Latest / The Mental Health Evolution / Ep 40: When States Step Up for Safety with Delegate Lily Qi
Transcript
- 0:00(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) This podcast is part of the Frederick Podcast
- 0:02Network.
- 0:03Learn more at listenfrederick.com.
- 0:05Welcome to Mental Health Evolution, a podcast about
- 0:08what's changing in mental health and why it
- 0:11matters.
- 0:12I'm your host, Rachel Harrison, inviting you into
- 0:15honest conversations with people from all perspectives in
- 0:18the field, clinicians, tech founders, investors, insurance companies,
- 0:22and all the folks in between.
- 0:24Let's explore what's working, what's not, and what's
- 0:27next.
- 0:34All right, everyone, welcome back to the Mental
- 0:38Health Evolution podcast, where we are talking about
- 0:41how the landscape is quickly evolving in the
- 0:45mental health industry.
- 0:46As you probably know, we are coming to
- 0:48you from the state of Maryland, and today
- 0:51we are really excited to speak with Maryland
- 0:54State Delegate Lily Chee, who represents District 15,
- 0:58just south of us here in Montgomery County.
- 1:00Delegate Chee is currently seeking another term as
- 1:04a Maryland delegate.
- 1:06She works at the intersection of economic policy,
- 1:09consumer protection, and state systems design.
- 1:13In recent legislative sessions, she has focused on
- 1:16how Maryland responds to emerging technologies, including artificial
- 1:20intelligence, and how those technologies intersect with behavioral
- 1:24health systems and consumer safety.
- 1:27Her work sits within a broader national trend
- 1:30where states are increasingly stepping into mental health
- 1:34regulation, workforce challenges, and technology oversight in the
- 1:39absence of consistent federal standards.
- 1:42And as always, before we talk to our
- 1:45guest, we'd like to bring up a few
- 1:47relevant articles related to the topic today.
- 1:50These may be helpful for you if you
- 1:52know that there's some legislation out there, but
- 1:56you don't know exactly what we're talking about,
- 1:59and we'll definitely link all of these in
- 2:00the show notes for you so that you
- 2:02can have a great point of reference to
- 2:04go back to if you'd like to as
- 2:06well.
- 2:06The first article is a link to Maryland
- 2:09House Bill 883, which focused on the use
- 2:13of artificial intelligence in behavioral health care contexts.
- 2:17This was the bill that we were working
- 2:19to promote from our end in Maryland and
- 2:22what initially got us interested in talking to
- 2:24Delegate Chee today.
- 2:26Unfortunately, it did not make it through the
- 2:28full legislative process this session, but it's still
- 2:32an interesting example to look at in the
- 2:34context of how states are approaching AI regulation.
- 2:38Similar legislation has been passed in other states,
- 2:42and in this episode, we'll talk to Delegate
- 2:44Chee about plans to potentially reintroduce this or
- 2:48similar legislation in the upcoming session.
- 2:51And then the next article we have is
- 2:53talking about how states across the country are
- 2:56continuing to increase investments in mental health systems,
- 3:00including workforce development, school-based services, crisis response,
- 3:05and behavioral health infrastructure.
- 3:07This reflects a broader recognition that mental health
- 3:10challenges are not only clinical issues, but system
- 3:14-level issues that require sustained public investment at
- 3:18the state level, especially as federal funding priorities
- 3:22continue to shift.
- 3:23And this article is from NGA.org.
- 3:28And lastly, we have a growing article number
- 3:31three is from AI2, and this is a
- 3:35growing number of states are beginning to pass
- 3:37legislation addressing the use of artificial intelligence in
- 3:41mental health contexts, including concerns about safety, accuracy,
- 3:46and whether AI tools should be allowed to
- 3:48simulate therapy or behavioral health services.
- 3:52Tennessee, for example, has moved to ban certain
- 3:55AI therapy chatbots, signaling a broader wave of
- 3:59state-level regulation aimed at protecting consumers in
- 4:03the absence of federal standards.
