West Wing Cast to Join Surgeon General, Sec. Becerra, Ambassador Rice for Virtual Mental Health Event

Manny Hernandez/Getty; Earl Gibson III/Getty Vivek Murthy (left), Xavier Becerra

On Thursday, the cast of The West Wing will join top-ranking government officials to shine a light on the mental and behavioral health crises needing our attention.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and Ambassador Susan Rice of the White House Domestic Policy Council will take center stage with West Wing stars Martin Sheen, Melissa Fitzgerald, Mary McCormack, Dule Hill and Bradley Whitford to lead the virtual event, which takes place as some 90% of Americans today say they are struggling with mental health care.

The White House tells PEOPLE the event will focus on some of the Biden-Harris Administration's key initiatives on behavioral health, including youth mental health, suicide prevention, overdose prevention and substance abuse disorder.

More specifically, the event aims to focus on how behavioral health care can be fully integrated into overall health care and how available mental health resources across the country can be expanded.

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Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty From left: Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi

Mental health and substance abuse issues often go hand in hand, as noted in President Joe Biden's State of the Union address last March.

"There is so much we can do. Increase funding for prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery," Biden said at the time.

"If you're suffering from addiction, know you are not alone. I believe in recovery, and I celebrate the 23 million Americans in recovery," Biden — whose own son, Hunter, has publicly documented his own struggles with addiction — added.

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The Biden administration launched the first-ever Office of Recovery earlier this year, awarding $1.5 billion to all states to address addiction and the opioid crisis and awarding $20.5 million in grant funding to organizations that help individuals with substance use disorders access recovery support.

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Thursday's event will also touch on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline introduced this summer, which connects individuals in crisis with trained counselors who can provide real-time support and direct them to additional resources in their communities.

As Becerra earlier told PEOPLE: "If you call 988, you will get not just a live voice but a professional counselor ready to speak to you, to give you some guidance and support, and give you the follow up that you might need. The last thing we want is for 988 to be a phone call you make and all of a sudden you find that you're put on hold and get a busy signal."

The event takes place at noon Thursday and can be viewed at hhs.gov/live.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat on 988lifeline.org.