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California's Medi-Cal program provides coverage to 1 in 3 Californians, approximately 15 million people, and is currently seeking to expand services and address the mental health needs of residents as a comprehensive form of health care.
As the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) continues to transform Medi-Cal, the state is addressing behavioral health needs such as mental health care and substance use disorder services through health care, experts said during a reality briefing by Ethnic Media Services.
Paula Wilhelm, acting deputy director of Behavioral Health Services for the California Department of Health Care Services, said mental health is just as important as physical health, which is why support is being sought for that area, as well as for substance use.
Whether someone is experiencing postpartum depression, dealing with anxiety and stress due to school or work issues, or needs help dealing with drug or alcohol addiction, they are provided with health education and access to services including mental health screening and assessment with outpatient and community-based treatments, as well as individual, group, or family therapy.
"We want to improve the quality of care we provide in the United States and create a more equitable, people-centered delivery system for all services. This includes the recently updated Behavioral Health Services Act that was approved by California voters as Proposition 1.”, Wilhelm commented.
Autumn Boylan, deputy director of DHCS’s Office of Strategic Partnerships, discussed Governor Gavin Newsom’s master plan for children’s mental health, announced in August 2022.
It seeks to ensure that children use mental health services and support for emerging and existing behavioral health conditions, as unfortunately for more than a decade, children and young people of all ethnic backgrounds have been getting worse.
In California, specifically, nearly 300,000 clients are dealing with major depression, and 66 percent of those young people are not getting access to treatment and care in the way they should; young people are stressed, and the pandemic has contributed to and exacerbated some of these feelings.
And young people are bombarded with information about the world around them, including climate change, school shootings and other circumstances that contribute to the stressors they face today, and as their developing brains face all of these different challenges in the world, we're working very closely with county offices of education, school districts and schools across the state to strengthen the support network available in school settings, she said.
Within the program, he explained, a digital health strategy is being focused on, taking into account that children and young people spend a lot of time on screens, so the aim is to reach more children through this medium.
She also explained that two Mental Health Centres have been launched regardless of the health insurance status, therefore, it is not necessary to have one to access these services.
Boylan said there is a Bright Life Kids app available for young children and parents, as well as another app that provides free mental health counseling support and a wealth of resources for teens and young adults ages 13 to 25.
Jennifer Oliphant, director of the Hope for Tomorrow Program at Two Feathers Native American Family Services, said she works with eight federally recognized tribes and a few more that are not, caring for a large Native American population.
She highlighted that they have a special plan for adolescents and young people that seeks to involve and support young people to be part of the labor market and the community, a project that began two years ago to involve and develop socio-emotional skills among young people.
Tricia Nguyen, CEO of Southland Integrated Services (formerly Vietnamese Community of Orange County), explained that they were established in 1979 as a support agency for the Vietnamese people, with 300,000 people belonging to this agency.
Over time, she stressed, work has been done to provide more and better support, integrating medical, dental and behavioral health. In 2008, they did not have any mental health programs, but with the pandemic, addressing mental health became a necessity.
Currently, she stressed, parents have to deal with social networks constantly, so it is necessary to get parents to communicate with their children, because they feel that they do not have real communication; for this, there are Family Centers where emotional support and advice is provided to the community so that they seek specialized medical attention for their needs.
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