- 4:06So you kind of see the framework of
- 4:08what we're talking about here.
- 4:09States are really trying to figure out the
- 4:12best way to balance the idea of what
- 4:15this technology can do to help us and
- 4:19also protect consumers in the process.
- 4:22So that is a lot of what Delegate
- 4:24Xi is all about.
- 4:26And I'm excited that she's here to talk
- 4:29with us.
- 4:29So welcome, Delegate Xi.
- 4:31Thank you very much, Rachel.
- 4:33It's a pleasure to join you today.
- 4:35Thank you.
- 4:35So to start off, I'd love to just
- 4:38ground this for our listeners.
- 4:40You've worked on a wide range of issues
- 4:42in the Maryland General Assembly.
- 4:43What first got you interested in the intersection
- 4:47of artificial intelligence, consumer protection, and behavioral health?
- 4:52Great question.
- 4:53I have served on the Economic Matters Committee
- 4:56for my entire two terms, and that means
- 4:59much of my work is at the intersection
- 5:02between consumer protection, business regulation, and advancing Maryland's
- 5:08competitive industries of the future.
- 5:10As someone with an economic development background, I
- 5:13certainly will continue to champion our innovation industries,
- 5:17including AI and other related industries.
- 5:20So this is not about not wanting AI
- 5:23to develop in the state of Maryland or
- 5:25serve consumers.
- 5:26I personally also use chatbots for research, for
- 5:29verification, for ideas sometimes.
- 5:33So definitely AI has a very important and
- 5:35increasingly important role to play in our everyday
- 5:38lives, has an enormous amount of benefits that
- 5:41we can all enjoy.
- 5:43But at the same time, because of our
- 5:44increasing relationship and dependency sometimes on AI usage
- 5:49for our everyday work and life, there's also
- 5:52a risk that is not talked about enough
- 5:55or people are aware of, especially for the
- 5:59most vulnerable population, whether they are seniors or
- 6:02people who speak English as a second language
- 6:05or our youth.
- 6:06So we all know, you know, since the
- 6:08pandemic, there was a huge surge of youth
- 6:11mental health crisis, and that surge coincided with
- 6:15the rapid evolution of AI.
- 6:18So we all knew something needed to be
- 6:20done.
- 6:21And as someone who pays attention to something
- 6:23like that, I was aware that the Trump
- 6:27administration just does not like the idea of
- 6:30the states regulating AI.
- 6:32In fact, there was an executive order specifically
- 6:35written to punish states that dare to regulate
- 6:38AI.
- 6:38So short of federal action, which I wish
- 6:41was the case, states have to be the
- 6:43backstop to protect our consumers and to have
- 6:47some baseline regulation and clarity about what is
- 6:51and is not acceptable behavior.
- 6:55So when this bill idea was brought to
- 6:57me, I thought it was perfect.
- 6:59This is a great timing for us to
- 7:02zoom in on this issue.
- 7:04Plus, I happen to serve on the right
- 7:06committee to advance that bill.
- 7:08Yeah, all the all the things kind of
- 7:10aligned, it sounds like.
- 7:12Right.
- 7:12Yeah.
- 7:12Yeah.
- 7:13And so I would love to hear your
- 7:15sort of story of how the bill got
- 7:18started, what happened, and maybe a little bit
- 7:21about what's next.
- 7:22I know that's kind of broad, but.
- 7:24Yeah, so when the advocates brought this bill
- 7:27to my attention, I discussed it with my
- 7:29chief of staff and I said, you know,
- 7:31I'll be more than happy to do that.
- 7:33Of course, we have Zoom calls, multiple Zoom
- 7:37calls with different advocacy groups and bipartisan support
- 7:42to sign out as co-sponsors, because I
- 7:45don't know if you're aware, but this session,
- 7:47the House Minority Leader himself also introduced a
- 7:51similar bill because so this is a bipartisan
- 7:53issue that affects everyone.
