SF Has a Chance to Reinvent Its Mental Health Care System

©Noah Arroyo using Canva AI/San Francisco Public Press: A person’s journey through San Francisco’s behavioral health system can start at many points, including after their deteriorating condition lands them on the streets.

Montana’s youth need help. Here’s how educators are confronting a mental health crisis.

Hardin High School., ©TAILYR IRVINE, Gazette Staff

Behavioral health care in Montana’s schools: ‘Not a luxury, it’s a necessity’

©MSU Photo by Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez/Posters designed by freshmen graphic design students in the College of Arts and Architecture at Montana State University hang in the hallway of Haynes Hall, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, in Bozeman, Mont. The posters are part of the 988 campaign to bring awareness to Montana’s suicide prevention lifeline.

PA’s controversial mental health law on involuntary treatment stands to get a test run more than 3 years after its passing.

©Adobe Stock/Photo illustration: Natasha Vicens/PublicSource
©Adobe Stock/Photo illustration: Natasha Vicens/PublicSource

PublicSource, July 5, 2022, by Juliette Rihl: Paul and Christine, of Montgomery County, know what it feels like to helplessly watch their child’s mental health deteriorate.

After two hospitalizations in 2020 and 2021 for mental health crises, their 30-year-old son stopped taking his medication and following other aspects of his treatment plan. He rarely leaves his room, doesn’t make eye contact and goes days without bathing, Paul said — all symptoms of the early stages of psychosis.

“We’re still in crisis. Every day is [a] crisis,” said Paul, who has requested his last name be withheld to protect their family’s identity.

Paul and Christine believe their son, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2020 and, later, unspecified psychosis, might be more likely to comply with treatment if it were mandated by a court. But for now, the only thing they can do is watch his condition worsen.

There’s a three-year-old Pennsylvania law in place that the family thinks could help him, but it has never been used, according to the state Department of Human Services.

In some counties, though, that’s about to change. Five counties across the state — Bucks and Dauphin, along with Carbon, Monroe and Pike, which operate their mental health services together — are gearing up to launch Pennsylvania’s first assisted outpatient treatment pilot programs by 2023, if not sooner, thanks to grant funds provided by the state.

Read more at PublicSource here.