City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2024-01330 7/23/2024 Discussion Item 1.
2024 Summer at City Hall (S@CH) Student Presentations
File ID: 2024-01330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Receive and file reports from the 2024 Summer @ City Hall students related to:
1) Pathway to Wellness (Mindful Mice);
2) Domestic Violence Awareness (Red Ravens);
3) Student Mental Health Related to Academic Stress (Blue Jays); 4) Homelessness (Jade Dragonz);
5) Mental Health Resources, Affordability, and Accessibility (Pink Panthers); 6) Cultural Awareness in Sacramento (Club Include);
7) Extracurriculars Effect on Student’s Mental Health (Golden Leaves); and 8) The Connection of Drug Abuse and Teenage Mental Health (Flight Crew) Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected]; Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected]; Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected]; Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment Presenter: Summer @ City Hall Link Crews
1. Mindful Mice
2. Red Ravens
3. Bluejays
4. Jade Dragonz
5. Pink Panthers
6. Club Include
7. Golden Leaves
8. Flight Crew
Attachments:
Item 1.1: Mindful Mice: Pathway to Wellness
Item 1.2: Red Ravens: Domestic Violence Awareness
File ID: 2024-01330 7/23/2024 Discussion Item 1.
Item 1.3: Blue Jays: Student Mental Health Related to Academic Stress Item 1.4: Jade Dragonz: Homelessness
Item 1.5: Pink Panthers: Mental Health Resources, Affordability, and Accessibility Item 1.6: Club Include: Cultural Awareness in Sacramento Item 1.7: Golden Leaves: Extracurriculars Effect on Students’ Mental Health Item 1.8: Flight Crew: The Connection of Drug Abuse and Teenage Mental Health
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: Pathway to Wellness
File ID: 2024-01330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Information Only
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808- 6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment
Presenter: Mindful Mice
Grace Gao, John F. Kennedy High School, 10th grade
Camille Dixon, Cava Sutter High School, 10th grade
Kiranveer Cheema, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep High School, 12th grade Kora Awwad, Rosemont High school, 11th grade
Sariah Saeteurn, John F. Kennedy High School, 12th grade Daniel Spann, John F. Kennedy High School, 11th grade
David Excel Unanwa, Natomas High School, 11th grade
Micheal Rodriquez, School of Engineering and Sciences, 11th grade Peer Mentor: Jordan Lu, West Campus High School, 12th grade Teacher: Nicole Quinn (2nd year)
Attachments:
1-Description Analysis
Issue Detail: In Sacramento alone 1 in 5 children and youth have a diagnosable emotional, behavioral or mental health disorder. Most of those don't get the treatment they need. It is up to us to bring awareness and let those who are struggling know that they are not alone, it is okay to get help. We believe that programs need to have mental health as a top priority.. Programs should be established so teenagers are comfortable and know there is a space for them to talk. In today's world we are seeing a higher rise in problems associated with mental health, specifically in teenagers. This can lead into one's adult life potentially making them vulnerable to many things. Factors such as bullying, and attachment issues can lead to depression and eventually suicide among teenagers. These effects can be seen in grades, home life, work life, and development of risky behavior forcing one to want to take actions that are harmful. We as a group collectively decided that we must spread awareness about the importance of understanding mental health in its entirety from signs, assistance and how mental health is vital!
50,000 students have diagnosable mental health disorders, and out of 10,000 get the treatment they need. That means that the other 40,000 students don’t have the support that they need to get the help that they need. It is really important to speak up if you or a loved one is experiencing mental health issues - without getting the help that someone needs; the symptoms could get worse, development of additional disorders, and decreased quality of life.
The Mindful Mice are proposing that the city council takes the time to watch our presentation and make programs in schools as well as out of school to prioritize mental health. Including providing a basic understanding of what mental health illness looks like, what the signs are and how to get help. We have made a website, pamphlet, and video that showcases how one can reach out for help, what resources they can use. If we want a future full of happy faces, people glad to work and ready to give back to Sacramento, it starts with mental health, keeping the mind healthy.