- 7:56Right.
- 7:56So I was very encouraged.
- 7:59The colleagues, my Republican colleagues, offered to co
- 8:02-sponsor my bill.
- 8:04He said, hey, we heard you are introducing
- 8:05a chatbot bill.
- 8:06Can we sign on to that?
- 8:07I said, perfect.
- 8:09So I was very encouraged and got a
- 8:12long list of people to sign up to
- 8:14testify at the bill hearing.
- 8:16You could see that online.
- 8:18And I was very encouraged that the bill,
- 8:21you know, got advanced all the way across
- 8:24the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.
- 8:27And I even presented it on the Senate
- 8:29side.
- 8:30Unfortunately, that got stalled.
- 8:32And I don't know if it was because
- 8:34there was confusion about the scope of it
- 8:37or was because big tech's aggressive lobbying.
- 8:41Right.
- 8:41Because at the end of the day, as
- 8:43much as the tech companies say, you know,
- 8:46we don't want a 50 state patchwork.
- 8:48And I understand the bottom line is, you
- 8:51know, this is not the first industry that
- 8:53has to go through 50 state regulation.
- 8:55You know, banking, for example, is regulated at
- 8:58a federal level, but every state also has
- 9:00their own banking laws.
- 9:01Right.
- 9:02Insurance, you know, another major industry that affects
- 9:06everyday people's lives is not heavily regulated at
- 9:10the federal level.
- 9:11So every insurance company will have property and
- 9:14casualty insurance, for example.
- 9:16Right.
- 9:16We'll have to go through 50 different states'
- 9:19rule books.
- 9:20So this is not new, a new territory
- 9:22for businesses to adapt to.
- 9:24Right.
- 9:24And so we all can leverage each other's
- 9:28examples and model policies to see what is
- 9:31working and whatever to make it work for
- 9:33tech companies.
- 9:34And frankly, at the end of the day,
- 9:35if the big techs were doing their jobs,
- 9:38self regulating, we wouldn't be here talking about
- 9:41this.
- 9:42Right.
- 9:42I mean, at my hearing, there was a
- 9:44parent who came with this framed photo of
- 9:48his 12-year-old boy who took his
- 9:51own life because of chatbot manipulation.
- 9:53Right.
- 9:53So that's the kind of example we wanted
- 9:56to stop.
- 9:57There's nothing right now in Maryland that stops
- 10:01this kind of self-harm or harming other
- 10:05people because of chatbot influence.
- 10:07So something has to be done.
- 10:09And because it got stalled, the next step
- 10:11is we'll continue to build alliances, you know,
- 10:15continue to educate other legislators.
- 10:18And this year, I think I would have
- 10:19the advantage of starting early, earlier.
- 10:22Right.
- 10:23Now that we have gone through this round
- 10:26and made some progress on the House side,
- 10:29I think we can be more focused in
- 10:31our efforts.
- 10:32Yeah, yeah.
- 10:33And I think you're right.
- 10:34I, too, am not against AI in any
- 10:38capacity.
- 10:39Right.
- 10:39But as a as a person in the
- 10:41mental health industry and being trained as a
- 10:44clinician, it is so alarming to think that
- 10:49there's this access out there for anyone.
- 10:53And and there are lots of AI chatbots
- 10:57being marketed as a counselor until you look
- 11:00at the fine print and they say, no,
- 11:02we're not a therapist.
- 11:03Right.
- 11:03And so that's very confusing because all the
- 11:06marketing says, yes, we're here to support you.
- 11:09And then it's like, but if you tell
- 11:11me something that's challenging or difficult, don't blame
- 11:14me.
- 11:14I'm not a therapist.
- 11:16It's very, it's just risky.
- 11:19And when it's free, also, there's just no
- 11:22no guardrails.
- 11:25Right.
- 11:25Right.
