Santa Cruz County Crisis & Personal Support Digest

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

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

The County of Santa Cruz is remodeling the two story office building at 5300 Soquel Avenue in Live Oak with conference rooms, family spaces and other amenities for youth in crisis and expand the Health Services Agency’s substance use disorder and mental health services.

Santa Cruz County officials are making plans for the millions of dollars allotted to the county as part of the settlement of various lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors in 2019 and 2021.

The monthly rate of antidepressants being dispensed to young people increased about 64% more quickly during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.

Health providers and addiction experts warn the funding structure is unstable for a California initiative that steers patients with substance use disorder into long-term treatment.

After halting services for about four years, a sobering center that county leaders say is a critical boon to the community, local health care providers and law enforcement is back online in Santa Cruz.

Gov. Gavin Newsom crafted the measure to reform California’s mental health system, including a $6.4-billion bond for new facilities.

A pending bill would extend the so-called 5150 confinement authority to county-designated psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and clinical counselors.

The March ballot measure would raise billions for mental health care, but some clinics fear it would strip them of revenue they need for services they provide today.

In the year and a half since its launch, 988—the country’s easy-to-remember suicide and crisis hotline—has received about 8.1 million calls, texts, and chats. Curiosity is growing about the people taking those calls.

At the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, scientists are eager to explore whether a psychedelic chemical found in a toad could help people with depression. But research has been put on hold by the state.

San Diego Unified School District has received more than $700 million in federal and state relief funds since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with these funds ending, some schools could be facing serious deficits.

County leaders in San Diego are gearing up for a March bond measure that could help provide more behavioral health beds. More beds are needed for areas like mental health and detox.

The 33-year old Mexican-born man—who from toddler age has been a permanent legal resident of California—has reported abuse, unsanitary conditions and threats of force-feeding before his release from immigration detention in April.

Federal funding for domestic violence shelters and housing programs is declining. Advocates want the state to step in, but with a record projected deficit new spending is unlikely.

A Sacramento judge has ordered local syringe exchange program Harm Reduction Coalition to cease state-authorized syringe operations in Santa Cruz County. The ruling is the latest in a lengthy legal saga between plaintiff Grant Park Neighborhood Association Advocates and the state’s Department of Public Health.

Workers are in the final stages of a long, $217 million project: Install a protective barrier at the Golden Gate Bridge. Roughly 2,000 people have died by suicide jumping from the bridge since it opened in 1937.

California’s population of homeless veterans has plateaued despite billions of dollars in state spending to create housing for former service members. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to shift resources to focus on veterans with serious mental health conditions.

Several anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are advertising abortion pill reversal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the claims false advertising that mislead vulnerable patients.

California voters likely will see a mental health ballot measure on the March 2024 election. One would issue a $6 billion bond to create housing for people with mental illnesses.

Naloxone, a nasal spray that can reverse the adverse effects of opioids, became available in drug stores last week. The drug is sold under the brand names Narcan and RiVive and can be purchased over the counter.

Many farmworkers in Coachella Valley lack legal status as citizens and don't qualify for most federal and state disaster aid. Even a new $95 million storm assistance program for immigrants that Governor Gavin Newsom recently touted is out of reach because it pertains to the winter and spring storms and floods.

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised $95 million would help undocumented workers rebuild after winter storms and floods. Months later, $18 million is being doled out and there are translation issues with the state’s website.

A state appellate panel has set aside a lower court's ruling favoring a local group’s clean syringe distribution efforts.

The group is slated to receive $520,911 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support programs in withdrawal management, residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment, perinatal treatment, medication-assisted treatment, DUI correction, and intensive outpatient services.

How bad is California hunger? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but is being reduced.

The Biden administration’s app rule makes it harder for migrants to assert a right to asylum, advocates say. Lawsuits are sparking debate about immigration control, safety.

The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s 988 hotline marked its one-year milestone this month. Mental health experts say the three-digit number made help more accessible than before.

With a 31% staff shortage in Santa Cruz County’s mental health division, county supervisors have green-lit a new approach: Hiring more peer support specialists to work on mobile crisis teams.

Some hospitals in Southern California have a nurse vacancy rate of 30 percent, stressing overworked staff and causing some to leave the industry earlier than they planned.

Despite efforts by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to shelter more than 14,000 people this year, the city's homeless population keeps growing. That does not necessarily mean her signature program is failing. The larger question: How does California measure success?