Top o’ the morning to you, readers. It’s Monday, Aug. 31, and Santa Cruz County is in for a cooler stretch as we finish out August and move into September, with morning fog and perhaps a spot of drizzle eventually giving way to sunnier skies, but with high temperatures in just the upper 70s in the warmest locales.
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A free mental health program relied on by thousands of Santa Cruz County students hinges on something surprisingly simple, Hillary Ojeda reports: how many families are willing to hand over their insurance information. School districts need to submit a claim for reimbursement for mental health support to students’ health plans or insurers; the more families who provide their insurance information to school districts, the better the districts will be able to sustain these services in the long run.
Amid the temporary closure of Watsonville Community Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, nurses are set to rally there Monday against the closure and to draw attention to staffing issues at the hospital. “Nurses are calling on the administration and hospital board to reverse this decision, invest in staffing and immediately open our NICU,” one WCH registered nurse said. “Nurses took an oath to advocate for our patients, and we will not be silent when their health is put at risk.”
In his weekly Carmageddon column, Max Chun reports that the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is pushing back on many of the findings in a civil grand jury report on the county’s long-running rail-trail saga, while acknowledging some of the report’s concerns about rising costs, aging infrastructure and the increasingly expensive prospect of passenger rail. He’s also got news on a pair of surveys seeking input from Capitola residents on efforts to improve infrastructure and transportation within the city.
In our Community Voices opinion section, the Lookout Editorial Board weighs in on California’s rules for those seeking public office – particularly positions that carry responsibility for children. Recent reporting on a candidate for Pajaro Valley Unified’s board with felony convictions for assault and misdemeanor convictions for child endangerment has exposed gaps in both eligibility standards and candidate verification.
The last-Monday-of-the-month headlines also include the story of Cabrillo College’s original theater, which has sat silent since 2009 even amid a shortage of performance spaces in Santa Cruz County. Onward.
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What families need to know about the free mental health services provided by Santa Cruz County public schools
Santa Cruz County schools are asking parents to share their children’s health insurance information – a no-cost step that could determine whether districts can afford to keep offering free student counseling and mental health services. Details here from Hillary Ojeda.
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Watsonville Community Hospital nurses to rally over NICU closure, staffing shortages
Nurses at Watsonville Community Hospital plan to rally Monday against an ongoing closure at the facility’s neonatal intensive care unit. Earlier this month, hospital leadership confirmed to Lookout that it closed the NICU in mid-July due to a nursing shortage in the labor and delivery unit. Tania Ortiz has the story.
➤ Para leer el artículo en español, haga clic aquí.
DAILY DIGEST
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May our Monday be a smooth one – thank you for reading.
Will McCahill