Thinking of myself as a health care detective who is solving a mystery makes a frustrating process feel a little bit more interesting.
You have to figure out the motive, gather the evidence, interrogate the suspects, and put together a case.
children
A new benefit called Enhanced Care Management offered under California’s Medi-Cal program could help parents who are caring for children with complex physical, behavioral and social needs.
However, the program — which launched July 1 — has been slow to help most families who qualify.
In California, over 98 percent of newborns are screened for hearing loss. But when it comes to intervention, there is little action to ensure these children are supported.
A bill pending in the California Senate aims to rectify problems with the state’s current Hearing Aid Coverage program and expand hearing aid access to thousands of families across the state.
Too many families must fight health plans to get mental health care for their children. The process to get care is often time-consuming, confusing and burdensome.
That is why we are sponsoring Senate Bill 238. Under this bill, parents will no longer have to appeal health plan decisions through the arduous Department of Managed Health Care process.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding nurses to care for medically fragile children at home has become extremely difficult, according to parents of children with disabilities and home health agencies.
The shortage has prompted calls for California’s governor and legislature to increase Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for home nurses by 40 percent.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders are alcohol-related disorders thought to be the most common birth defects in the western world.
A recently passed California law should make it easier for children affected by these disorders to access special education services. The law goes into effect in January.
Almost all children who experience housing insecurity also experience trauma because of the stress of their situation. California and the federal government recognize this, and require schools to provide these children with additional support.
But experts believe tens of thousands of California children experiencing homelessness fall through the cracks and receive little to no help from their schools.
During the 2019-20 school year, close to 1.3 million children in the nation’s public schools were identified as homeless. But that figure may vastly underestimate the actual number. A Center for Public Integrity analysis found evidence that thousands of school districts are undercounting.
Experts who spoke with Public Integrity said that confusion surrounding the McKinney-Vento law and who qualifies as “doubled-up” can leave many students unidentified and not receiving the support they need in school.
I recently introduced Senate Bill 387 to help teachers and school-based staff receive training on how to recognize the signs of a mental health crisis.
Although teachers and school-based staff are not trained mental health professionals, they are in a unique position to support youth who need help. By equipping teachers with the training needed to recognize the signs of someone experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge, we’ll help ensure students don’t slip through the cracks.
The legacy of redlining in Fresno isn’t just linked to housing access. It also has deadly effects on air quality and preterm birth.
People living in substandard housing, a problem tied to redlining, are more likely to be exposed to wildfire smoke. This exposure can hurt pregnant people and the children they carry.