Health
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Adjusting to life with a new baby is hard work, and while most of the challenges come with the territory, some are complete surprises.
Mother-Wise offers two free programs that provide powerful support for Lake County’s moms when they need it most.
First, they host weekly peer support groups in Lakeport and Clearlake with food and fun for local moms with babies.
The meetings are casual and usually include a topic that supports health and optimal bonding for mothers and their babies.
Siblings up to age 5 also are welcome with the dedicated onsite children’s activity coordinators.
Mother-Wise also provides a home visiting service for moms who could use some extra one-on-one support during pregnancy and the first year after birth.
This program is powered by their team of gracious volunteers, whose specialized training prepares them to help moms in their homes with genuine companionship and no strings attached.
May is Perinatal Depression Awareness Month and Mother-Wise is breaking the stigma that surrounds this condition.
They invite the community to join them in support of Lake County’s mothers for a proclamation before the Lake County Board of Supervisors at the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport at 9:10 a.m. Tuesday, May 13.
Find Mother-Wise on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/MotherWiseLakeCounty, for more information.
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SACRAMENTO– Assembly Bill 2144, authored by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis), establishing minimum patient-to-clinician ratios within the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) facilities passed the Assembly Committee on Health today with 13 aye votes.
“Improving outcomes while reducing the potential for violence for both patients and staff in California’s State Hospitals is our goal, and I appreciate the committee’s support for this common-sense legislation,” stated Yamada. “With forensic commitments over 90% in this system, the imperative to provide a safe working environment while also ensuring patient safety and meaningful treatment cannot be ignored.”
AB 2144 is a logical response to the shift from a civil case-load to an overwhelmingly forensic or “criminal” state hospital resident population. The increase in forensic commitments resulted from a budget initiative that originated in the 1990s.
A more recent court directive underscores the importance of staff ratios in therapeutic and rehabilitative mental health hospital service systems.
The court directed the state to prohibit the participation of any treatment team member with a case load exceeding 15-to-1 on admission units and, 25-to-1 for other therapy settings.
In consideration of the untimely and tragic murder of Donna Gross at Napa State Hospital in 2010, the Department of State Hospitals has made progress by implementing innovations in collaboration with professional staff that enhance staff-patient safety. However, there is more work to do.
“Recent safety measures are encouraging, but they do not go far enough,” stated Yamada. “Together with logical patient-to-staff ratios, we can take the next step towards adequacy of client treatment needs, and provide professionals with the practice environment they need to do their work without the present-day imminent threat to their safety.”
The comprehensive minimum staff ratios established in AB 2144 supports effective therapy, reduces the threat of violence, and alleviates the burden on local law enforcement agencies.
AB 2144 now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Yamada is the chair of the Assembly Select Committee on State and Developmental Center Safety and represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes Napa State Hospital.
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