Posts Tagged: mental health
News
A growing chorus of critics say well-intentioned but archaic laws – designed to protect individual rights, with stiff restrictions on what constitutes “grave disability” – prevent desperate families from getting severely mentally ill relatives into treatment, leaving them to suffer and die on the street.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’re joined today by Dr. Janet Coffman of Healthforce Center at UCSF, and Michelle Doty Cabrera, Executive Director of CBHDA. They describe the serious challenges facing the state’s mental health and substance abuse programs, and what is needed to grow and retain a behavioral health workforce that reflects California’s diverse populations.
News
Studies in California and across the nation indicate that the population of older adults experiencing homelessness will likely continue to grow rapidly.
Opinion
OPINION: Look around. California’s population is aging and growing more diverse. Aging independently in one’s own home with economic security has become particularly challenging for too many older adults who for years have endured discrimination, inequities and health disparities. These challenges have only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid surging costs of living.
Opinion
OPINION: The California legislature is considering legislative action that would streamline the approval process for people accessing care through Medi-Cal to receive their prescribed medications for serious mental illness without undue delays As a physician who has served our community for more than 25 years, I strongly support this effort.
News
Newsom’s plan would create an entirely new system of civil court supervision, connecting individuals with intensive treatment and, equally important, housing. By his estimate, it would help 7,000-to-12,000 severely mentally ill people each year, many with chronic physical conditions that are worsened by life on the streets, clearly unable to care for themselves. It would not replace existing programs.
Opinion
OPINION: It’s time for California to change lanes when it comes to transportation. For generations, transportation and land use decisions have placed inequitable burdens on the health of Californians with vulnerabilities. Communities designed almost exclusively for cars, even for the shortest trips, increase air pollution and reduce opportunities for building health into daily routines.
News
Important legislation to improve California’s broken mental health system was passed this year, plus billions in new funding in the state budget — all aimed at stemming the tide of a growing crisis on California streets, in hospital ER’s, jails and prisons. But will it mean real change?
News
Susan Talamantes Eggman was raised in Turlock, where her family owned a small almond orchard and apiary (bee-keeping), and her first job that wasn’t on the family farm started her on a path to working in health care and mental health throughout her life.
Letters
Dear Editor: I want to commend reporter Sigrid Bathen for her thorough and excellent reporting on an issue important to so many people: providing mental health care for our loved ones. Ms. Bathen’s two-part series shined a critical light on some counties’ resistance to adopting Laura’s Law to enhance outpatient services to those with severe mental health issues.