Author

Kristen Hwang

Kristen Hwang reports on health care and policy for CalMatters. She is passionate about humanizing data-driven stories and examining the intersection of public health and social justice. Prior to joining CalMatters, Kristen earned a master’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in public health from UC Berkeley, where she researched water quality in the Central Valley. She has previously worked as a beat reporter for The Desert Sun and a stringer for the New York Times California COVID-19 team.

Kristen's Latest Articles

An Initiative Promised 20,000 Homes for Mentally Ill Californians. It Delivered Far Less

Proposition 1, a March ballot measure in California, promises to build 4,350 supportive housing units for homeless people with chronic mental illness. Can it succeed where previous measures fell short?

Gavin Newsom’s Mental Health Plan Could Strip More than $700 Million from Services, Report Says

A proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom to overhaul the state’s behavioral and mental health system is likely to take nearly $720 million away from services provided by county governments annually, according to a new analysis.

Why mental health providers say Medi-Cal’s latest reform may force them to cut services

The CalAIM rollout is putting invaluable peer-based mental health services for low-income Californians in jeopardy.

California may change its mental health funding. Why that might cut some services

Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to shift the use of mental health dollars raised by a state tax on millionaires. He wants to move some funds toward housing for severely mentally ill people living on the street. Some mental health advocates fear the change will cut funding for children's and community-based services and prevention – "robbing Peter to pay Paul," as one agency director put it.

Join us Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 10:00 am PT for our next free webinar.

 

Some therapists who had trouble connecting with youth turned to another source of connection: Minecraft therapy, which follows the approach of play therapy. In this webinar, we’ll talk with two leading experts in the promising genre.

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How Minecraft Therapy Is Transforming Child and Teen Mental Health Care