Jim Beall: A Guiding Mentor
By Lauren Vu
“You can be heard or be effective. Perhaps one of the greatest pitfalls with advocacy is being overly zealous and not taking other perspectives into consideration. What’s not easy is coming up with solutions that are cost effective and are palatable to everyone.” That quote from Jay Gupta perfectly encompasses MAP’s meeting with Mr. Lam Nguyen, the District Representative for Senator Jim Beall’s office, on February 6, 2020. There, they had the opportunity to discuss the mental health curriculum policy proposal designed by the team along with topics ranging from racial bias in cash bail to implicit bias and California’s response to the redefinition of who falls under the categorization of public charge.
Sophomores Jay Gupta, María Reyes Plancarte, junior Sophia Lehrbaum, and seniors Sahithi Lingala, Chaelee Park, and Tatum Hoffman all proposed their suggestions and questions towards Mr. Nguyen, who specializes in the aforementioned issues. The meeting touched on a broad variety of topics, ranging from mental health awareness and stigmatization, to housing, immigration, and environmental justice. Jay Gupta was the main facilitator of the meeting and prompted Mitty students to ask their questions while also moving the discussion along in a productive direction!
To begin, Sophia Lehrbaum introduced the idea of reshaping the Parity Bill so that the governor will be more likely to sign off on it in agreement. To provide some context, the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) requires annual limits on mental health benefits to be no lower than limits for medical benefits offered by health insurance offering coverage in connection with a group health plan. To that, Mr. Nguyen responded by pinpointing the importance of evidence in developing a solid case for this bill: specifically, data that outlines which regions and age groups would benefit most from peer support and rapid response programs. In his words, “you can either be heard or be effective [in the legislature]. If you want to be effective, you need evidence.” The mental health team will definitely be taking Mr. Ngyuen’s advice to identify their proposals’ target populations and further referencing statistics and studies to strengthen their ideas.
Sahithi Lingala, another member of the mental health team, then introduced MAP’s plan \ to implement mental health curriculum in schools. The ultimate goal is to create an atmosphere where students feel comfortable voicing their concerns, and to encourage them to build positive habits to safely address their emotions. In response to this, Mr. Ngyuen suggested that MAP students start off by establishing who they wanted to advocate this curriculum to first, whether it be the school school admin, city council, or even the state legislature, so that they could tailor their approach to the corresponding audience. Additionally, he explained that one way to gain support for such measures would be to show the consequences of inadequate education and allowing for students to be left undiagnosed.
“Once you understand what happens when you don’t educate, then you have a clear understanding of what you need.”
This advice is definitely going to guide the mental health team in the right direction, placing their focus on spreading awareness about the consequences of neglecting students in need of support. So far, the mental health team has taken these suggestions and has been working on developing a mental health awareness curriculum, and hopes to launch it at Mitty for a test run in the very near future!
Furthermore, Maria Reyes Plancarte told Senator Beall about Mitty’s implicit bias workshop that was presented at Bishop O’Dowd and asked if he had any suggestions to further this initiative. Delighted to hear about how successful the workshop had been, Beall explained that social media would be a crucial tool in changing preconceived notions. Internet movements can happen quickly, meaning it is not impossible now to impact the media and reach a large audience online. While this might not be easy, having the right approach can create a movement and be the first step to improving implicit bias. This valuable advice from Senator Beall is definitely in alignment with MAP’s goal to expand our Instagram and Youtube presence. Through interactive polls and announcements, we are making an effort to use social media as an extension of our advocacy.
Going off of this, Tatum Hoffman went on to ask Senator Beall if it would be beneficial to implement implicit bias training into elementary school curriculums. On board with this idea, Senator Beall recommended ensuring that teachers must thoroughly plan their curriculum to ensure that students are taught, at a young age, to be inclusive and view every person they meet as equal. He mentioned, “Teach inclusion so that it’s ingrained into the kid. Give kids info and let them choose.” MAPx is planning to use the research done to prepare for the Bishop O’Dowd implicit bias workshop and begin creating curriculum that can be used in classrooms. It is so important to educate our youth on the importance of treating everyone with the respect they deserve and not allowing preconceived stereotypes to define a person!
Finally, Chaelee Park, representing the immigration team, brought up the blocking of the public charge rule in California, which states such as Illinois have done. This rule states that immigrants to the United States who are considered a liability for their disabilities or lack of resources can be denied access to a visa. Senator Beall responded by saying that it was necessary for California to set a precedent of blocking public charge. By focusing on individual cases of those who have been disadvantaged, our state might have a chance at changing policy in others. Senator Beall advised that MAP members should “find the best messenger, who can deliver your message effectively into the space you want it. Sometimes the messenger matters more than the message.” He champions MAP and all the passionate youth advocates igniting such amazing change in their world. We are the generation that will relay our beliefs and messages to the rest of the world!
Overall, we gained such valuable knowledge from this visit and greatly appreciate advice on our ideas from Senator Beall’s staff. Jay mentioned, “I personally had an awesome experience speaking with Mr. Nguyen. He inspired our team to continue pushing for change but also taught us to be pragmatic. Going forward, I’ll be sure to research legislation both comprehensively and matter-of-factly” We hope to schedule future visits with Senator Beall and his staff because of how helpful they have in providing guidance for MAP members.
