California is one of just five states in which the rate of death from drug overdoses is higher in rural areas than urban ones.
But across the state, emergency responders are finding solutions tailored to their communities. Driven by a desire to help patients find long-term help, emergency providers are partnering with local organizations and equip communities to distribute medication.
For immigrant students, graduation discussions have an extra layer of complexity this year.
At one northern California school, recently arrived immigrant students are thinking about safety, politics and the culture of belonging – considerations that weren’t front of mind as they filled out their applications in the fall, before President Donald Trump took office.
I spent three summers providing emergency services as part of Yosemite National Park’s Search and Rescue team, working hard on more than 100 rescue missions.
Emergency medical services look different in every park, but one thing is now the same: The systems that NPS visitors, residents and employees have come to rely on are on shaky ground.
More than 188,000 families rely on California Children’s Services to help manage their care for their children. But when that care is cancelled, few families understand their rights.
A new toolkit hopes to explain families’ due process rights and provide practical advice for moving forward.
For one dedicated couple, embracing restorative justice was the first step toward healing their family.
The Contra Costa County Family Justice Center’s CHAT Project has been a beacon of hope, one that has given them the tools they each needed to co-parent effectively while mending their own relationship. By focusing on accountability and communication, the couple have been able to create a safe, stable home for their son.
Amidst a nationwide shortage of pediatric specialists, families caring for children with special health care needs in rural areas are often forced to travel long distances for care.
Physicians and parents agree that on top of bringing more specialists to rural areas, increasing the flow of information between agencies and making travel reimbursements easier to attain would ease some of this burden on families.
Mental health care workers are in high demand across California, especially in the rural pockets of the state. In the Eastern Sierra, providers are working to expand their in-person services while fighting insurance companies to be included in their networks. But the challenges are immense, especially when it comes to psychiatric care. Here’s what some providers are doing to increase access.
Two years ago, California voters overwhelmingly decided to enshrine the right to abortion services in the state constitution. And it wasn’t just coastal liberals: voters in the rural north, Central Valley, and Sierra Nevada all voted in favor of the proposition, despite also voting largely for Republican offices.
But many of these residents still lack access and have yet to implement effective solutions.
Today, there are 77 health care districts across California, providing care for tens of millions of people, mostly in rural areas. Inyo County, where Bishop is located, now has two.
But few community members know these districts exist or that they may be governing health care in their region.
Even in California, a state where voters overwhelmingly decided to protect the right to reproductive freedom in the constitution this November, many rural residents struggle to access abortion services.
These residents sometimes live hundreds of miles away from the nearest abortion clinic and lack the resources to trek to another part of the state.