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Nov. 24, 2009 - NCYL, Disability Rights WA and other advocacy organizations have filed suit against Washington State for failing to provide intensive, community-based, mental health services to children and youth.
The 10 plaintiffs, all younger than 21, claim that children and youth with serious mental illness are not being provided adequate care. They are being cycled in and out of institutions, psychiatric hospitals, and jails. They are homeless or end up in foster care and have families in crisis. They are dropping out of school. These children and youth are at greater risk for suicide. There is potential for these kids; but the system is failing them. Read more.
East Bay Express, Oct. 28, 2009
In 2008, Judith Crane made one of the hardest decisions of her life. She called the police on her teenage daughter Cindy. Doing so meant her daughter would soon be headed for juvenile detention for violating probation. Read more.
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Civil advocacy is an essential component of the mental health courts, and improves the diversionary potential of the courts. Most fundamentally, civil advocates improve access to resources and services. The National Center for Youth Law’s (NYCL) role in the mental health courts is to coordinate the civil advocacy component and promote potential for diversion and access to mental health services. Read more.
Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2008
Los Angeles County's Board of Supervisors passed a 5-year, $62-million plan Tuesday to improve mental health services, taking a step toward fulfilling a 5-year-old settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of children in foster care.
Katie A. Ruling Moves CA Closer to Providing Foster Children the Mental Health Services They Need
September 22, 2008 - Federal Judge A. Howard Matz ordered the parties in Katie A. v. Bonta to meet promptly and report back to the Court by October 29 on how “wraparound” services can be covered by Medi-Cal and properly billed—thereby ensuring that mental health care providers will be reimbursed for delivering these critical services to children in foster care.
Check out NCYL's new website designed to help CA providers of adolescent health care understand the many laws that impact their work, with a focus on reproductive health.
December 13, 2007 - The state’s largest and most influential groups advocating for homeless individuals with mental illness have sued Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to restore a highly effective program they say is vital to their clients’ safety and well-being.
March 23, 2007 - A federal appeals court reversed a preliminary injunction requiring intensive mental health services for tens of thousands of foster children. However, the appeals court affirmed California’s obligation to provide effective services to these children, and upheld the lower court’s finding that these children face the grave harm of unnecessary institutionalization without the injunction.
January, 2008 - The first year of the new Alameda County Juvenile Collaborative Court was a great success. The purpose of the Court is to divert youth with mental health issues from the juvenile justice system.
NCYL Deputy Director Patrick Gardner has been appointed to the newly established California Child Welfare Council. The goal of the Council is to increase collaboration among agencies and courts that serve foster youth, and improve the coordination and delivery of foster youth services.
NCYL has forged an innovative partnership with the nation's first Juvenile Mental Health Court - Santa Clara (CA) County's Court for the Individualized Treatment of Adolescents (CITA).
NCYL Senior Attorney Rebecca Gudeman provides trainings to health care providers on minor consent, confidentiality, and child abuse reporting. For more information please contact Rebecca Gudeman.
By Abigail English, Jane Perkins and Catherine Teare
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