Website:
Survey Results:
Tri-fold Pamphlet:
Social Media Post:
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: Domestic Violence
File ID: 2024-01330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Information Only
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment Presenter: Red Ravens
Janith Benitez, Grant Union HS, 11th grade
Leia Castelle, George Washington Carver, 10th grade
Cayla Johnson, Inderkum, 11th grade
Ace Vang, Rio Linda HS, 12th grade
Julia Dougherty McClatchy HS 12 grade
Joseph Williams, New Technology HS, 12 grade
Daisy Leonsaene, JFK HS, 10th grade
Maliyah Kennon McClatchy HS 10th grade
Myracol Brown, NP3, 12th grade
Peer Mentor: Mason Takamoto, np3 High, 11th grade
Peer Mentor: Bianca Khoshcar, Ponderosa High School, 11th Teacher: Nicole Quinn (2nd year)
Attachments:
1-Description Analysis
Issue Detail: Domestic violence, specifically being targeted towards teens, is a major issue in our community that needs to be addressed. The term domestic violence means “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological, or technological. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.” According to the official sheriff’s office, out of 422 known incidents, only 53 cases of domestic violence have been reported this year in the city of Sacramento. This unnoticed number of cases truly shows the need for awareness towards domestic violence.
Additionally, 39.1 percent of women, and 31.1 percent of men residing in California report they have experienced domestic abuse. This issue is very prevalent in our society, yet most youth don’t know how to identify the signs if they, or a loved one, and in a situation where they are experiencing domestic abuse. Thirty-two percent of the poll we put out to local teenagers told us that they knew very little about domestic abuse. Twenty-seven percent of the teens do not know where they could find help if they were being abused, and 52% only knew of a couple.
Our issue is not only trying to lessen domestic violence, but inform the future generations of the danger, and long-lasting effect of domestic abuse.
Domestic violence against teens can leave victims with long term effects like PTSD, crippling anxiety, depression, and losing trust in general. Our goal with this presentation is to bring awareness and to help teen victims in need, physically and mentally. To achieve this goal, we ask to have more assemblies in schools to talk directly to the youth. This would make students aware of the dangers of domestic violence. Our group, from Twin Rivers, Natomas and Sacramento City School District have never had awareness of domestic violence in schools.
Therefore, domestic violence needs to be talked about.
We wanted to have these stickers all around Sacramento that can help people in need on a more personal and private level. Some of these places include public bathrooms (can be in high school bathrooms as well), doctors’ offices, rest stops, libraries, etc. To help people when they can’t get away from their abuser, the sticker has the domestic abuse hotline and general tools that victims could use to get help.
Our flyer gives ways to recognize typical abusive behaviors. In addition to recognizable signs of abuse, the flyer will also have signals that can be used for help and a list of physical locations they can go to if they are in need of help. Available services that we found are the “National Domestic Violence Hotline”, Weave, Safe at Home, and My Sisters House. Those services all help support victims. Additionally, a survey was conducted, presenting questions, allowing us to have a close-up image on those who lived through domestic violence. Purple ribbons will be shared as it represents our focus, domestic violence.
Survey Results:
Stickers:
Flier:
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: Student Mental Health Related to Academic Stress File ID: 2024-13330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Request City Council to establish and promote the STREST (Supporting Teens with Resources for Educational Stress Together) organization to school boards, school districts, and schools. Request City Council to use their funding and resources to kickstart our organization and bring it to schools in Sacramento.
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment.
Presenter: Blue Jays
Tanuja Balasa, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep, 10th
Rose Mary Lemus, C.K. McClatchy High School, 10th
Alexis Bonilla, West Campus High School, 10th
Naomi Esparza, Rosemont High School, 11th
Zulay Aguilar, John F. Kennedy, 10th
Kai Saelee, John F Kennedy Highschool, 10th
Kne’Arrah James, Grant Union High School, 10th
Sereywatha Bun, Inderkum High School, 11th
Anshika Kakar, Inderkum High School, 10th
Peer Mentor: Hunter Nousaine, Sacramento New Technology, 12th Peer Mentor: Wayland Zhu, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep, 12th Teacher: Nicole Quinn, S@CH (2nd Year)
Issue Detail:
Raising awareness and proposing solutions to City Council about preventing and treating academic stress in high school students. Academic stress is consistently surveyed as the largest stressor among American high school students. Mental health affects all of us in our daily lives, especially for students managing classes and extracurriculars. The pressures of getting into college from family and peers have taken a toll on students and can even lead to anxiety and depression, with those rates increasing since COVID-19.
