On the day he announced sweeping reforms to the failed healthcare delivery system for Georgians with mental health challenges, the late state representative David Ralston simply said, “Hope won.”
The bill Ralston championed in 2022 addressed systemic barriers to the quality and delivery of behavioral health services and required insurance companies to cover mental health and substance abuse issues as they would physical illnesses.
“Countless Georgians will know we have heard their despair and frustration,” said Ralston, then speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives who died not long after the signing of the legislation.
The University of Georgia is building on Ralston’s legacy with the establishment of the David Ralston Center for Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Housed in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS), the Ralston Center will prepare future professionals for careers in the behavioral health and developmental and intellectual disabilities fields with the goal of creating a pipeline to provide a community-based system of care.
UGA President Jere Morehead joined FACS Dean Anisa Zvonkovic and Kevin Tanner, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, at a dedication ceremony announcing the Ralston Center on Sunday. The state legislature allocated $1.5 million for the establishment of the Ralston Center in its 2025 budget.