Newsom funnels nearly $5 billion into mental health resources
With their worlds shut down at the onset of the pandemic, Sonja Morse was forced to watch her children cope with anxiety and depression as they struggled with the new normal.
"She wasn't going outside," Morse said about her 6th-grade daughter. "We were just in the house. I'm an adult, I can deal with it. Kids are totally different. And you don't know what they're going through because sometimes she wouldn't even tell me."
However, it didn't just affect her daughter but her two boys too.
"I have two boys who were in sports," she said. "They couldn't do football or basketball."
Morse's kids are not alone. To help the children and teens struggling with anxiety and depression, like Morse's children, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he's moving billions from the existing budget to fund programs to combat mental health issues.
"$4.7 billion to focus on universal screening and support and services for all of our children in the state of California," he said.
The governor highlighted the critical need for immediate action, pointing to the suicide rates for California kids. From 2019 to 2020, suicide rates amongst people between the ages of 10 and 18 jumped 20%. Research also showed more kids are feeling chronic sadness and depression. Newsom hopes to hire and train 40,000 more mental health professionals for help.
However, Newsom's critics said it was his policies that helped create a mental health crisis.
"The consequences of that are already very clear," said Assemblyman (R) Kevin Kiley. "You're seeing a huge widening of achievement gaps. The least well-off students are hard hit the most."
Psychologist Dr. Shané P. Teran said that kids will continue to struggle to cope with the new reality.
"During the height of the pandemic it was a consistent messaging of not being able to connect," said Teran. "Especially, for our middle schoolers. They started off knowing about friendships, social relations — that excitement to get out and connect which is innate for all of us as humans."
As the pandemic droned on, Teran said her clients started to feel more depressed.