- 11:25I don't know if in my response to
- 11:27your earlier question, I made it clear what
- 11:31the bill actually does is very simple.
- 11:33Which is simple disclosure.
- 11:34Right.
- 11:35You say, you know, this AI system that
- 11:37you are interacting with is an AI system.
- 11:40It's not certified or licensed human professional at
- 11:44the back end giving you proper professional advice
- 11:48for mental health.
- 11:49Right.
- 11:49That's a simple disclosure.
- 11:50People need to know before they fall into
- 11:53the traps, you know, because the chatbots are
- 11:56designed to kind of coach your ego, make
- 11:59you feel good about the decisions and ideas
- 12:01you have.
- 12:02They keep encouraging you, even if you're on
- 12:05the wrong path and say, oh, that's a
- 12:06great idea.
- 12:07Yeah.
- 12:08You know, you should do that.
- 12:09Right.
- 12:10Why not?
- 12:10You know, and it's designed to be so
- 12:13encouraging and stroke your ego and make you
- 12:16feel good about whatever ideas you have.
- 12:18So I think this is really a very
- 12:21high risk proposition we're looking at.
- 12:23Yeah.
- 12:24I mean, yeah.
- 12:24And I think that, too, that's not you're
- 12:27not asking too much.
- 12:29You're not.
- 12:29I think it's the state of Illinois that
- 12:31has said there can't be any AI therapists
- 12:34or chatbot therapists like there are definitely stronger
- 12:38lines being drawn in different states.
- 12:41So simply disclosing and then allowing people to
- 12:44have the information to make the decision then
- 12:48on their own, what they choose to do
- 12:49with that seems like a pretty reasonable step.
- 12:53Yeah.
- 12:53We found it very reasonable.
- 12:55Mm hmm.
- 12:56Yeah.
- 12:58What are your thoughts on some of the
- 13:00other state rulings?
- 13:02Not that I expect you to be an
- 13:03expert on all of those, but I'm curious
- 13:05if any of those informed or inspired your
- 13:09decision for what you put forward in the
- 13:11House bill.
- 13:12Well, I am confident after this session, between
- 13:15now and the next session, there will be
- 13:17more states that are stepping up and introduce
- 13:20or maybe this session they have already passed
- 13:23while Maryland stalled.
- 13:25Right.
- 13:25AI chatbot bill.
- 13:26And by the way, the minority leaders also
- 13:28did not advance on the Senate side.
- 13:31So I think we need to focus on
- 13:32the Senate.
- 13:33Yes, it sounds that way.
- 13:35Yeah.
- 13:35I was encouraged that not only did Maryland
- 13:38House passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, but states,
- 13:43other red and blue states, including those very
- 13:47tech driven states like California and New York,
- 13:50right, are leading the way.
- 13:52You know, and other states like Utah, Nevada,
- 13:55Illinois and all that have all stepped in.
- 13:57And you mentioned Tennessee.
- 13:58So this is going to sweep across the
- 14:01country as more and more Americans are waking
- 14:03up to the downside of unregulated AI and
- 14:07how invasive these systems can be in our
- 14:11lives.
- 14:11So I think I'm very optimistic and hopeful.
- 14:15It's just a matter of technically how to
- 14:18do it right and how not to let
- 14:20the tech lobbyists come back and say, you're
- 14:23being too broad.
- 14:24I don't know if you saw my pushback
- 14:26against their pushback, so to speak, and say,
- 14:29you know, this is too broad and blah,
- 14:31blah.
- 14:31I said, well, they come up with some
- 14:33solutions.
- 14:34Right.
- 14:35If you know the status quo is not
- 14:36perfect, then work with us.
- 14:38You know, make it work.
- 14:40Don't just come say categorically oppose any regulation.
- 14:43As I said, you know, if you were
- 14:46good at self-regulating, we wouldn't be here
- 14:48talking about this, you know, so work with
- 14:51us.
- 14:51Give us ideas.
