Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Despite Successes, Addiction Treatment Programs for Families Struggle to Stay Open

KFF Health News Original

Residential addiction treatment programs that allow parents to bring their children along have been recognized for their success. But a mix of logistical challenges and low reimbursement rates mean they struggle to stay afloat.

Most States Have Yet to Permanently Fund 988. Call Centers Want Certainty.

KFF Health News Original

For rural Americans, who live in areas often short of mental health services and die by suicide at a far higher rate than urbanites, the federally mandated crisis phone line is one of the few options to connect with a crisis counselor.

“Lo que queremos es venganza”: cómo las redes sociales alimentan la violencia armada entre adolescentes

KFF Health News Original

Los adolescentes publican en Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat o TikTok, fotos o videos de sí mismos con armas y montones de dinero, a veces desafiando a sus rivales. Cuando los mensajes se hacen virales, alimentados por los “likes” y los comentarios, el peligro es difícil de contener.

‘All We Want Is Revenge’: How Social Media Fuels Gun Violence Among Teens

KFF Health News Original

Teens share photos or videos of themselves with guns and stacks of cash, sometimes calling out rivals, on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. When posts go viral, fueled by “likes” and comments, the danger is hard to contain.

Illustrated Report: How Gun Violence Goes Viral

KFF Health News Original

As chatter and images about guns and violence slip into the social media feeds of more teens, viral messages fueled by “likes” can lead to real-world conflict and loss.

Naming Suicide in Obits Was Once Taboo. Changing That Can Help Loved Ones Grieve.

KFF Health News Original

Mental health is being talked about more openly than ever, but the word “suicide” has remained largely taboo when describing how someone died. See why that’s slowly changing, what it means for people who grieve those deaths, and how candor can help prevent additional suicides.

Parents See Own Health Spiral as Their Kids’ Mental Illnesses Worsen

KFF Health News Original

The day-to-day struggles that parents of kids with mental health conditions must navigate have led to their own crisis: The stress can take a physical toll that disrupts parents’ ability to provide care, say psychologists, researchers, and advocates for families.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Another Try for Mental Health ‘Parity’

Podcast

President Joe Biden is kicking off his reelection campaign in part by trying to finish a decades-long effort to establish parity in insurance benefits between mental and physical health. Meanwhile, House Republicans are working to add abortion and other contentious amendments to must-pass spending bills. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder about her podcast “Epidemic.” The new season focuses on the successful public health effort to eradicate smallpox.

The Painful Legacy of ‘Law and Order’ Treatment of Addiction in Jail

KFF Health News Original

Efforts to improve addiction care in jails and prisons are underway across the country. But a rural Alabama county with one of the nation’s highest overdose rates shows how change is slow, while law enforcement officials continue to treat addiction as a crime rather than a medical condition.

Mental Health Respite Facilities Are Filling Care Gaps in Over a Dozen States

KFF Health News Original

As three years of pandemic stress accelerated an ongoing nationwide mental health crisis, peer respite programs diverted patients from overburdened emergency rooms, psychiatric institutions, and behavioral therapists. Now, more “respites” are opening.

Advocates Call for 911 Changes. Police Have Mixed Feelings.

KFF Health News Original

Though most California counties are experimenting with dispatching health professionals rather than law enforcement to respond to people experiencing mental health crises, powerful police unions fear defunding.