Downey resident's bill makes way through legislature

Sade Neri’s bill to bring peer mental health support to high school campuses recently began making its way through the legislature. Courtesy photo.

DOWNEY - New legislation pitched by a Downey High School graduate as part of Assemblymember Cristina Garcia’s “There Ought to be a Law” contest is starting to make progress through the legislature.

Assembly Bill 2124 (previously AB 2221) was originally submitted by 19-year-old Downey resident Sade Neri, who is currently a student at UC Berkeley.

AB 2124 would allow local educational agencies to apply for grant funding in order to train 9-12 grade students to act as peer mental health supporters on campus.

“The bill idea essentially is pupil support training programs through the state,” said Neri. “The state gives grants to schools that apply for the grant, and from there they’re able to use these to bring in or have mental health professionals train and supervise students in these types of programs so they can access peer support...to bridge the gap between school professionals and young students.”

Neri was inspired to pursue the bill after her own struggles in her sophomore year, when she struggled to cope with the mounting pressure of future college plans, school work, and her own mental health.

“I didn’t have any friends to go to, and I didn’t feel that I had adequate support from my school,” said Neri. “We had over 4,000 students, and my school counselor, I just couldn’t connect that much with her. I really felt that loneliness and that gap, that lack of resources.”

Neri said it was easier to open up to a fellow student than an adult.

“After I was able to overcome my own personal struggles, get out of depression, deal with the anxiety, I realized what I needed was to have other students, my peers,” said Neri. “Even if they weren’t my friends, there were students there that would be able to listen to me, and help me if I needed to, if I needed an extra hand.”

Her first foray into her bill’s concept came when she sat down with Downey principal Tom Houts and began discussions about creating a “mental health awareness initiative.” She would eventually find her way to Assemblywoman Garcia, who encouraged her to apply for her annual contest.

Garcia would select Neri’s bill in 2020, however things would be postponed due to the pandemic.

“There are many known benefits to peer support programs and given the pandemic’s toll on our youth’s mental health, we must take action now to activate all tools available to ensure they have the support they need,” said Garcia. “Young students are in a unique position to support each other – they can bridge a connection to trained adults. Students are often more willing to communicate with other students, especially when it comes to sensitive issues such as mental health.

“Peer support programs are a piece of the puzzle in bolstering young people’s mental health by making them feel supported at the place they spend so much of their lives.”

Last month, AB 2124 cleared the first of several hurdles, successfully passing the Committee of Education.

It will now need to clear the appropriations committee before being sent to the Assembly floor. If passed at the Assembly, it would then move on to the Senate for approval, then back to the Assembly if amended.

Neri says the feeling of watching her bill go through the process of becoming law is “indescribable.”

“These are real people all over the state that are being impacted. I can’t even comprehend 6 million students, but I understand what that means,” said Neri. “I feel speechless. It’s very difficult to describe, but I feel very grateful to have this opportunity. Without my Assemblymember, none of this would be possible, and I really appreciate her acknowledging this… it definitely means so much to me.”