After SLC police shot and seriously wounded a 13-year-old boy with autism, the city worked with Utah Jazz guard Joe Ingles to train officers for dealing with developmental disorders. It's already paying off.
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In an effort to lower the state’s persistently high suicide rate, Utah lawmakers passed a slate of bills that increase access to mental health services, limit firearm access for people in crisis and boost prevention programs.
The legislation comes at a time when many mental health advocates say the pandemic has laid bare the vast amount of need.
“COVID has revealed how problematic it is for a lot of people struggling with mental health issues,” said Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City.
Utah has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. And while a Utah Department of Health report recently indicated there was no initial evidence that social distancing and stay-at-home orders had led an increase in distress among Utahns in 2020, advocates say that doesn’t mean social isolation and economic uncertainty hasn’t had an impact on the state’s residents.
How COVID-19 impacted legislative action on health care laws this year
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Hope Clinic physician assistant Matt Pierce, left, examines patient Luis Hualinga at the clinic in Midvale on Jan. 6, 2021. After a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah legislative leaders this session took measures to allow more mental health and medical providers to respond to the health care shortage.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY After a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah legislative leaders this session took measures to allow more mental health and medical providers to respond to the health care shortage.
Residents’ emotional distress level has increased during the pandemic due to various situational and life stressors including concern about job loss, physical health and social isolation. Many also need to “wear multiple hats” as their kids’ schools moved to remote learning, according to Rachel Lucynski, a director with Huntsman Mental Health Institute cris
Hereâs how policing in Utah will change after this yearâs legislative session
Proponents say the bills that passed this year will make a meaningful difference in addressing issues ranging from transparency to training.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City police officers warn protesters that they will be arrested if they come any closer on 1300 East during the vice presidential debate on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020.
  | March 9, 2021, 1:00 p.m.
The end of Utahâs legislative session brought with it a number of measured but meaningful steps taken in response to police violence and a summer of protests that reached a boiling point in Salt Lake City last year.