California Assembly Bill (AB) 512 – Culturally competent mental health services has reached CA Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. We are just one step away from increasing access to culturally and linguistically competent mental health services for the Southeast Asian American (SEAA) community. Please take a moment to urge Gov. Newsom to sign AB 512 into law by sending letters of support, calling his office, or sending tweets.
Even after 40 years of resettlement, SEAAs continue to experience low utilization rates of mental health services despite the high rates of mental health conditions.1, 2, 3 In a recent SEARAC survey on the mental health needs and challenges, data revealed the top three challenges and threats to SEAA mental health wellness are:
- Lack of culturally and linguistically competent mental health services,
- Unaddressed trauma and intergenerational trauma, and
- Fear–or lived experiences–of traumatic mental health services.
AB 512 will improve culturally and linguistically competent mental health services for SEAAs, communities of color, and the LGBT+ community by expanding community-defined practices and increasing accountability.
Take Action:
Help SEARAC and fellow cosponsors California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, #Out4MentalHealth, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, California Black Health Network, and Steinberg Institute get AB 512 signed into law by taking the following actions:
WRITE:
- Draft a letter of support for AB 512
- Submit to Lee Lo, lee@searac.org, or
- Directly through the governor’s portal
CALL:
- Call Gov. Newsom at (916) 445-2841 to ask for his signature on AB 512. Sample script: “Hello. My name is ___. I live in (City), CA. I am calling to ask Governor Newsom to sign AB 512, a bill authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting that will improve and increase access to culturally and linguistically competent mental health services for Southeast Asian Americans like me. I believe everyone deserves a right to mental health services, and improving cultural and linguistic competence in mental health service is the answer to increasing access. Thank you.”
TWEET:
- .@GavinNewsom: CA needs to take action to reduce mental health disparities. #AB512 will improve the cultural and linguistic competency of county services to help me receive the right #Care4MyCulture
- Improving culturally and linguistically competent mental health services increases access to ALL Californians. @GavinNewsom, commit to increasing access for the SEAA community & sign #AB512 today!
- #AB512 improves cultural competence in mental health and will increase access to lifesaving mental health services for our SEAA community. @GavinNewsom, you decide who has access to mental health services. Sign #AB512!
Community Voices:
SEAA community members have shared stories of when they have successfully accessed culturally and linguistically competent mental health services, as well as their heartbreaking experiences with CA’s current mental health system:
- The importance of holistic services at the Fresno Interdenominational Refugees Ministries (FIRM) in Fresno, CA
- The pillar of support for families facing PTSD, intergenerational trauma, and deportation at the Center for Empowering Immigrants and Refugees (CERI) in Oakland, CA
- Overcoming threshold barriers as an ethnic minority to provide culturally competent mental health services at the Hmong Cultural Center of Butte County (HCCBC) in Oroville, CA, and at the Iu-Mien Community Services (IMCS) in Sacramento, CA.
- Southeast Asian Americans throughout California share their heartbreaking stories about their mental health journeys.