- 14:52If it's neat, if it needs to be
- 14:54narrowed and tailored, then show us what works
- 14:57in other states.
- 14:58Yeah.
- 14:58And I think especially in the mental and
- 15:01behavioral health space, it's just not a tool
- 15:04that can be broadly applied without some thought
- 15:08processes and guardrails and things like that.
- 15:11So I think it's been.
- 15:12Yeah, maybe a little accidental, maybe a little
- 15:15short sighted, maybe all those things.
- 15:18But I have talked on this podcast with
- 15:20some people who are developing different AI systems
- 15:23and a lot of them do acknowledge some
- 15:25of the errors, some of the hallucinations, the
- 15:29mistakes, the risks, you know, so that information
- 15:33is out there, right?
- 15:34It's not.
- 15:34How can it be?
- 15:35It's pretty new.
- 15:36Yeah, that's right.
- 15:38Yeah.
- 15:38There's human bias, too, in training the AI
- 15:41to make decisions.
- 15:42Yeah, absolutely.
- 15:44Absolutely.
- 15:46Yeah.
- 15:46So when when you and other legislators coordinate
- 15:49these approaches, when it comes to build like
- 15:51this, when technology is moving faster than any
- 15:54one state can keep up with, how does
- 15:57that coordination and collaboration work?
- 15:59And is there anything that listeners can do
- 16:03to help support this?
- 16:05Yeah.
- 16:05Great questions.
- 16:06I'm looking forward to joining this year's national
- 16:10conference in Chicago, which is the National Conference
- 16:13for State Legislators.
- 16:15And with AI being so pervasive and important
- 16:18as an area of regulation, I'm really looking
- 16:21forward to joining these workshops and seminars to
- 16:24learn what other states are doing and how
- 16:27to perfect my bill to make it work,
- 16:29remove the impediments to passage, hopefully, to a
- 16:33better path and how they build coalitions across
- 16:37different consumer groups and user groups and all
- 16:40of that.
- 16:41So I'm really looking forward to connecting with
- 16:43other state legislators, learning different ways to tackle
- 16:47this issue.
- 16:49And is there any particular way that someone
- 16:52listening, like maybe they're in Maryland and this
- 16:55bill specifically, or maybe they're just in the
- 16:57United States and they're just interested in advocating
- 16:59for this?
- 17:00What would you recommend as next steps for
- 17:04that type of advocacy?
- 17:06I think it's important to bring ideas to
- 17:10legislators because we are no subject matter experts
- 17:13in every aspect, in every area, right?
- 17:16I came from a very different professional background
- 17:20than AI regulation, for example.
- 17:23It is such a new area that everyone
- 17:25is learning and it's constantly evolving.
- 17:28So please bring new ideas to us and
- 17:31reach out to our offices.
- 17:32But also, if you feel passionate and strongly
- 17:35about certain things, build a coalition and don't
- 17:38just expect the hearing itself to deliver magic.
- 17:43The real work is behind the scenes, right,
- 17:45is reaching out to the committee members one
- 17:47by one, committee chairs, make sure both the
- 17:52House and Senate are on the same page,
- 17:54work with us throughout the process.
- 17:56Don't just expect to show up and speak
- 17:59your two minutes or testimony and think people
- 18:02will get the message.
- 18:03With thousands of bills introduced each year and
- 18:07only a 90-day session, my advice to
- 18:10the advocates is start early, do your homework,
- 18:14reach out, build a coalition, remove the potential
- 18:18questions that legislators may have on their minds
- 18:22about how this might work and all that.
- 18:24I mean, the more we do the homework,
- 18:26the more prepared we are to push for
- 18:29the passage of a bill like this.
- 18:31And when you say create coalitions, what exactly
- 18:35do you mean by that?
- 18:36I think a coalition could be built between
- 18:38the tech community, which also at least, you
- 18:42know, that's what they claim.
- 18:43They care about users because that's what they
- 18:46sell to, right?