To help students cope with the stress of academic pressure and help them feel supported and not alone, we will propose to City Council the organization STREST (Supporting Teens with Resources for Educational Stress Together) that offers an after-school program where students have access to peer groups, mental health support, college prep, school management guidance, study hall, tutoring, a place to build relationships and destress.
Additionally, STREST, along with school officials would hold school-wide wellness fairs every semester/quarterly. These would highlight schools hosting representatives from local mental health organizations for students to hear from them in person. We are aware that not every student has internet access, a safe environment to talk about their feelings, guidance through our education system (ex. refugee’s and immigrant’s children), the right resources, funds, parents who understand the issue, or the time at home. But our program offers a solution to all that. An afterschool, on-campus program, is the most accessible option for students to receive help for this widespread issue. In the event of this program's success, we would like to look into incorporating this program into the school day as well. We are requesting City Council to use Measure L to help fund our organization, STREST complies with 7 sections and 20 subsections. The funding and resources will be used towards kickstarting the organization, spreading it to schools, marketing, bringing vendors (ex. mental health professionals, college guidance), and partnerships (ex. MIND4YOUTH, GOEducate).
We will employ a variety of strategies to promote STREST's mission. We will create a PSA, social media blast, billboard/banner, and bookmarks. The PSA will explain how STREST can help students target and manage academic stress. The social media blast will reach many students of this generation and will emphasize the importance of knowing coping mechanisms.
The billboard/banner will increase visibility among a broader audience. The bookmarks could be placed in libraries around Sacramento and in schools so they can not only be seen by high school students but by children and parents as well.
Statistical Data:
Source: Atena’s Health Pulse Survey Results (2021)
Source: RedBox Rx Mental Health Survey (December 2023)
Source: Link Crew: Blue Jays survey (2024)
Social Media Blasts:
Bookmark:
Pamphlet:
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: A Helping Hand
File ID: 2024-13330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Information Only
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment.
Presenter: Jade Dragonz
Alexis Barrera, Mcclatchy, 12th
Antonio Martinez NP3 11th
Christine Shen Inderkum 11th
Chloe Thao Grant Union 11th
Harseeret Kandola NP3 12th
Sofia Hawarneh Inderkum 11th
Sriom Karthic Westlake 11th
Sarah Roth John F. Kennedy 10th
Tala Mazhar NP3 10th
Peer Mentor: Elaine Yang John F. Kennedy 12th
Peer Mentor: Mosshal Mojaddedi Westlake 11th
Teacher: Nicole Castles (Year 1)
Issue Detail:
Our group has taken on the responsibility of addressing the pervasive issue of homelessness within our community. We deliberately selected this particular topic due to its heightened relevance in contemporary society. Unlike other significant societal issues, homelessness manifests in every district and neighborhood across the city.
Homelessness is a complex issue that can often be attributed to multiple factors. These factors may include the lack of job opportunities, insufficient availability of housing, limited access to education, challenges related to substance abuse, mental health issues, and more. Instead of solely addressing the immediate needs of homeless individuals by providing one-time meals or blankets, we advocate for a more comprehensive approach that emphasizes creating sustainable opportunities for them.
We have recognized the presence of programs offering opportunity and support to the homeless. Such programs that offer this are Mather Singles Interim Housing and St. John's Shelter Program for Women and Children. These programs lend shelter to the unhoused and give rehabilitation to the homeless youth and seniors, such as job readiness training, drug counseling, and many other benefits to those in need. The Department of Community Response already tackles homelessness, but we believe with needed opportunity comes needed education for maintaining it to ensure success.
Our proposal is opening programs for the homeless to receive the education they need to properly access and hold onto the opportunities they are given by other programs. We are requesting access to a wide range of educational resources including books, online courses, and learning tools, to promote ongoing learning and independent skill development.
