Santa Cruz County Local News: Crisis & Personal Support


All Local Crisis & Personal Support News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: Kerry Wood, CEO of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, says the organization researches areas of need to help donors direct their contributions.
What Is a Community Foundation?

By channeling funds to a number of nonprofits working on various issues in a given region, community foundations help solve big problems throughout California.

Image caption: The California mental health crisis is tied to both homelessness and rising crime.
UPDATE: California’s Mental Health Crisis: How We Got Here

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

Image caption: Feeling blocked? These mental health organizations can help.
Finding Piece of Mind

Feeling stressed? Confused? Or just a little blue? Help is just a phone call away for residents of Santa Cruz County.

Image caption: California will soon be getting a new hotline number as an alternative to 911 for mental health crises.
988, the New Mental Health Emergency Number, Explained

California will soon add a new emergency hotline service with the number 988. Here’s the story behind that new service, and the original 911 number.

California Local Pin Marker From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

04/29/2025
An update on the status of longtime resident Cliona Ward who was arrested by immigration officials and held at a detention center in Tacoma, Washington. Possibly for months.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/27/2025
Police agencies — under scrutiny and worried about their own liability — increasingly won’t respond to someone in a mental health crisis unless that person is committing a crime. So who will transport people in psychosis to get help? And who will keep those around them safe?

California Local Pin Marker From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

04/07/2025
A 32-bed Santa Cruz County Health Services transitional housing facility is set to begin construction at 2202 Soquel Avenue.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/17/2025
Ruby Marichalar couldn’t get an in-person meeting after California’s crime victim compensation fund denied her claim. She wasn’t the only one.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/06/2025
Five years ago, as COVID-19 hit the state, legislators cancelled a hearing to discuss a state audit that found the state’s office of emergency services and at least three California counties weren’t prepared to help vulnerable people during natural disasters.

California Local Pin Marker From Lookout Local...

02/19/2025
Read on for details about what the Santa Cruz County chief executive says about the impact of cuts to federal contributions to Medicaid, food assistance and disaster recovery to county operations.

California Local Pin Marker From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

02/18/2025
California Governor Newsom signed an emergency proclamation, opening up state funding and personnel to help recover from the storms which caused over $44 million in damages to Santa Cruz County. Read on for details.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

02/10/2025
Interviews suggest some people swept up in Trump’s immigration crackdown are dedicated to their families and communities — not hardened criminals.

KSQD logo From KSQD...

02/07/2025
Image for display with article titled Local Groups Responding to Deportation Sweeps

Rachel Anne Goodman talks with members of the community who are helping immigrants before, during and after Trump's ICE raids.

Santa Cruz Local logo From Santa Cruz Local...

02/07/2025
Image for display with article titled ‘A Game Changer’: More Santa Cruz County Residents Call 24-Hour Mobile Crisis Team

Nearly a decade after two Santa Cruz County residents were killed by law enforcement officers during separate mental health crises, a Mobile Crisis Response Team now offers 24-hour, non-police response to mental health problems by calling 1-800-952-2335.

Press Banner logo From Press Banner...

02/07/2025
Image for display with article titled Scotts Valley High School Wellness Center Opens With Focus on Mental Health

In the three years since Mateo Deihl took his life, after experiencing unkind treatment while attending the school, a student-led Hope Squad was established, initiatives to stamp-out racism and bullying were launched, and $1 million was secured from the federal government for a campus Wellness Center—the first of its kind in Santa Cruz County.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/30/2025
Insurance companies have paid out $4.2 billion in claims so far to survivors of the Los Angeles County fires, the state Insurance Department said Thursday.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/09/2025
The state’s plan to fix the insurance crisis had barely rolled out when the Los Angeles fires began. Can the market recover and stabilize?

California Local Pin Marker From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

12/31/2024
Learn more about the Mobile Crisis Response Teams being deployed by Santa Cruz County to provide mental health services throughout the county.

California Local Pin Marker From Lookout Local...

12/16/2024
City officials estimate over $100,000 in damages from the December 14 tornado which touched down in Scotts Valley. Read on to learn more about next steps.

Santa Cruz Local logo From Santa Cruz Local...

11/01/2024
Image for display with article titled Pajaro Flood Survivors’ Stories Come to Life in New Exhibit

A new audio-visual project collects stories from Pajaro residents displaced by the March 2023 Pajaro River flood.

The Pajaronian logo From The Pajaronian...

06/28/2024
Image for display with article titled Sí Se Puede Breaks Ground for New Facility

An organization that helps men break free from drug and alcohol addiction officially broke ground on June 21 on a new Behavioral Health Center on Miles Lane in Watsonville.

California Local Pin Marker From Lookout Local...

05/01/2024
Hundreds of UCSC students and faculty participated in a peaceful march to the Quarry where several dozen protestors set up tents.

California Local Pin Marker From EdSource...

04/09/2024
These professionals provide essential services, but their pay and working conditions do not reflect their value, and their health suffers.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

03/29/2024
Image for display with article titled California May Gut Two CalWORKS Programs Helping Thousands of Families

The state is considering zeroing out funds for CalWORKS family stabilization and job subsidy programs to help balance the budget.