More Mental Health Services Advocated in New Proposal
Assembly member Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) last week introduced a measure to create a new state agency to focus on suicide prevention, the Oakland Tribune reports.
The new agency would create an advisory committee of mental health professionals to conduct a detailed analysis of available resources and best practices to prevent suicides.
The committee would identify at-risk populations by collecting information from the Department of Vital Statistics and other sources that track suicide deaths. Factors include manner of death, age, race and city of residence.
The committee also would develop prevention training standards that focus on underserved communities and cultural competency (Geissinger, Oakland Tribune, 2/12).