{"id":190101,"date":"2026-02-23T15:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/190101\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T15:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:52:08","slug":"california-lawmaker-launches-effort-to-strengthen-suicide-prevention-for-young-men-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/190101\/","title":{"rendered":"California lawmaker launches effort to strengthen suicide prevention for young men \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are clear signals that young men and boys are struggling, Assemblymember Avelino Valencia<\/a> said, and California can do more to address their mental health<\/a> needs.<\/p>\n

That includes requiring the state\u2019s Office of Suicide Prevention<\/a> to focus its efforts on that specific population, according to Valencia, who is behind a new bill that would mandate just that.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0Sacramento Snapshot<\/a>\u00a0is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County\u2019s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on \u2014 from committee work to bill passages and more.<\/p>\n

The Anaheim Democrat recently introduced Assembly Bill 1956<\/a>, which would direct the Office of Suicide Prevention to add young men and boys to its priority population list. The office already focuses on groups disproportionately impacted by suicide, including tribal populations, older adults, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and youth in general.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung men and boys are sending us clear signals that they are struggling,\u201d said Valencia. \u201cSuicide accounts for one of the leading causes of death for people aged 10 to 24, and four out of five youth suicides are male.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe losses of these lives are incomprehensible, and we must focus our resources on addressing preventative strategies to uplift and protect our young men,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> last year issued an executive order<\/a> creating a statewide response to improve mental health outcomes and reduce stigma, an effort to address the rise in suicides and feelings of disconnection among the state\u2019s young men.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many young men and boys are suffering in silence \u2014 disconnected from community, opportunity and even their own families,\u201d Newsom said then. \u201cThis action is about turning that around. It\u2019s about showing every young man that he matters, and there\u2019s a path for him of purpose, dignity, work and real connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s executive order pointed to a study that found<\/a> 78% of those who died by suicide in 2021 were male.<\/p>\n

And Valencia\u2019s office also noted that men are less likely than women to seek mental health treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy explicitly recognizing young men and boys as a priority population, the bill directs the Office of Suicide Prevention to develop targeted outreach, prevention strategies and intervention methods tailored to address the specific challenges facing young men and boys,\u201d a news release about Valencia\u2019s bill said.<\/p>\n

AB 1956 was only recently introduced and has not yet been assigned to a committee for a hearing.<\/p>\n

In other news:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Assemblymember Phillip Chen<\/a>, R-Brea, is behind a bipartisan new effort meant to modernize state laws regulating plasma donation centers. Assembly Bill 2009<\/a> would update operational continuity requirements, expand donor identification, streamline licensing and remove outdated blood bank standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia prides itself on being a leader in innovation and health care, but outdated laws are holding us back. This bill will improve our ability to collect source plasma efficiently and better meet the needs of patients who depend on these therapies every day,\u201d Chen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, California is one of only 10 states in the nation that does not collect enough plasma to meet the needs of its residents, forcing reliance on long, out-of-state supply chains for essential medicines,\u201d he added. \u201cAB 2009 brings California\u2019s policies into alignment with modern medical practice, without compromising safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sen. Tony Strickland<\/a>, R-Huntington Beach, unveiled what he called his public safety legislative package last week, consisting of bills that address prostitution and human trafficking, as well as exploiting minors.<\/p>\n

Strickland\u2019s Senate Bill 1015<\/a> would create a specific felony for someone who uses a minor to exploit, groom, harass or harm another minor. This eliminates a loophole that excludes minors from extortion liability, Strickland\u2019s office said, which was meant to avoid criminalizing consensual conduct between two minors.<\/p>\n

The other bill, Senate Bill 1027<\/a>, would create a multi-agency task force that would review data and enforcement challenges in an effort to combat street prostitution and human trafficking. The task force would sunset at the beginning of 2030, two years after a deadline to issue a public report with its findings and policy recommendations.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, these two measures send a clear message: California will not tolerate the exploitation of our children or the unchecked rise of street prostitution and human trafficking,\u201d Strickland said in a statement. \u201cBy protecting our most vulnerable and giving law enforcement the tools they need, these measures are taking meaningful steps to keep our communities safe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are clear signals that young men and boys are struggling, Assemblymember Avelino Valencia said, and California can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[7,1843,8,400,1280,2093,100,611,13,121,123,122,41780,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-190101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-legislature","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-california-politics","12":"tag-health-care","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-orange-county","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-sacramento","18":"tag-sacramento-headlines","19":"tag-sacramento-news","20":"tag-sacramento-snapshot","21":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}