Workshops and classes on practical skills such as basic literacy, numeracy, and financial literacy are crucial for improving employability and daily living skills. Additionally we ask for guided sessions on stress management, life skills, and personal empowerment to promote strength and well-being among these individuals. Collaboration with local libraries, educational institutions, and community organizations would also be needed to ensure programs are delivered and supported well. We also propose recruiting volunteers from the community to serve as tutors, mentors, and workshop facilitators to create a supportive learning environment.
In conclusion, we ask the council to make these programs reality, receive necessary funds and offer the homeless the education needed to seize these opportunities. We would like to quote the famous Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu; “if you give a man a fish, you feed him for one day.
If you teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” With education on how to maintain a stable lifestyle, stress management, paying bills, sending emails, etc. We believe the amount of chronically homeless citizens in Sacramento will drop significantly with the assistance of rehabilitation programs following the education we hope to provide.
Billboard:
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: Mental Health Resources, Affordability, and Accessibility File ID: 2024-13330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Information Only
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment.
Presenter: Pink Panthers
Amanda Kwong, Christian Brothers, 10th Grade
Brandi Saechao, Medina Hiram Johnson, 10th Grade
Heaven Franklin, Rosemont, 11th Grade
Billy Negrete, Rosemont, 10th Grade
Alan Cruz Morales, West Campus, 10th Grade
Isaiah Nathaniel, Rosemont, 11th Grade
Dharmi Singareddy, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep, 10th Grade Gideon Hemingway, John F Kennedy, 10th Grade
Sammy Wang, West Campus High School, 10th grade
Tanya Gadhia, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep, 10th Grade Peer Mentor: Lilianna De La Rosa, West Campus, 12th Grade Peer Mentor: Jamie Vides, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep, 11th Grade Teacher: Nicole Castles (Year 1)
Issue Detail:
Mental health issues have been increasing over the years in Sacramento, making the Sacramento Area the 4th highest city with mental health issues in California in 2022. In 2021,
47.2% of U.S. adults with any mental illness received treatment, while 65.4% of those with serious mental illness did so. Although the adults also have serious mental illness issues, the youth also have mental problems. In the U.S. the youth from ages 6-17 had mental health disorder with only 50.6% of them receiving treatment. Both adults and minors both have mental illness problems with only 50-65% of them actually getting treatment.
The economic impact for mental health isn’t good either. As more people don't treat mental health issues, the unemployed, homelessness, and rates of incarceration would increase.
According to The White House, it states that,” Untreated mental health issues can lead to higher unemployment rates, increased homelessness, and higher rates of incarceration.” In the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), it also says,” Untreated mental illness often results in higher healthcare costs due to comorbid conditions like cardiovascular diseases.” Each evidence provides how mental health has impacted the economic state of unmet mental health needs.
Our team believes that the City of Sacramento needs to take more action in the community, specifically the youth for mental health. We propose that the city can act by providing support and resources for those in need of specific mental health services. We want to deliver resources specific to the needs of the community who are suffering from a mental health crisis.
Organizing a community club that gathers Sacramento youth that need mental support could help ease the burden of mental health struggles in teens. The community club will be held twice a week, at an easily accessible community center. We believe it is important for the City Council to partner with the school boards to assist by spreading awareness to the students.
In addition to the clubs, we believe it is important to have regular mental health workshops.
Mental health workshops will help students focus on stress management, mindfulness, and coping strategies which are the most prominent reasons or causes that contribute to poor mental health. We’re proposing that these workshops take place in schools in collaboration with counselors, community-based organizations, and community members.
Your life is like a tree, if you take care of a tree it grows, if you don’t it withers away. (Slogan) Billboard:
Information Fliers:
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: Culture Awareness
File ID: 2024-13330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Information Only
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment.
