California could create new hotline for mental health calls
SACRAMENTO >> California would take a step toward having counselors rather than police respond to people experiencing mental health crises under a bill backed Monday by gun-violence prevention groups.
Callers who dial or text 988 would be connected with counselors and could be assisted by mobile crisis support teams staffed with mental health professionals.
Backers say it’s a better option than calling 911, where police are often the first responders and advocates say the situation too often rapidly turns violent. Those who still call the emergency line but report a mental health crisis would be transferred to 988 and dispatchers for both lines would be able to decide if police, fire or medical responders are needed.
“This bill can save lives that we are losing to suicide and shootings by police,” said Krystal LoPilato, volunteer leader with California Moms Demand Action.
California’s 988 bill is the state effort to create 988 hotlines by July 2022 under new new rules from the Federal Communications Commission and Congress. It would be funded through a surcharge on phone lines similar to 911. Counties would separately have to provide the crisis services and mobile crisis teams.
The proposal is named after Miles Hall, a 23-yearold Black man who was fatally shot by Walnut Creek police in 2019, Democratic Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan of Orinda told members of the group and affiliated Students Demand Action during their virtual advocacy day.
“He was shot and killed in the middle of a schizophrenic episode when his mother was just trying to
get him help,” Bauer-Kahan said.
Spokesmen for California police chiefs and sheriffs said their organizations have not taken positions on it.
Other efforts also are trying to create alternatives to police for incidents that don’t require a law enforcement presence.
Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager is trying again this year to pass what she’s calling the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems (CRISES) Act, after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it last year.
Her measure would create a pilot program of grants to community organizations that could step in instead of law enforcement for mental health, substance abuse and other nonviolent episodes. Newsom disagreed with how the proposed threeyear, $250,000 minimum grant program would have been administered.
The gun-violence groups took no position on Kamlager’s bill even as they sought increased funding for other violence intervention and gang prevention programs.
They are also backing legislation that would require every school district to send home information about securely storing firearms.
Newsom took no position on the bills in a one-minute video presentation Monday. He backed their work while briefly criticizing those opposed to the state’s ban on ammunition magazines with more than 10 bullets and requiring background checks for gun-buyers.
California State Association of Counties spokeswoman Sara Floor said her organization had not taken a position. The County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California did not immediately comment.
“We’ll have an easy number you can call and the counties will send direct mental health service teams to serve the community that needs it, rather than law enforcement, who aren’t trained or equipped to do that,” said Bauer-Kahan.
Taun Hall, Miles’ mother, said in an earlier statement that she draws comfort thinking that the measure “might help save other children and spare other families this anguish.”
Isittoomuchtoaskour beloved pets to follow just a few house rules? I mean, not ridiculous rules like in exchange for free room and board, please have the house cleaned, the laundry folded and dinner on the stove when I get home.
But simple boundary rules, like, hey, Fido and Fluffy, would you please not chew up the throw pillows, sharpen your claws on the rug, eat food off the table, dig up the freshly planted begonia bed or bark at the grass for being grass?
Is that so unreasonable? I ask because Luke, our 50-pound rescue hound that turns 3 this week, and I see this differently. My husband and I got Luke — aka Luclear War, the Lukinator, MarmaLuke, Lukamotion — when he was a 14-month-old mass of untrained, anxious canine energy. He’s come a long way. Today, he follows basic commands, if briefly, and has learned a few manners like waiting until I’ve moved my hand before diving into his food bowl.
I say, we still have work to do. He says, we’re good.
For instance, though he knows better, the minute we leave the house, Luke makes himself comfortable on the down-filled back of the sofa. Does he think we don’t notice the crater-like impression he leaves? And the other night, he stealthily wiped out a plate of lemon squares sitting on the kitchen counter. (He thoughtfully removed the plastic wrap first.)
To help mediate, I called Bonnie Beaver, a veterinarian and professor at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, who specializes in animal behavior. She has seen it all. Beaver makes it her job to bridge the communication gaps between animals and their owners, so both are happier
at home.
“We can’t look at animals as four-legged people,” Beaver said. “Animals have needs and drives all their own.”
That’s for sure. Luke needs to push the limits and drives us bananas.
“Because we can’t ask them, our job is to think about why they are behaving a certain way from their perspective,” she said.
Once you know why, manage the environment. Either block access or make the environment mildly punishing or obnoxious to discourage them, then offer an acceptable alternative.
Cats, for instance, have evolved over eons to seek out high perches to better see predators and prey. So they are going to jump on tables, counters and the top of your refrigerator. You can’t change their instincts, but you can teach them that some landing spots are more acceptable than others.
If you don’t want your cat on the dining room table,
put two-sided sticky tape on the table.
“When the cat jumps up, it will go ‘yuck, yuck, yuck,’ and not want to do that again,” Beaver said.
Here are more ways Beaver said we could discourage unwelcome pet behaviors at home.
• Problem: The minute I leave the house, my dog gets on the sofa.
• Solution: Make the furniture unwelcoming. Put upside-down kitchen chairs on the sofa. Cover it with books or plastic wrap. Running aluminum foil across the furniture works to keep Luke off, though it makes the house look as if it’s sending satellite signals to far-off galaxies. Place a comfortable pet bed near the sofa and to “add value” toss some of your dirty clothes on it. “Something with lots of your people smell.”
• Problem: My cat is scratching up our upholstered chairs.
• Solution: Cats have to scratch. The best you can do is help them express
that urge on acceptable objects. To keep them from tearing up your chair, cover it in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Then bring in scratching posts that offer both vertical and horizontal surfaces. Keep trying until you find what your cat likes.
“Just because you want them to use something doesn’t mean they will,” Beaver said. “They’re the ultimate consumer.”
• Problem: My dog barks a lot when we’re not home.
• Solution: Set up a webcam so you can watch what triggers the behavior. If the dog barks when someone walks by, that’s normal. If you have a boredom barker, a citronella collar can work. They bark and get poofed. When you’re home and the dog barks for no good reason, don’t yell, “Fido, stop barking!” That rewards the behavior. Instead, divert them. Knock on a counter or the wall. When they look and are quiet for a couple seconds, reward them. Gradually wait longer, rewarding after 3 seconds, then 5.
• Problem: How do I get my dog to quit digging in the yard?
• Solution: Dogs dig for many reasons. Where they dig can tell you why. If they dig by a fence, look at what’s happening on the other side. Take them there and let them explore. If they dig in the middle of the yard, you might have critters underground you need to eradicate. If they are digging a shallow hole in a shady flower bed, they are likely trying to cool down. Some are just bored.
For persistent diggers, consider making a digging hole. Border off an area where they can dig. Hide treats or toys there just below the surface and teach them that’s where they dig.
• Problem: My pet is fine when I’m home, but falls apart when I’m gone.
• Solution: To minimize mischief, leave a TV or radio on when you’re gone, along with food toys. Fill a Kong with a mix of hard food and peanut butter or cream cheese and freeze the filled toy so it takes longer to empty. For cats, get toys that trigger their prey instinct. While as a home design columnist, I cannot recommend the artificial mice you can drop around the house, I will leave that between you and your cat. Remember, the best-behaved pet is a tired one.
• Problem: My pet eats food off the table or counter.
• Solution: Simple. Don’t leave food out unattended. Often, it’s not pets who need training, it’s their humans.
Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books, including “Downsizing the Family Home What to Save, What to Let Go” and “Downsizing the Blended Home — When Two Households Become One,” and coming in June “What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want.” You may reach her at marnijameson.com.