Series will examine state and community efforts to address the youth mental health crisis in California

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control released startling data last year: 57% of U.S. teen girls reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, while 30% seriously considered suicide. 

In California, suicide rates for kids ages 10-18 increased 20% between 2019 and 2020. Closer inspection reveals disparities, with particularly large increases among Black, Latino, LGBTQ youth and low-income and immigrant families.

Youth are not monolithic and the experience of psychological distress, depression and anxiety varies by gender, income and cultural experience. Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles found that “female adolescents were one-and-a-half times more likely than males to report experiencing serious psychological distress” and “adolescents born outside the U.S. were more likely to report serious psychological distress than U.S.-born adolescents (37.7% vs. 28.8%).”

My project for the 2024 California Health Equity Fellowship will look at youth mental health support in California. I will investigate, report and write about youth mental health through a three-part series for Capital & Main that examines state programs, community initiatives and youth-led peer support.

At the state level, the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, or CYBHI, is a five-year, $4.7 billion realignment of existing resources, including multiple state health agencies, to better serve youth mental health needs. The initiative is the core of California’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health, unveiled by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022. California’s initiatives to improve youth mental health support includes work of the state’s Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos and Dr. Burke-Harris, California’s first surgeon general. 

In my reporting, I’ll look at how state agencies and schools have adapted to better serve young people. By the time of reporting, the initiative will been more than two years old, the surgeon general’s program for teacher training will have completed its first year, and the initiative will have started awarding funding to local youth mental health initiatives.

Communities are taking action as well. Soccer coaches in Oakland are learning to recognize signs of mental health need among their young athletes. Teachers in Los Angeles have committed to trauma-informed pedagogy to support their student’s struggling. These approaches are emblematic of mental health support that forgoes traditional references through doctor’s offices out of necessity. Researchers recognize that waiting on formal mental health referrals for therapy, medication and support group is taking too long, especially for young people of color. 

In a small farm town in California’s central coast, a group of high school students surveyed their classmates about pressing needs four years ago. A common theme was mental health – anxiety and depression. Those students, members of an innovative youth council, used their findings to advocate for resources to support their peers. They partnered with local researchers and pressed elected officials, who committed to hiring a social worker. Maybe more importantly, the Gonzales Youth Council encouraged peers to talk and support one another. 

Across California, young people are talking to one another about their mental health, unburdened by the social stigma experienced by previous generations and bolstered by more precise language to articulate their own need. Their work, in the hills of East Los Angeles, classrooms at California State Universities, art spaces and parks, is meant for one another. 

Their work is done without press release or promotion beyond their own social media handles. This work is done without grants or wages. But peer-groups may be key to survival and creating a more supportive and inclusive California.