Presenter: Club Include
Kaylee (Kay) Kearns, Natomas High School, 10th grade
Jayla Reid, C.K McClatchy High School, 10th grade
Sapir Cohen, Rosemont High School, 11th grade
Alexander Kasimov, Inderkum High School, 11th grade
Tiana Washington Rosemont School, 11th grade
Hussein Almuslimawi, Valley High School, 10th grade
Lakshya Sharma, Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep, 10th grade Tommy White, Natomas High School, 11th grade
Shia DeJohnette, Rosemont High School, 11th grade
Arahan Sharma, Sacramento New Technology, high school 12th grade Peer Mentor: Nadilynn Carthen, Natomas High School, 12th grade Peer Mentor: Meredith Gore, Highlands High School, 12th grade Teacher: Christopher Manning (1st Year)
Issue Detail:
People in Sacramento don’t feel as if their culture is recognized. Not only that but the people of Sacramento get misidentified and experience racism. About 22% of the individuals who took our cultural awareness survey said that they did not feel as if their culture was recognized.
According to the survey we conducted, 70% of the individuals who took the survey experienced racism and were misidentified. When people's cultural identity is not recognized or gets put down, they may feel disconnected, frustrated, and resentful. This leads to those people distancing themselves from their community. People lacking cultural awareness can bring negative emotions to the community. We aim to push to end this issue by creating cultural events, clubs, and classes.
Our goal is to bring cultural awareness to the community of Sacramento, the way to achieve this is by partnering with the Council for Cross-Cultural Affairs but also creating more programs and organizations that specialize in helping cultures and spreading awareness. When working with the Council for Cross Culture Affairs we’d make clubs, classes, and events that all concentrate on bringing awareness to different cultures. This will help people to become normalized to live with other cultures in this diverse city.
We believe clubs that include people from different cultures who spread their culture, language, beliefs, and moral values would help with this issue. Although schools have implemented classes such as AP African American History, we want it to be about a more wide range of cultures.
The City of Sacramento has implemented and supported areas such as the Office of Diversity and Equality, Council of Cultural Affairs, Equality Institute, and The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Sacramento to name a few. However, Sacramento is a huge city and these organizations are not given as much attention as we feel they deserve. City Council embracing these organizations are necessary for them to be seen as effective.
Billboard:
Flier:
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: Extracurriculars Effect on Students’ Mental Health File ID: 2024-13330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Information Only
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment.
Presenter: Golden Leaves
Morgan Flournoy- Natomas Pacific Pathways Preparatory High School, 10th grade Mekhilyn Durr- New Technology Early College High School, 12th grade Sophie Lew - West Campus High School, 10th grade
Tania Elias Parra- Inderkum High School, 10th grade
Kabir Barkzai- John F. Kennedy High School. 11th Grade
Maryam Popal- Foothill High School, 11th grade
Jasia Miles- Oak Ridge High School, 10th grade
Malik Shim - John F. Kennedy High School, 10th grade
Peer Mentor: Rilewa Ayoade, Sutter Park Charter High School, 12th grade Teacher: Christopher Manning (1st Year)
Issue Detail:
After-school, students either go to an extracurricular or are left at home with no activities.
Twenty-five percent of students in California have an after-school extracurricular, however, a majority of the remaining students go directly home. Of the students that don’t attend an after- school program, recent studies show that they are less likely to have healthy development and balanced mental health. We believe that by advocating for extracurriculars, clubs, and after school activities, we can not only give students something to do, but it will also greatly improve their mental wellbeing.
Our project is focused on the after-school extracurriculars that are facilitated by the city, like the START (Students Today Achieving Results for Tomorrow) program and ASES program that are provided by the city. For example, the START program has been in operation for twenty-seven years and has changed thousands of young lives. Throughout Sacramento, START has many opportunities for youth ranging from TK to sixth grade, as well as academic enrichment, recreational activities and nutrition, and also focuses on youth development. Each START site has at least 100 students in total, it gives 2,000 students a safe and enriching place to go after-school. Throughout this program, the youth of Sacramento can have something to do while improving their mental health. Meanwhile, ASES provides recreational activities for middle school students that provide exciting activities after-school. These two programs are free and easy to access for all students in Sacramento.
