Hi Girls,
I want to share an opportunity for you to provide public input on a topic that continues to come up in your meetings and your outreach. This is totally voluntary and should reflect your perspective.
The Monterey County Health Department Behavioral Health Division is looking for public input on some changes it's made to the Mental Health Services Act Plan. The Mental Health Services Act funds programs to support individuals either who have mental illness or to help prevent children and youth from having mental health issues.
Even though you haven't formed your Action Plan yet - there seems to be a consensus among the Girl Leadership Teams that girls need more support for their emotional health. And this is a chance to share. Below are the links to the plan.
I talked to a few of the groups and said I would draft an input statement and then you can use or modify if you want. You can send an e-mail with input to:Alica Hendricks hendricksa@co.monterey.ca.us. They will welcome your input and even if they don't make changes now - this input will be on their radar.
Sample E-mail
Re: Public Input to Mental Health Services Act
Hello,
I am a member of a Girls health action research project called Girls Health in Girls Hands. We are girls talking with other girls (from ages 9-18) throughout the County to identify their health needs. This spring we will be developing an Action Plan on how public policies and practices can better support girls health. (We'll make sure you receive a copy.)
It is clear that girls need more support to be emotionally healthy. Many of the girls have said that they lack self-esteem; have difficult interpersonal issues with friends, individuals they date, and families; experience ongoing depression; and have other emotional issues that, when not addressed, often lead to the larger issues that are being faced by girls(like drugs and alcohol abuse, violence, pregnancy, unhealthy sexual practices, suicide...).
With the current economic situation - we are both hearing and seeing that girls are even more stressed and fearful. Girls tell us "they just want someone to talk with." And they often don't want to talk with their parents - even when their parents are supportive.
WHAT GIRLS WOULD LIKE...
1) Ongoing support groups (there are some support groups that are great - but they are not always ongoing).
2) Counselors in schools that are free. Most school counselors are only available for talking about classes. Even in crisis situations - we have heard stories of girls being turned away from the school counselors.(Carmel High & Middle School recently added a counselor that is there to support the needs students and their families. We like this model.)
3) Trained peer counselors within the schools.
4) A pool of adult volunteer counselors (not therapists) that are available to the girls.
They want these services to be easily accessible (maybe school based) from the time they are young through their adulthood to help them develop healthy self-esteem and positive mental health. It is also critical that these services are free or low cost.
The girls also think that it would be great if their parents can have access to similar support for themselves and parent education so that they can better support their daughters.
The support of raising emotionally health girls is not funded or addressed in your plan and we would like it to be. And even though we are only researching girls - we think boys would want the same types of support.
Thank you for your consideration.
(WRITE YOUR NAME)
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