Largest Migrant Children Facility Less Overcrowded, Still Has Issues

CBS News: Overcrowding Reduced At Largest Border Facility For Migrant Children, But Challenges Remain
Conditions inside U.S. Border Patrol's largest holding facility for migrant children have changed dramatically over the past several weeks. In March and early April, the Donna complex was acutely overcrowded, at one point surpassing 1,600% of its pandemic-era capacity. On April 2, for example, there were about 4,300 migrants held there, including 3,700 unaccompanied minors, the Border Patrol chief in Texas' Rio Grande Valley told reporters Thursday. On Thursday, when a small group of journalists were allowed to tour the Donna tents, the facility was holding about 800 migrants, including 330 unaccompanied children — an 80% drop, according to Brian Hastings, the Border Patrol chief. (Montoya-Galvez, 5/6)

In other news from the states —

USA Today: Alabama Lawmakers Approve Medical Marijuana Bill After Historic Votes
The Alabama Legislature Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would create a statewide medical marijuana program, following two historic votes and a House debate spanning more than two days. Alabama's House of Representatives voted 68 to 34 to approve the measure, sponsored by state Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, despite a lengthy filibuster from about a half-dozen dedicated opponents that delayed a vote on the bill on Tuesday. The state Senate concurred in changes to the bill late Thursday on a 20 to 9 vote. (Lyman, 5/6)

Bay Area News Group: CA Sues Mariner Nursing Homes For Poor Care, Dumping Patients
The state and four district attorneys have sued the operator of 19 nursing homes, including several in the Bay Area where dozens of patients and employees died of COVID-19, accusing it of “trading people for profits at every turn.” Mariner Health Care Services has “siphoned off funds necessary for appropriate staffing,” according to the lawsuit filed by the California Department of Justice and the district attorneys of  Alameda, Marin, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles counties. The unacceptably low staffing levels have resulted in insufficient care, leading to unnecessary leg amputations, bone ulcers, spread of infections and unreported sexual and physical assaults, the suit says. (Sciacca, 5/6)

Health News Florida: DeSantis: $1,000 Bonuses For First Responders Expected This Summer 
Gov. Ron DeSantis said he expects distribution “throughout the summer” of $1,000 bonuses that will go to first responders across the state for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bonuses, funded with federal-stimulus money, are tied to a record $101.5 billion state budget that lawmakers approved last week. The budget has not formally gone to DeSantis. (5/6)

The Washington Post: North Carolina’s 20-Week Abortion Ban Challenged In Federal Court
North Carolina abortion providers and abortion rights advocates asked a federal appeals court Thursday to invalidate a state statute that generally bars women from terminating their pregnancies after 20 weeks, a law similar to those on the books in more than a dozen states. Two of the three judges on the panel expressed doubts about the state’s defense that the lawsuit is a case without a controversy because no abortion providers in North Carolina have ever been prosecuted under the decades-old law. (Marimow, 5/6)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Can’t Fine Addiction Treatment Facilities That Break Rules. Some Lawmakers Want To Change That
On his drive to and from the state Capitol, state Rep. Mark Gillen often sees a state trooper’s vehicle.“ They usually don’t yell out the window to slow down,” said Gillen, a Berks County Republican. “If you’re going too fast, you’re going to get stopped, and you’re going to get fined, and it changes behavior.” That’s the argument Gillen is making as he tries to convince fellow lawmakers to give the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs the power to fine licensed addiction treatment facilities for violating state rules. (Mahon, 5/7)

KHN: 5 Things To Know About Health Care Changes In Montana
The 2021 Montana legislative session will be remembered as one of the state’s most consequential as a Republican-led legislature and governor’s office passed new laws restricting abortions, lowering taxes and regulating marijuana. But the debate over those and other highly publicized issues may have caused other meaningful legislation related to health care to slip off the public’s radar. Here are five substantial health-related policies that emerged from the recently ended session. They include bills that Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed or is expected to sign into law. (Volz, 5/7)

In mental health news from Maryland, New Mexico and Indiana —

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Gov. Hogan Announces $25 Million Project To Help Children Reverse Effects Of COVID Pandemic 
Maryland is launching “Project Bounce Back,” an effort to help kids recover from the stress and isolation of the coronavirus pandemic, funded by $25 million in federal aid. Gov. Larry Hogan visited a Boys & Girls Club in West Baltimore Thursday to announce the initiative to help young people recover from the “devastating” impacts of the pandemic, challenges that he said could have lasting effects on children. (Wood and Mann, 5/6)

Albuquerque Journal: Peer-Driven Teams To Respond To Mental Health, Drug Abuse Calls
Bernalillo County officials on Monday presented a check of $523,542 to Youth Development Inc., to assemble a trio of community engagement teams to help individuals and families “cope with the effects of living with mental illness and substance abuse disorders in the comfort of their homes and communities.” Bernalillo County Commission Chairwoman Charlene Pyskoty gave that description during a news conference, explaining that the CETs, will respond to people in the community, “and work to connect them to the support they need to be healthy and successful.” (Nathanson, 5/6)

Indianapolis Star: FedEx Shooting Prompts Exam Of Indiana's Mental Health System
The details differ with each tragic incident. A man in Milwaukee who killed five coworkers after lunch one day in the brewery where he worked. A man in a Boulder grocery store who killed 10 people inside. Most recently, and closest to home, a former FedEx employee who returned to the place he worked months before and opened fire, killing eight people. But in the aftermath of each of these events, all of which occurred in the past 15 months, two common threads emerged. Each of these mass shooters had legally purchased their guns and each had some past indication of mental illness. (Rudavsky, 5/7)