From KQED:
Students throughout the University of California system are having
trouble accessing mental health care, and health services directors are
raising alarms that increased staffing and funding could be warranted to
meet demand. “The increased need for mental health services on our campuses is
outstripping our ability to provide those services,” said Dr. John
Stobo, senior vice president for health sciences and services for the
University of California. “It is a major problem. It’s not only a
problem for UC, this is a national issue.” In the last six years, the number of students seeking help at
university counseling centers has increased 37 percent, according to
data presented at UC Regents board meeting on Thursday...
Elizabeth Gong-Guy, executive director of Counseling and Psychological Services at UCLA... says more students are seeking help now because of awareness
campaigns that helped reduced stigma around mental health issues. Those
campaigns were funded through a $6.8 million grant the university
received under Proposition 63, a voter-approved ballot measure that
raised taxes on the wealthiest Californians to provide funds for the
state’s public mental health system. But that funding to the university ends this year, and health
services directors worry they do not have enough money to hire the staff
needed to keep up with unabated demand. Gong-Guy said the UCLA counseling center treated 8,500 students last
year – that amounts to 21 percent of the student population and a 23
percent increase over the year before...
Full story at http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2014/09/19/students-struggle-to-access-mental-health-services-on-uc-campuses/
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