Statewide Region 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.

STATEWIDE EXPLAINER

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.

STATEWIDE EXPLAINER

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: California will soon be getting a new hotline number as an alternative to 911 for mental health crises.

STATEWIDE EXPLAINER

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.

From CalMatters...

Health Crisis & Personal Support Crime & Justice

They Feared a Loved One in a Psychotic Moment. Why California Police Wouldn’t Come

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?

From CalMatters...

Community Service & Support Crisis & Personal Support Crime & Justice State of California

‘They Didn’t Lift a Damn Finger’: California Crime Victim Fund Ordered to Change Practices

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.

From CalMatters...

Public Safety Resilience Crisis & Personal Support

An Audit Found California Was Unprepared to Help Vulnerable People in a Fire. Five Years Later, Lawmakers Finally Talk About It

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.

From CalMatters...

Families & Children Crisis & Personal Support Crime & Justice

‘It Was Just a Regular Morning’: Californians Picked Up in Recent ICE Raids Include Kids, Volunteers

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

From CalMatters...

Public Safety Resilience Crisis & Personal Support

Over $4 Billion in LA Fire Claims Distributed, More to Come

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.

From CalMatters...

Land Use & Development Resilience Crisis & Personal Support State of California

LA Fires Could Drastically Drive Up Insurance Premiums — And Test California’s New Market Rules

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?

From EdSource...

Health Seniors Crisis & Personal Support

We Must Take Better Care of Our Home-Based Child Care Providers

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...

Families & Children Elections & Politics Agriculture, Food & Gardening Crisis & Personal Support

California May Gut Two CalWORKS Programs Helping Thousands of Families

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.

From CapPublicRadio...

COVID-19 Health Crisis & Personal Support

Antidepressant Prescriptions to Young People Surged During the Pandemic

02/27/2024
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.

From California Healthline...

Health Crisis & Personal Support State of California

California Hospitals, Advocates Seek Stable Funding to Retain Behavioral Health Navigators

02/26/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Art, Culture & Media Public Safety Families & Children Crisis & Personal Support Government

Lawmakers Now Calling for Regulation of Social Media

02/08/2024

CEOs of Instagram, Snapchat tell parents at Senate hearing they’re sorry for deaths of children.

From Los Angeles Times...

Health Elections & Politics Crisis & Personal Support State of California

Your Guide to Proposition 1: Newsom’s Overhaul of California’s Mental Health System

01/31/2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom crafted the measure to reform California’s mental health system, including a $6.4-billion bond for new facilities.

From CalMatters...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Bill Would Let Therapists and Social Workers Decide When to Confine Mentally Ill Californians

01/29/2024
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.

From CalMatters...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Gavin Newsom Raised Millions for His Mental Health Ballot Measure. His Opponents Have $1,000

01/28/2024
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.

From California Healthline...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

988-Hotline Counselors Air Concerns: More Training Needed to Juggle Calls

01/23/2024
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.

From Los Angeles Times...

Homelessness Crisis & Personal Support

Intimate Partner Violence Is a Precursor to Homelessness, Study Finds

01/22/2024
A statewide survey found that 1 in 5 unhoused women had lost their housing due to violence by an intimate partner. Many were victimized again while homeless.

From California Healthline...

Homelessness Crisis & Personal Support

In Los Angeles, Occupational Therapists Tapped to Help Homeless Stay Housed

01/22/2024
Occupational therapists assist clients, most of whom have health conditions, in developing basic living skills that could prevent them from getting evicted or slipping back onto the streets.

From KFF Health News...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Rising Suicide Rate Among Hispanics Worries Community Leaders

01/21/2024
The suicide rate for Hispanic people in the U.S. has increased over the past decade. Even elementary school-aged Hispanic children have tried to harm themselves or expressed suicidal thoughts.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

California Panel Holds Up Studies on Psychedelics. Some Researchers Want It Gone

01/19/2024
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.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Business, Economy & Jobs Homelessness Housing Crisis & Personal Support Government

For Tenants Facing Eviction, Lawyer Makes All the Difference

01/08/2024
Image for display with article titled As Landlords Press for More Evictions, Getting a Lawyer Makes All the Difference For Tenants

As evictions skyrocket with landlords taking advantage of lifted pandemic restrictions, tenants fight for the right to an attorney.

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