SALT LAKE CITY One Utah lawmaker wants to provide first responder agencies throughout the state with $1 million to develop or enhance their mental health resources. We have seen an increase in mental health needs . but especially for our first responders, we have not seen the expansion in the kinds of programs that are specific to them, bill sponsor Rep. Karen Kwan, D-Murray, told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee on Monday.
HB248 would require the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to administer a grant program to provide mental health resources for first responders. The bill would include a one-time appropriation of $1 million from the general fund.
SALT LAKE CITY Should elementary children participate in school suicide prevention programs?
That question spurred a debate Wednesday as a Utah House committee discussed a bill that would expand suicide prevention resources to younger children amid the mental health crisis.
More Utah youth ages 10 to 24 die from suicide than any other cause, bill sponsor Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee. It s remarkable to contemplate that a little under 20% of Utah high schoolers have made a plan to commit suicide, he said. And we re concerned about our rate of Utah youth suicides.
SALT LAKE CITY A Utah bill that would allow concealed carrying of firearms without a permit prompted debate Friday among some who believe it will promote individuals safety and others who fear it will prove deadly amid the mental health crisis. This is not just a left issue or right issue, bill sponsor Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St. George, said. This is good data that drives good policy. . The right to carry or protect yourself is a constitutional right.
He said studies in some of the 16 states that allow concealed carrying of firearms without a permit have shown no increase in crime. Law-abiding citizens will still seek out gun training on their own should the bill pass, according to Brooks.
SALT LAKE CITY This pandemic holiday season is unlike anything we have ever experienced before.
It is a well-known fact that depression is linked to social isolation, and it typically increases around the winter holidays anyway, but this year we are adding masks, COVID-19 restrictions, quarantines, stay-at-home orders, family conflicts over gatherings, cold weather, dark days with less sunlight, and end-of-year deadlines. This time of year will be especially hard on people who are dealing with job loss, loss of income, divorce, separation from loved ones or mental health issues.
A School of Public Health study this summer found that the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has more than tripled the prevalence of depression symptoms from 8.5% of adults before the pandemic to 27.8% over the summer. The numbers during the 2020 holiday season are expected to be even higher.
SALT LAKE CITY A Vernal mother was charged Friday with shooting and killing her 2-year-old son while he was sitting in his car seat.
Valerie Stringham Peck, 40, is charged in Uintah County s 8th District Court with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and child abuse, a second-degree felony.
On Dec. 14, after previously making plans to commit the act, Peck took her 2-year-old son, Zack, to a camping area in Dry Fork Canyon and Red Cloud Loop Road, and after 20 to 30 minutes shot him with a .22 rifle while he was in his car seat, according to charging documents.
Peck also shot herself, then drove to another area of Uintah County, Fantasy Canyon, where officers responded after receiving multiple 911 calls, the charges state. Deputies found Peck and the deceased child and took her to the hospital. She was arrested after being treated for her wounds.