Tony Mantor

It only takes a couple of seconds and it helps this show reach more families who need to hear these conversations.

Thanks for being here.

Welcome to our special event, Crafting Justice, Empowering Autism and Mental Health Through Legislation.

Joining us today is John Nutting, a former Maine State Senator who has spent time on the front lines of government helping craft legislation that impacts mental health services and the system families rely on.

We're going to talk about the realities of serious mental illness, the challenges policymakers face in addressing it, and what meaningful change could look like if we truly prioritize mental health in our communities.

It's going to be a great conversation.

Thanks for joining us today.

No, no problem at all.

If you would, give us a little information about yourself and your background.

Right.

Sure.

Sure.

I know different states have different acronyms for this.

So what is the AOT law in the state of Maine?

Okay.

Now, when lawmakers start crafting legislation for mental health, what are the biggest gaps you see between the family's actual needs versus what policy is actually providing?

You know, I remember when I was living in the state of Maine.

At that time, there was a big push for smoking bans around the state in all the areas.

I had friends that were very heavy smokers.

They would argue that they had the right to smoke.