For Low-Income Children, Access to Mental Health Care Varies Sharply by County
Statistics show kids and teens in Orange County use specialty mental health services at a lower rate than children in most other counties in the state. Fewer than 2 percent of Medi-Cal-enrolled youth...
View ArticleCalifornia Allocates $1 Million to Improve Mental Health of Native American...
Growing up, most of the kids Shannon Albers knew struggled with their mental health. A member of the Yurok Tribe, Albers, 19, has lived on the Hoopa Valley reservation in Humboldt County for his entire...
View ArticleHousing is Health Care—and Health Care Can Build Housing
Traditionally, the housing and health care industries have viewed one another as distinct. This distinction has prohibited us from seeing our broader intersections with economic, social and racial...
View ArticleThousands of Medi-Cal Patients Report Poor Treatment by Doctors, Staff
Data released in June by California’s Department of Health Care Services show that nearly 7,000 Medi-Cal patients filed official grievances about “poor provider/staff attitude” in the last three months...
View ArticleStill Grappling With Provider Access Issues, State Pours More Money Into...
In an ideal world, Jennifer Kent would like to have added 1,000 new dentists across California willing to accept enrollees in Denti-Cal, the state’s low-income dental program, over the past year. Kent,...
View ArticleIn Effort to Help Homeless Residents, Sacramento Hires Street Nurses
On any given night, 3,665 people experience homelessness in Sacramento. Five days a week, two nurses take to the streets to care for medically vulnerable residents who live under bridges, in alleys or...
View ArticleAs Rents Rise, Seniors Struggle in Sacramento and Across State
California’s capital is one of the toughest places in the state for low-income seniors to afford rent, according to a new study. UCLA researchers found that 68 percent of low-income seniors in...
View ArticleA Roadmap for Ending Homelessness, From the Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley faced a seemingly impossible task: create permanent housing solutions for its most vulnerable residents in one of the least affordable markets in the world. Yet, despite this daunting...
View ArticleMore Californians Getting Addiction Treatment Under New Program, Counties Report
A massive overhaul of the state's substance abuse treatment system is making it easier for counties to help people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, a new report by the California Health Care...
View ArticleAlready Vulnerable Populations Face Greater Risks From Climate Change, Report...
Californians can expect more wildfires, extreme heat, coastal flooding, water shortages and health problems in the years to come, but these problems won't affect everyone equally, according to a new...
View ArticleExperimental State Health Program May Hurt Medically Fragile Children,...
It is unfathomable that the Health Care department would single out this one group of economically challenged children to undergo this experimental program. Meanwhile, children who are financially...
View ArticleAs State Weighs Pesticide Restrictions, California’s Farmworkers and Students...
Environmental and community activists say the state is moving too slowly and not doing enough to protect children, pregnant women and farmworkers exposed to a pesticide called chlorpyrifos, a product...
View ArticleAfter Massive Fires, California Considers Doing More to Help Undocumented...
Despite the prevalence of undocumented immigrants in the state, as well as immigrants in general, disaster response for this population has been haphazard. A bill that would require all counties to...
View ArticleFewer Low-Income Kids Are Getting Vision Check-Ups, But L.A. Pilot Program...
A pilot program in Los Angeles County to boost the number of kids receiving vision care through the Medi-Cal program appears to have succeeded, even as utilization of such services has seen a sharp...
View ArticleJump in Sacramento Homeless Deaths Follows Statewide Trend
The number of homeless people dying in Sacramento County is up dramatically, according to a new report, reflecting a trend that's engulfing the state as homelessness continues to rise. The post Jump in...
View ArticleCalifornia Grapples With Growing Physician Shortage For Low-Income Patients
While the number of Californians with health coverage has surged, the state is struggling to provide enough physicians to care for them. The post California Grapples With Growing Physician Shortage For...
View ArticleArmed With New Research, California Tries to Address HIV Disparities
Treatment with antiretroviral drugs can suppress the HIV virus, but only if people who are infected can access and stay on treatment, a multi-state study has found. Among key findings from the national...
View ArticleFood Banks at California Colleges Help Keep Students from Going Hungry
The rising cost of higher education makes food a luxury for some college students. Students are often embarrassed that they need food—but they’re not alone. Among Cal State students, 41 percent...
View ArticleDoctors Often Fail to Listen to Black Mothers, Complicating Births, Survey Finds
A first of its kind survey of California mothers about their birth concerns and outcomes offers two findings: Health providers often don’t listen to mothers about their birth preferences and African...
View ArticleSouth Los Angeles Looks to End Cycle of Violence By Addressing Trauma
As California increasingly considers how past trauma impacts violence, a new community center in South Los Angeles is focused on healing. Rather than seeing violent crime as a problem exclusively for...
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