Federal, state, and local mental health officials testified on weaknesses in the mental health care system, with a focus on relationships between mental health and gun violence in the wake of the December 2012 shootings at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. The hearing examined the mental health system and barriers to providing mental health care. 
In the first panel, administrators talked about changes in the health care system. Pamela Hyde said that the U.S. mental health system has huge gaps in services that prevent people with mental illnesses from receiving treatment. In the second panel mental health practitioners gave examples of community situations. Topics included the stigma associated with mental health and the importance of employment and peer support, and that that mental Illness is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. Panelists also highlighted how current funds could be better spent better and obstacles to getting mental health services to those in need.