- 18:47They cater to users.
- 18:48And I don't doubt that they are doing
- 18:50a lot of work to stop the harm
- 18:53and all of that, but it's just not
- 18:55enough, right?
- 18:56We have seen harm, we have seen real
- 18:58danger on our community, especially the vulnerable populations.
- 19:02So it needs regulation.
- 19:04And we can never stop bad players from
- 19:07entering the market until we have regulation in
- 19:10place.
- 19:11So I think community advocates, parent groups, anyone
- 19:17who is concerned about the AI's harm, build
- 19:21a coalition with other, you know, like consumer
- 19:24advocacy groups, for example, as well as the
- 19:27tech community, right?
- 19:29And with the school systems, for example, or
- 19:32with the senior community, whatever places where you
- 19:35think people will get it.
- 19:37And with the behavioral professionals or other licensed
- 19:40professionals that people often, or the kind of
- 19:44service providers where people often go to AI
- 19:47to seek help for advice.
- 19:50So I think that there are multiple ways
- 19:53to do that.
- 19:53And of course, to build bridges and relationships
- 19:56with your own state representatives and legislators is
- 20:00always a good idea.
- 20:02I think that's a great invitation coming from
- 20:06you, Delegate Chi, because I don't know that
- 20:08in my industry, a lot of people talk
- 20:11about that or think about that necessarily.
- 20:15And it is such a changing industry and
- 20:18there is so much happening right now.
- 20:20And that is a great, yeah, just opening
- 20:22up lines of communication, giving our perspective, expertise,
- 20:27what's impacting us, all of those things.
- 20:29So I really appreciate you saying that.
- 20:31I don't think that that is often a
- 20:33route.
- 20:33In mental health, we can be so focused
- 20:35on patient care that that's sort of all
- 20:39we focus on.
- 20:41Right, right.
- 20:42You know, the immediate issue.
- 20:44Yeah.
- 20:45And then these things come and they impact
- 20:47us and our clients and we suddenly get
- 20:50worried.
- 20:50But then it's like, OK, well, wait, what
- 20:52do we do about this?
- 20:53And that's really how this podcast was born
- 20:55is like, what do we do about all
- 20:57these changes?
- 20:57I don't know.
- 20:58So let's have the conversation.
- 21:00Let's see what people are talking about.
- 21:02Yeah, yeah.
- 21:03Zooming out a little bit, when you think
- 21:06about behavioral health more broadly, where do you
- 21:09see the biggest gaps right now that state
- 21:11policy is actually able to address in a
- 21:14meaningful way?
- 21:15That's a big question.
- 21:17Yeah, I think in the stepping back, I
- 21:19think when you look at holistically the space
- 21:23of AI regulation, I think we are still
- 21:26the whole world is still relatively new, right?
- 21:29Yeah.
- 21:29Understanding AI and how it can be so
- 21:32sweeping in benefiting or harming, you know, our
- 21:37lives and what what should the human relationship
- 21:40be?
- 21:41What is the what is a how do
- 21:43we define healthy human relationship with an AI
- 21:46system?
- 21:47Right.
- 21:48So that we can reap the benefits without
- 21:51being harmed by the system, whether it's workforce
- 21:54disruption, whether it's, you know, AI taking over
- 21:58certain people's ability to think critically and do
- 22:01their homework and all of that.
- 22:03Right.
- 22:03But on the other hand, there's tremendous potential
- 22:06to to improve the quality of life and
- 22:09the human experience in so many ways.
- 22:11Right.
- 22:11So I think this is still a new
- 22:13frontier that when we take a step back,
- 22:16we should just look holistically.
- 22:18And then another issue is how Maryland wants
- 22:20to position ourselves in this whole AI revolution.
- 22:24Right.
- 22:24How inviting do we want to be in
- 22:27facilitating the development of AI companies and industries
- 22:31in our state as a competitive advantage?
- 22:35Right.