In a study by Afterschool Alliance, published last year, it shows that teens today have high rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, stress, hostility and more. Additionally, teens are at a critical stage of development and the environments that they’re in shape who they are and how they interact with others. However, more than two in five teens have shared that they feel hopeless and sad and more than three in four parents have reported that they are concerned with their teen’s mental health and are worried that they’re depressed or experiencing anxiety.
Programs like START and the ASES program create spaces for kids to build their communication skills which will lead to better mental health. The purpose of this project is to call attention to these programs for students to join and allow the city to publicize these extracurriculars more for students to develop a variety of skills that interest them and benefit them socially and mentally. We want to advocate for these programs to be more publicized, so it encourages teenagers to join instead of staying at home doing nothing keeping them actively involved. The city could advocate their programs more by having city council members send monthly emails to people in their district to inform them of opportunities for the youth in the community as well as other issues or topics that they want to bring to their communities’ attention. Joining those programs would not only benefit kids mentally, but also develop leadership and communication skills.
Furthermore, the city council should strongly consider investing more in youth programs that are facilitated by the city. By tapping into measure L funding, the city can invest more money in youth after-school programs and improve them. When they invest in youth after-school programs, in return, they will receive mentally well youth who can contribute more to their community. The city can not only put more money towards the programs that they have now but can create more youth programs and shift a lot more focus to that area. We need to prioritize youth mental health before it is too late and make sure that our youth can have activities to do after-school.
Billboard:
City of Sacramento
Summer @ City Hall Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
Title: The Connection of Drug Abuse and Teenage Mental Health File ID: 2024-13330
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Information Only
Contact: Sarah Musser, Recreation General Supervisor, (916) 808-8830, [email protected], Rhonda Patterson, Program Supervisor, (916) 808-6189, [email protected], Maria Vides-Medal, Program Coordinator, (916) 808-6162, [email protected], Department of Youth, Parks, and Community Enrichment.
Presenter: Flight Crew
Teddy Bogdan, C.K. McClatchy Senior High School, 10th grade Michael Estorga, Natomas High School, 11th grade
Max Fowler, Umoja International Academy, 12th grade
Emily Liu, C.K. McClatchy Senior High School, 11th grade Niyati Sista, Inderkum High School, 12th grade
Sarthak Sharma, NP3 Charter High School, 10th grade
Khamel Weeks, C.K. McClatchy Senior High School, 10th grade Chance Yang, John F. Kennedy, 11th grade
Dylan Yi, Jesuit High School, 11th grade
Peer Mentor: Haniyah Fareedi, NP3 Charter High School, 11th grade Peer Mentor: Gregory Walls, NP3 Charter High School, 11th grade Teacher: Christopher Manning, (1st Year)
Issue Detail:
Mental Health and Drug Abuse are connected together, and in Sacramento, the usage of drugs is heavy in teenagers. Teenagers are in a part of their lives where they are easily influenced into doing things, even if it may be detrimental to their well-being. Mental health issues and influential figures might lead to drug abuse and other unhealthy coping mechanisms that lead to further mental health issues. According to drgregallen.com, teens tend to communicate more with their peers/friends than adults in their lives. We believe that investing in assemblies and presentations put on by peers would be most impactful.
Drug abuse can have many effects on youth like depression, conduct problems, personality disorders, and suicidal thoughts because of self-medicating. According to justice.gov, many people take drugs to relieve their illness not knowing that it can make it worse. These problems may cause a blockage of academic success and cause many young people to not have a bright future. According to childmind.org, many young people turn to drugs because it can temporarily make hopelessness and anxiety go away, when actually, drugs can increase your anxiety and depression. There are some cases where drugs have caused people to develop psychosis and schizophrenia. Additionally, vaping nicotine can result in things such as worsening symptoms of depression and anxiety as well having higher odds of having a depression diagnosis. Nicotine can lead to a change in energy levels and can also cause changes in mood swings. Some cases show that nicotine can also cause insomnia.
To deal with this issue, we recommend forming an organization and/or group that works with teenagers or young adults on their experience with drug abuse, whether about drug or mental health problems with peers or themselves. Through this, we can conduct a few assemblies and/or events where teenagers speak up to other young people about their issues with drug abuse.
Billboard:
Flier: