning and socialization.
- Workforce shortages. Multiple sessions addressed the nationwide shortage of licensed counselors, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners — a gap that hits rural Georgia especially hard.
- Insurance parity enforcement. Advocates called for stronger federal and state enforcement of mental health parity laws, arguing that insurers continue to impose barriers to coverage that would not be tolerated for physical-health conditions.
- Crisis intervention. Law enforcement leaders and behavioral health professionals discussed the expansion of co-responder models and 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline integration across Georgia counties.
Georgia’s Place in the National Picture
Forum attendees noted that Georgia has made measurable progress in recent years. The state expanded Medicaid behavioral health benefits, funded additional crisis stabilization units and launched a public awareness campaign aimed at reducing stigma in communities of color.
Still, gaps persist:
- Nearly 60% of Georgia counties lack a practicing psychiatrist.
- Wait times for outpatient therapy in metro Atlanta have grown, even as demand has risen.
- School-based mental health programs remain unevenly funded across districts.
Continuing the Mission
The Carter Center announced several new initiatives at this year’s forum, including an expanded fellowship program for early-career mental health policy researchers and a partnership with Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to pilot telehealth counseling in underserved rural communities.
Organizers said the 30th anniversary is not just a celebration but a recommitment.
“The stigma has not disappeared. The funding has not caught up. But the conversation is louder than it has ever been, and that is because of gatherings like this one,” a closing speaker told the audience.
The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program continues to operate year-round, publishing policy briefs, supporting journalism fellowships focused on mental health coverage and advising state legislatures across the country.
Aisha Bell is a state and public health reporter for WACN 21 News based in Atlanta. Contact her at abell@wacn21.com.