- 22:35But at the same time, putting in proper
- 22:37guardrails so our community is not harmed, you
- 22:41know, or is aware of the potential harm
- 22:43of AI.
- 22:44And then another issue related to that is
- 22:47workforce, workforce shortage related to certain areas.
- 22:52Yeah.
- 22:52In this case that we're talking about behavioral
- 22:55health, you know, people turn to AI because
- 22:58just not enough resources around to help them
- 23:01with their mental and behavioral health.
- 23:03They think this is anonymous tool that makes
- 23:05them feel safe.
- 23:07That's why they turn to AI.
- 23:08Right.
- 23:08How do we create that kind of human
- 23:10environment where it's safe and accessible and hopefully
- 23:14also culturally competent so that we can meet
- 23:17people where they are and how we can
- 23:20invest in such workforce that is, you know,
- 23:23linguistically accessible, culturally competent and hopefully also age
- 23:27appropriate and all of that.
- 23:29So there are a lot of big questions
- 23:31we have not answered.
- 23:32We are still grappling with this is, you
- 23:35know, the kind of issues policymakers at the
- 23:38federal and the state level should be thinking
- 23:40about.
- 23:40Yeah, that that's pretty inspiring.
- 23:43From my perspective, one of the things that
- 23:46I feel passing a bill offers is just
- 23:51that there is guidance out there for consumers.
- 23:54It's a line in the sand that says,
- 23:58be careful.
- 23:59Right.
- 24:00Some people may still choose to use it.
- 24:02But from the end of providing behavioral health,
- 24:06mental health services, you know, a lot of
- 24:08our clients are utilizing it alongside human therapy.
- 24:13So sometimes we're educating and talking about how
- 24:16do we use that interactively and effectively, but
- 24:19not dangerously.
- 24:21And the legislation, to me, gives some guidance
- 24:26to that, gives some support to that and
- 24:29really helps the work that we are able
- 24:31to do.
- 24:32So, yeah, I appreciate all that you have
- 24:35done in that vein.
- 24:36Anything as we wrap up here today that
- 24:40you would like to leave our listeners with
- 24:42as a last tidbit or something for them
- 24:47to be mindful of or encourage them or
- 24:50inspire them in any way?
- 24:52Well, I just want to be encouraging by
- 24:54saying don't give up.
- 24:55You know, this is an important field and
- 24:58I will continue to be your partner.
- 25:00Please reach out to our office if you
- 25:02want to be involved in advocating and pushing
- 25:04for the bill's passage, hopefully next year.
- 25:08This is the time to have this kind
- 25:09of conversation.
- 25:10I welcome your ideas, your input, whatever.
- 25:13Hope to see you in Annapolis and beyond.
- 25:16It is a partnership, an ongoing partnership.
- 25:19Awesome.
- 25:20I appreciate that so much, Delegate Chi.
- 25:22Thank you so much for being here, talking
- 25:25through the process with us.
- 25:26And yes, we look forward to next session
- 25:29as well.
- 25:30Great.
- 25:30And maybe you want to share with your
- 25:32listeners my contact information so that Absolutely.
- 25:35We will include that in the show notes.
- 25:37If anybody wants to reach out, that would
- 25:39be great.
- 25:41And we'll have all those articles in the
- 25:42show notes.
- 25:43And so people can also follow the progress
- 25:45and see what happened last session as well.
- 25:48Great.
- 25:49And for our listeners, thank you for diving
- 25:51in with us today.
- 25:53We will be back next week to talk
- 25:55more about the evolving landscape in the mental
- 25:58health field.
- 25:59Bye for now.
- 26:00Thank you, Rachel.
- 26:01Thanks for listening to the Mental Health Evolution
- 26:05podcast.
- 26:06Join the conversation.
- 26:07Find us on socials, send us your thoughts
- 26:09and tell us what you are seeing in
- 26:11your corner of the mental health world.
- 26:13Until next time, stay curious and keep evolving.