Assemblyman Rob Bonta

More education is key to destigmatizing behavioral health. We need to learn more about what leads to behavioral health conditions and start to understand these are more common than one might think. Most people know someone who is dealing with a behavioral health issue but might not realize it. That’s part of the problem. If we can educate our communities on how to identify behavioral health issues and how to properly address them before they become larger problems, we’ll be setting our communities up for greater success.

California should invest more in our mental health service programs – especially for our youth. Whether these services are at school sites, or in more accessible areas of the community, there’s much more that we can do. Addressing issues early on before they evolve into greater issues down the road will have positive outcomes for our health care systems and communities.

Behavioral health matters because it affects all of us. Our schools, our workplaces, our healthcare systems, our friends and our families deal with these issues on a daily basis and are looking for ways to do better. Without the appropriate resources to address these issues, our communities suffer.

Absolutely.