Milpitas Library hosts mental health care event

Presentation to cover rights, resources, recognizing symptoms.

Mental health info at library

The Santa Clara County Library District is partnering with the County of Santa Clara Health System, National Alliance on Mental Illness Santa Clara County, and Bay Area Legal Aid to educate and empower local residents around mental health care through a series of events taking place at district libraries. The goal is to provide crucial information about accessing mental health care services.

A presentation at the Milpitas Library is set for Monday, Aug. 21, 6-7 p.m. The presentation explains how common mental health conditions are and how to recognize signs and symptoms. It’s estimated that one in five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness. In Santa Clara County that equals about 340,000 adults.

Mental health parity requires that commercial insurance plans provide the same level of coverage for mental health services as they do for physical health services. The presentation includes information on rights to mental health care, steps and resources to access care and what to do if you encounter problems.

Remote meeting access

Santa Clara County residents will soon be able to participate remotely in meetings of the county’s 52 boards and commissions that are subject to the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. Apart from the county Board of Supervisors and its policy committees, remote participation hasn’t been an option since the county returned to in-person meetings early this year.

Potentially as soon as this month, members of the public will be able to attend meeting in person or watch online via a web portal. They will also be able to make public comment in person, online or by phone.