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Mental Health

  • Advocates Challenge Law Enforcement on How Prop. 47 Savings Should Be Spent

    April 8, 2016 /

    “The worry is that Prop 47 funds will be used for mental health treatment that is run by law enforcement,” says Lizzie Buchen, the statewide advocacy coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB). “Jails are not a place where people can heal. They can be very traumatic for people with mental health issues.”

    mental health  prop 47. law enforcement  spotlight  

  • Young People Reveal Holes in the Foster Care Safety Net

    March 1, 2016 /

    Reforms like AB 12 work toward a better safety net and more stable situations for these youth, notes Brian Blalock, founder and director of Bay Area Legal Aid’s Youth Justice Project, “so they can make decision and make mistakes.” Youth make mistakes as a natural part of growing up, but for many youth in the system, Blalock says, a mistake is a luxury they can’t afford.

    AB 12  foster care  foster care youth  reform  spotlight  

  • Making Juvenile Hall the Mental Health Provider of Last – Not First – Resort

    December 18, 2015 /

    According to a new study by the San Francisco-based Young Minds Advocacy Project (YMAP), as many as 70 percent of the kids in California’s juvenile detention centers are in need of mental health care, and most of them are not getting it. Patrick Gardner, YMAP’s founder and one of the report’s authors, says many of these youth would not be in detention in the first place if there were more home and community-based mental health services available.

    incarceration  Juvenile Dentention  juvenile hall  mental health  NAM  new america media  spotlight  

  • President of Gay-Straight Alliance Speaks Out on Mental Illness

    November 9, 2015 /

    In Brenner’s experience, there are a lot of people who see depression as simply being in a bad mood. They don’t realize that depression is a diagnosable and treatable condition. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mood disorders like depression are the third most common reason for hospitalization among youth and adults between the ages of 18 and 44.

    depression  gay straight alliance  lgbt  mental health  mental illness  Pierce College  spotlight  support groups  

  • Using Cosplay to Get Through Anxiety

    November 9, 2015 /

    “Many people think that a person who is depressed is sad all the time, is unable to laugh, is ‘weak’ and/or suicidal. None of these are true of everyone,” Scarlet says. “Many people with depression might not be ‘obviously’ depressed. They might laugh and appear happy while struggling on the inside.”

    anxiety  cosply  depression  mental health  spotlight  superheroes  therapy  

  • Where Are the Openly Gay Rappers in Hip-Hop?

    October 30, 2015 /

    There’s plenty of queer MCs in the underground. I listen to artists like Cakes Da Killa and Kevin Jz Prodigy, both amazing rappers who happen to be queer. There are countless others like Mykki Blanco, Stose, Chapman, Big Freedia and many more. Maybe if more people reach out and support the LGBT artists who exist below the mainstream, the powers that be will take notice and finally give gay rappers the shine they have earned. Hip-hop is ready for a gay rapper.

    big freedia  cakes da killa  central valley  central valley LGBT  chapman  gay rap  gay rapper  lgbt  LGBT culture  LGBT hip-hop  LGBT music  LGBT rap  merced  merced LGBT  mykki blanco  spotlight  stose