House Bill 232 creates a narrow, safeguards-driven path to counseling when parental involvement isn’t possible.
for Alaskans ages 15 to 24. Adolescent suicides are often described as shocking and unpredictable. Many teens don’t know how to reach out for help or access care., HB 232 could change that by allowing teens ages 16-17 to access care directly, getting the help they need during a critical period.
HB 232 would also allow the teens to receive limited services in the field of mental health counseling without needing parental consent. Parents are an important part of a teen’s support system and benefit from involvement in care. HB 232 is not about excluding parents. It is about getting care as quickly as possible to teens who may not know how to tell their parents they are struggling or feeling suicidal, or cannot realistically involve them. In a young mind,telling a parent can be for reasons such as not wanting to add more to a stressed parent’s plate, not wanting to let that parent down, or not being able to safely or realistically involve a parent. Currently, minors need parental consent to receive mental health care. This can be a barrier for abused and neglected youths, those in family conflict or those unwilling to tell their parents they are seeking mental health care. Some teens fear punishment or rejection from their parents, and others have no steady parental figures. Some don’t want to freak out their parents and disappoint them. What goes on in an adolescent mind can be very different than an adult’s, yet they are just old enough to find a way to harm themselves. It’s a tricky age, and when struggling with mental health challenges or suicidal ideation, it can become devastating or deadly. In such situations as above, one has no choice but to either get help from parents or get no help at all. HB 232 tries to fill that gap of suffering alone by taking a middle-ground approach. It allows short-term counseling, no more than five sessions, when a treatment provider believes that contacting a parent would be harmful to the minor’s health. In addition, it states that psychiatric medication should not be prescribed without parental consent and families should be involved in counseling when possible. This is a reasonable, not radical policy. Early intervention saves lives. HB 232 addresses one specific and preventable problem: that some teens are unable to access the care they need — not want, but need. Every young person deserves a professional to talk to, to be heard without fear and to begin healing. HB 232 gives young people that opportunity. The risk of teens only speaking to other teens about their mental health challenges or suicidal thoughts is not worth taking. They do talk to their friends, but at that age, other teens are not equipped or trusted to give sound advice to lead their peers down the best path.HB 232 is not about taking something from the parent. Instead, it allows removal of barriers that prevent young people from seeking help safely, quickly and easily. It allows professionals to help teens ages 16-17 who don’t have a qualified adult in their lives. If you are a supportive parent whose teen doesn’t need this, think about those kids who don’t have that person in their lives. Where would your child be without your support? Doesn’t every child deserve that same support? HB 232 allows them to receive it.Open & Shut: Anchorage gets new eateries — Polynesian, Mexican and American with global twists — as well as a game board cafe and a cannabis shop
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