By Crystal Swann
July 4, 2011

On June 18, Tucson (AZ) Mayor Robert Walkup updated the mayors on the progress of the Mayors Civility Accord at the opening of the Annual Conference of Mayors. The accord was established in January after the devastating shooting in Tucson that killed six people and injured 14 more, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. To date, the civility accord has over 230 mayoral signatures. The civility accord discussion drew the attention of the Obama Administration, which under the advisement of Walkup, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) developed a guide to assist mayors and communities.

“Mayors Resources on Behavioral Health Issues” provides mayors and community leaders with steps and resources to help them understand the major indicators of mental health and substance abuse issues and gives some steps on how to engage the community on issues of substance abuse and mental health in an effort to avoid tragedies like the one in Tucson.

The guide can be downloaded online from the website http://usmayors.org/79thAnnualMeeting/documents/mbhrguide.pdf.