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Friday, August 07, 2009

Congress doesn't fund farm stress hotline, services

Mental-health advocates were disappointed this week when the Senate followed the lead of the House and passed an agriculture appropriations bill without money for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, which was authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill but not funded. They noted increased stress among farmers, refledcted by recent increase in suicides.

The network would have a "crisis hotline for rural workers and [require] behavioral health services in geographically rural regions," Lynda Waddington reports for the Iowa Independent. "While some states have hotlines and some capacity to provide behavioral health services designed for agricultural workers, others have nothing in place." (Read more)

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