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The City of Eureka will hold a community health town hall this Saturday afternoon to discuss the persistent mental health crisis and its impact on local children.
This discussion, “Mental Health Today, Tomorrow’s Future: Raising Resilient Kids,” is a series of quarterly town halls designed to address a variety of topics related to mental health, substance use, and homelessness. It’s part of the initiative. .
“The mental health of our children is critical to the health of our community, especially our future,” said Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel. outpost In a recent phone interview. “COVID-19 has really exacerbated that problem. On top of that, Humboldt has some of the best ACES [Adverse Childhood Experiences] Score state. We are seriously considering how we can alleviate that. ”
Humboldt County has the most reported cases of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, than anywhere else in California. According to , about 29 percent of Humboldt children have an ACE score of 2 or higher. Parent-reported data This was compiled from 2016 to 2019, and is almost twice the state average.
What can health care providers and parents do to meaningfully impact children’s mental health? Jacob Rosen, a mental health clinician in Eureka, says active involvement is key. states.
“It’s really important to pay attention to mental health early on,” Rosen explained. “What we are seeing is a compounding effect. Children who have many ACEs early on will have serious consequences for their mental and physical health later in life, especially if they are not addressed. The more we advocate and discuss this as a community, the more we can involve people in the idea of trying to alleviate these ACEs, improve the mental health of our children, and invest in our children. can.”
Rosen said education is the first step.
“Educating people about the issues at hand allows them to make more informed decisions,” he continued. “And if they have that knowledge, they can bring it to the ballot box, they can bring it to their own businesses, they can bring it to the organizations that they work for.… Gaining that knowledge and paving the way for potential volunteer work and competitions is empowering.
Mr. Rosen will co-host Saturday’s meeting with Mr. Bergel. The speaker panel will feature four local experts: Laura Ziemer, youth development advocate and motivational speaker, and Eureka Police Department Community Safety Action Team (CSET) Mental Health; Officer-in-Charge, Mr. Jamie Clark, and Dr. Virgil Moorhead, Director of Behavioral Health. Martin Stephan, Feathers Family Services and Senior Program Manager for Child Behavioral Health at the Humboldt County Department of Human Services and Health.
“Many of the youth and families we serve have been affected by many forms of trauma,” Stephens said. outpost. “For young people, we see this manifesting as attachment and family functioning issues, and children who have witnessed family violence. , increased risk of social and family problems.”
Stephens said his team is trained to use “specific trauma-informed practices” because of the high incidence of trauma in the county. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessingsimilarly Parent-child psychotherapy, Trauma-Informed Practices for Children Ages 5 and Up.For teenagers and young adults, staff Transition to independence process modelan alternative trauma-informed treatment approach.
“I look forward to sharing information about the variety of services that Children’s Behavioral Health offers,” Stephan added. “I would like to answer questions about how the community can access these services. …I would like to just listen and get ideas and feedback from the community on this important topic. .”
The Community Health Town Hall will be held this Saturday, September 30th, in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of Eureka City Hall (531 K Street). Doors open at 1:30 p.m., allowing attendees to grab refreshments and find seats and meetings. Starts at 2pm. Please tune in if you are interested in participating virtually. here.
Can’t attend but still want to? Send questions to [email protected].
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