The Chronicle of Social Change

“Although the COVID-19 crisis is, in the first instance, a physical health crisis, it has the seeds of a major mental health crisis as well, if action is not taken.” So begins the United Nations’ Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health, released May 13, 2020. A similar U.N. brief, released the previous month, addressed the specific threat of COVID-19 to children’s mental health. Read more.

For marginalized youth and young adults, the pandemic preys on their pre-existing conditions of trauma, victimization and pervasive insecurity. Jevon Wilkes, Director of Youth Engagement for the California Children’s Trust, discusses the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on already marginalized young people. Read more.

California advocates and policymakers are guardedly hopeful that the new governor will walk the walk when it comes to responding to child trauma and mental health challenges for children in the state. That was the takeaway from the annual conference of Breaking Barriers. Read more.

The California Children’s Trust and the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy propose a paradigm shift in how California conceptualizes, delivers and funds a system of care for MediCal eligible infants, toddlers and their families. Read more.

The key challenges at the heart of our state’s struggle to provide the behavioral health services kids need. Read more.

An initiative is afoot that seeks to use a confluence of events to push for a revolution on children's mental health in California. Read more.