Minnesota’s Pioneering Youth Mental Health Corps In Danger Of DOGE Cuts
Despite seeing positive results, the program could be at risk after DOGE slashed national grant funding for AmeriCorps. Other states making news include Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and California.
The Star Tribune:
Minnesota Was Among The First To Launch Youth Mental Health Corps, But DOGE Cuts Could Put It In Jeopardy
Minnesota was one of the first states in the nation to launch the Youth Mental Health Corps, with members like Hay serving roughly 1,200 middle and high school students this school year. Others helped about 200 young adults navigate addiction recovery. The corps’ work has begun as youth mental health nationally has worsened and as Minnesota has too few mental health professionals and school counselors to meet kids’ needs. The state has the third worst student-to-counselor ratio in the country. But the program, comprised in Minnesota of AmeriCorps participants who get eight hours of additional mental health first aid training, could be in jeopardy as the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chopped national grant funding for AmeriCorps. (Van Berkel, 6/1)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Report: Family Homelessness Up 14% In Atlanta, Even As Chronic Cases Decline
Financial pressures on vulnerable households fueled a nearly 14% increase in the number of families experiencing homelessness in the city of Atlanta this year, according to estimates in a new report. However, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness in the city increased by only 1% in 2025, suggesting the homeless population could be reaching a plateau, the report says. (Williams, 6/2)
Health News Florida:
Florida Subpoenas Hospitals For Probe Into Price Transparency
Attorney General James Uthmeier says the state would not sit on the sideline while many hospitals have "extorted patients who have come in with life-or-death cases and left with crippling debt.” Noting that "we must protect patients," Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Friday opened an investigation into the price transparency and billing practices of Florida hospitals. (Mayer, 6/1)
North Carolina Health News:
NC Lawmakers Target Pharmacy “Middlemen” In Proposed Reforms
Jennifer Burch is a second-generation pharmacist who’s been working at Central Pharmacy in Durham since she was a teen. Some of her current customers have been coming to the store since the days when she still worked with her father. In those days, when they worked with pharmacy benefits managers, they paid a transmission fee — a simple financial transaction. Now, pharmacy benefit managers “control the entire pharmacy benefit very tightly,” she said. They’re part of the reason it’s now hard to keep Central Pharmacy in business, Burch said. (Vitaglione, 6/2)
NPR:
After The LA Fires, A Camp Helped Kids Find Normalcy
Not long after the Eaton fire displaced her family from their Los Angeles home, 10-year-old Emory Stumme broke down. The tears came during a family dinner, and she struggled to catch her breath. "You just were like, 'I can't pick up this fork, it's too heavy,' " Emory's mother, Becca, told her, recounting the episode. "You started crying and laughing and crying, and then heaving. I was like, 'Oh my God, she's really having a mental break.' " (Bowman, 6/2)
San Francisco Chronicle:
AIDS/LifeCycle’s Final Ride: Thousands Hit Road In Bay Area
With a tinge of melancholy, more than 2,400 bicyclists gathered Sunday morning to kick off the last AIDS/LifeCycle, bringing to a close more than three decades of fundraising through the annual event for HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support services. Cyclists will travel 545 miles over seven days from the Cow Palace in Daly City to Santa Monica. (Gollan, 6/2)
