A year after the creation of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health and Wellbeing Taskforce by several local advocacy groups, faith leaders, doctors, and social workers, taskforce members say a large coalition of stakeholders is willing to address the mental health crisis among immigrants.
A project evaluation on the group’s first year of research and discussions, written by the Leah Zallman Center for Immigrant Health Research, said that “immigrant communities and culturally responsive practitioners have also built mutual aid networks and internal care systems to support individual and collective wellbeing where formal systems of care fall short.”
”Specialized policies and funding streams support some aspects of this care landscape, but Massachusetts lacks a comprehensive public policy approach to mental health,” the report says.
Throughout the first year of the taskforce, the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, or MIRA Coalition, and Haitian Mental Health Network at William James College, worked to recruit mutual aid groups, social workers, clinicians and those with direct knowledge to join.
Some of the questions the taskforce is trying to answer iinclude what are the root causes of immigrant mental health issues; barriers to accessing care; and what systems can be built to address those needs. The next year will include drafting state-level legislation.
Led by the Haitian Mental Health Network, the taskforce created a directory of community-based groups and resources who can assist members of the public. They’re also directly connecting with therapists and social workers.
“We have a list of about 150 providers speaking over 15-plus different languages and no waitlists,” said Gina Benjamin, executive director of the group. “But providers have really experienced a significant amount of challenges getting through insurance paneling processes.” That’s when a provider has to be approved and contracted to be an in-network provider.
Even providers with no waitlists can’t assist immigrant parents because of those “bureaucratic challenges,” she said. “We want to coordinate this effort and ensure that there’s a streamlined process for folks to access these services that are culturally and linguistically affirming.”
The taskforce found that root causes of mental health issues include social determinants such as immigration status, changing policies, aggressive ICE enforcement, housing and employment access, and lack of cultural diversity among providers. The group also found major insurance gaps among immigrant communities.
Group members have started to meet with legislators about potential policy ideas, and public information and stigma-reduction options for the immigrant public. The taskforce also works with the Leah Zallman Center for immigrant Health Research for the evaluation and continued research. They didn’t return request for comment on the evaluation.
The taskforce met with the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery this week for a briefing.
“Our hope is that we will continue to work with the committee, and hopefully we‘ll have some recommendations, and the hope is that those recommendations will lead to some sort of bill,” said Maroni Minter, political director of the MIRA Coalition.
Members of local advocacy groups and hospitals presented their own experiences with providing immigrants mental health support, and issues doing that.
“One of the key things that we wanted to look at was the mental health impacts of immigration policy and enforcement on our communities,” said Chair Mindy Domb. “It follows the House’s great leadership on the PROTECT Act and says, “okay, so we’re going to make sure that people have access to certain services. Let’s take a temperature. Let’s see what’s going on in the community and what folks may need.”’
GBH News is continuing to analyze the impact of detention on the mental health of immigrant families in its series ‘Silent Detention’ with the support of USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2026 National Fellowship.
