Mental Health

Possible solutions include screening kids earlier for mental health concerns and tapping into underutilized Medicaid benefits.

Legislators passed a bill last year that brought the first regulatory reform to teen treatment programs in 15 years.

The latest Utah news for Thursday morning, March 24, 2022

Inappropriate contact between children and staff members has happened with some frequency in Utah’s teen treatment programs. From November 2018 through July 2021 — state regulators have investigated at least 20 reports of staff pushing the boundaries with clients, sometimes amounting to sexual abuse.

Since 2015, some 20,000 teens have been sent to treatment centers in Utah. That’s more than anywhere else in the country. Those kids are often brought here by a transport company.

With a parent’s consent, two people are sent to surprise their child while they are asleep to forcefully take them to a wilderness program or residential treatment center.

The bill, HB 363, also expands who could be involuntarily committed.

Kylar Frederick Williams, 23, was arrested Tuesday.

The latest Utah news for Monday morning, Feb. 7, 2022.

Two mental health specialists give advice on how to build resilience and push through pandemic fatigue.

The latest Utah news for Thursday morning, Feb. 3, 2022.

The latest Utah news from Wednesday evening, Jan. 12, 2022.