Sen. Chris Murphy stopped in Westport to discover the challenge mental health patients and providers are having during the pandemic.

The senator met with staff at Positive Direction Friday and says emergency room visits for mental health are on the rise, which is why he’s going to try to get more money for it into the next relief bill.

The funding Connecticut would receive would help centers like Positive Directions increase staff, reduce waiting times and make it easier for people to get services>

“If we don’t pass the bill, if we don’t extend unemployment benefits, we’re going to have a lot more misery out there,” Murphy says. “You’re going to have more mental health issues and if you also don’t get additional funding to places like Positive Directions, they won’t be able to meet that demand and you’ll have more and more families and more kids in mental health crisis.”

Murphy says the House will vote on the relief package next week.

The goal is to pass the relief package sometime next month.