NAMI Montana Closes Out An Amazing Legislative Session

May 2, 2025

Montana’s Legislature adjourned this week, and NAMI Montana is proud of the progress made through close collaboration with legislators and partners. We achieved several significant policy successes, some of which—such as reforms to Montana’s behavioral health financing system—were years in the making.

Other wins, including the expansion of Montana’s forensic mental health bed capacity, came together quickly. That effort began with a narrow window of opportunity in January and concluded in the final days of May.

This represents a major long-term infrastructure investment that will help reduce the number of Montanans with serious mental health conditions held in local jails due to lack of appropriate treatment options.

Learn More About the Forensic Bed Expansion Issue

For a deeper look at the challenges facing Montanans with serious mental health conditions in local jails, we recommend this powerful article by Katheryn Houghton, published this week:

KFF Health News — “Montana local jails become last resort for people with serious mental illness”
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/montana-local-jails-mental-health-last-resort-state-hospital-commitment/

Watch: Legislative Wins Explained

We’ve also put together a short video explaining these legislative wins and how they address specific gaps in Montana’s mental health treatment system.

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Embedded YouTube video explaining NAMI Montana’s 2025 legislative successes
(Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw-a3tfyGmM)

Thank You

Thank you for your incredible support. We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped build these meaningful policy successes through individual advocacy and financial support.

We truly couldn’t do this work without you.

Sincerely,
Matt Kuntz
Executive Director