Addressing the Massachusetts Mental Health Crisis Through Community: Supporting S.292/H.377

On behalf of thousands of individuals across Massachusetts who have benefited from our care, GPS Group Peer Support recently submitted testimony to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health in strong support of S.292/H.377 — An Act relative to growing resources to optimize the utilization of group therapeutic care, aimed at expanding access to high-quality behavioral health services across the Commonwealth. This groundbreaking legislation, sponsored by Massachusetts state Senator John C. Velis and Representative Jessica Ann Giannino, establishes a comprehensive framework to certify group therapeutic specialists, integrate group therapeutic care into behavioral health systems, and address longstanding disparities in access to mental health care in the Commonwealth.

S.292/H.377 includes a number of key provisions that will strengthen the behavioral health system while reducing barriers to care:f

• • Establish a 12-member Board of Certification of Group Therapeutic Specialists to oversee the training, certification, and regulation of professionals providing group therapeutic care.
  • Enhance Medicaid coverage for Group Therapeutic Care.
  • Mandate the launch of a pilot program focused on regions with limited behavioral health care access to increase referrals to group therapeutic care, raise public awareness, and track outcomes to evaluate its effectiveness. 
  • Conduct an in-depth evaluation of the systemic outcomes, demand, and cost-effectiveness of group therapeutic care. 

• Address disparities in behavioral health access by prioritizing outreach to communities with limited resources and incorporating culturally competent care practices into group therapy models.

At GPS, we have witnessed firsthand how group care transforms lives — fostering connection, reducing isolation, and improving outcomes for people facing mental health challenges. But too often, this effective and cost-sensitive care remains underutilized, inconsistently applied, and inaccessible to those who need it most. S.292/H.377 charts a path toward a more equitable, efficient, and compassionate behavioral health system.

The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health, chaired by State Senator William J. Driscoll Jr. and Representative Marjorie C. Decker, now has the opportunity to address the state’s growing mental health crisis by integrating evidence-based, trauma-informed group therapeutic care into the behavioral health system.

July 18, 2025

Dear Honorable Members of the Joint Committee on Public Health, 

On behalf of GPS Group Peer Support and the thousands of individuals who receive our services across Massachusetts, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude for all of your continued efforts ensuring Massachusetts’ residents have equitable access to healthcare, including behavioral healthcare. 

To that effect, we write to you today to respectfully request that you favorably report out S.292/H.377, filed by Senator John Velis and Representative Jess Giannino, An Act relative to growing resources to optimize the utilization of group therapeutic care. The goal of this legislation is to insert group therapeutic care more effectively into the pathway of healthcare in Massachusetts. Specifically, the bill: calls for a statewide study conducted by the Health Policy Commission (HPC) to evaluate the effectiveness, demand, and cost savings of integrating evidence and trauma-informed group therapeutic care into Massachusetts’ behavioral health system, establishes certification of group therapeutic specialists, and launches a pilot program to mandate reimbursement for these specialists. 

GPS Group Peer Support has delivered life-changing care that has improved the emotional, mental, and physical well-being of thousands of individuals across the Commonwealth through our Group Therapeutic Care (GTC) model. GTC is a structured, supportive, and trauma-informed model that brings people together to address mental health challenges. It can be facilitated by trained peers, healthcare workers, or licensed clinicians, and promotes healing through connection utilizing evidence based modalities. People suffering from mental health issues often feel isolated in their pain; GTC allows people to feel seen, understood, and empowered in their pain instead. 

Having provided GTC services to thousands of individuals across the Commonwealth, we strongly support S.292/H.377 in order to help standardize this model of care and make it easier for individuals across the Commonwealth to access. This legislation would direct the Health Policy Commission to evaluate and produce a report on the integration of evidence-based and trauma-informed group therapeutic care into Massachusetts’ behavioral health system. It would help to address workforce shortages by directing the Department of Public Health to establish a certification process for Group Therapeutic Specialists and create a 12-member board of behavioral health experts to set training, education, and competency standards for certification programs. Finally, it would launch a multi-year pilot under MassHealth to reimburse Certified Group Therapeutic Specialists for providing GTC and implement a statewide public awareness campaign to promote group therapeutic care among eligible beneficiaries. 

There is a critical need to increase access to and quality of behavioral healthcare in Massachusetts. Individuals facing mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, grief, or chronic stress often turn to their primary care provider as their first point of contact with the mental healthcare system. The increasing shortage of primary care providers, however, leaves many individuals left without timely treatment, which can lead to worsened mental health outcomes. When they are able to be seen by a provider, they’re often simply given a prescription, which can lead to over-prescribing, or a referral to individual therapy that can be difficult to access due to high cost or long wait times for services, once again prolonging access to treatment which can exacerbate mental health issues over time and drive up costs for an already fiscally-strained, overburdened system. 

GTC is an effective and cost-sensitive solution to this problem, offering a pathway for more patients to be treated in accessible and affordable ways in a supportive, collaborative healing environment. Group settings allow more patients to be seen in a shorter amount of time, alleviating long waitlists and helping to reduce pressures on an overburdened healthcare system, without sacrificing effectiveness. In fact, research has shown group therapeutic care to be as effective as individual therapy for many conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and trauma-related stress. At GPS Group Peer Support, we utilize an adaptable research-informed group model that has been easy to implement and has been successfully adapted for diverse groups, such as parents, college students, people in recovery, and faith-based communities. Our community and peer-centered approach has proven highly effective. In our MASStrong Program, which offers free group-based mental healthcare support for frontline workers, 97% said they would recommend this group to others and all expressed a desire to attend more sessions. 

Unfortunately, GTC in the healthcare space constantly remains underutilized, inconsistently applied, and often lacks a standardized, evidence-based, and trauma-informed framework. Without intentional integration of GTC into the healthcare system, individuals who could benefit from GTC face unnecessary barriers to access proper care. S.292/H.377 will help to rectify this problem by creating standards for which GTC models must operate under. 

We believe that everyone thrives in a community of support, especially during challenging times. Group Therapeutic Care provides an opportunity to help those in need of care that have not been able to access it through creating a framework to guide our healthcare providers. Now is a pivotal moment to support our most vulnerable members in society and address barriers to mental health care, and build a stronger, more accessible pathway to healing. 

At this moment, we request the committee to favorably report out S.292/H.377, An Act relative to growing resources to optimize the utilization of group therapeutic care. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to submit testimony, and please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. 

Sincerely, 

Liz Friedman 

Founder, GPS Group Peer Support