The state invests more than $50 million in preventing youth substance abuse

This month, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is awarding over $51 million to fund the "Elevate Youth California" campaign, which supports mental health and prevents substance abuse among children and teens.

The new grants will be awarded to 75 community-based and tribal organizations, utilizing Prop 64 funding to further support youth mental health and expand the state’s substance abuse prevention programs. 

It is through efforts like these that young Californians are informed about the dangers of drugs, how to prevent substance abuse and how to cope with trauma and adversity. “As a father, I know that kids today are under more stress than ever. California is committed to providing the mental health support that children need and deserve, and tools to help them cope with adversity.” said Governor Gavin Newsom.

Providing youth development, peer support and mentoring programs that help kids heal and recover from trauma, cope with adversity and thrive is the mission of the Elevate Youth Campaign (EYC). The program also helps empower youth to get involved in their communities and prioritize harm reduction and public health solutions that address and prevent substance use disorders.

Since 2019, DHCS’ EYC program has engaged 6,793 diverse stakeholders over five grant cycles providing services to 68,539 youth, holding 41,185 prevention program events with 296,435 participants and convening 259 listening sessions.

CALÓ News spoke to therapist Frances Chinchilla Orellana, clinical supervisor of Behavioral Health Services at AltaMed, to discuss mental health awareness and substance abuse among the Latino youth.

Orellana believes that it is crucial to advocate for mental health, specifically for Latino youth. “Mental health has always been a topic with a lot of stigma around it. And mental health isn't something that's necessarily talked about in the open within our community and at home as well,” Orellana said. “The reality is that just like anyone else, Latino youth struggle with their mental health, and it's important to bring that topic to the forefront and create awareness around it.”

According to the American Addiction Centers, 7.1% of Hispanic Americans have a substance use disorder, compared to a rate of 7.4% among the total population. Orellana told CALÓ News that in order to make change the state needs to support youth  mental health and expand substance abuse prevention programs.

“I know that there has been some investment on this and on a federal level, I think the government understands the need to invest in prevention and early intervention services,” she said.

Orellana also believes that there is a connection between mental health and substance abuse. “When people struggle with their mental health, they self-medicate. They might self-medicate with alcohol, or they might self-medicate with other substances to self-regulate. They may also do it to calm their nervous system and escape from their problems. But self-medicating with substances can then lead to further mental health issues. Which creates more challenges, and on top of that, there can be some type of psychological or physical dependence on the substance as well,” Orellana said.

In order to bring awareness to Latino youth, AltaMed works with the Latino community to educate and help decrease the stigma around mental health, which also includes normalizing mental health issues that are important. 

“Families need to be able to have open and honest conversations about mental health with youth and also in schools. I think mental health literacy is crucial in schools as well,” Orellana said.

As part of this effort, the Newsom Administration launched the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative and the Master Plan to Tackle the Fentanyl & Opioid Crisis. To learn more about California’s response to the opioid crisis, visit www.opioids.ca.gov.