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When Jazelle Eastman was 16 she was shot in the face by a boy she thought was a friend. She doesn’t remember feeling much, but next thing she knew there was blood dripping from her chin.
That was two years ago. She still has a hard time trusting people. “PTSD is so real, I feel like I’m always looking over my shoulder,” she said.
During her hospital stay, a social worker connected Eastman to a mental health counselor. She was hesitant at first; therapy is not something she would have sought on her own. Now she sees the benefit: “Talking to someone made it a lot better,” she said.
That, however, is not every young survivor’s experience. Nationally, just 37% of children received mental health services within six months after a firearm injury, according to a 2023 study published in the American Academy of Pediatrics. For some young survivors, help never arrives at all.
California lawmakers want to change that. Assembly Bill 2247 would require counties and the state to provide and pay for mental health and counseling services for youth survivors of gun violence, regardless of their insurance situation.
The bill would establish a pilot program in Alameda, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Solano counties, funded by state grants. Any young person touched by gun violence — whether they were shot, saw a shooting happen, or lost a family member — would qualify for free services up to age 25.
Eastman had invited a group of friends for a sleepover at her Vallejo home. She recalls being on her phone when a boy got up from the living room floor where he’d been sleeping. She doesn’t know exactly why he shot her; she thinks it was on purpose, that he’d gotten upset at her for being too loud that morning. He claimed it was an accident.
“I never thought that me trying to have a little get-together with my friends would result in something so bad happening,” she said.
The gap in care
In 2020 firearms surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death among children and teens nationally. Researchers estimate that for every fatality, there are at least two survivors of firearm injuries.
In California, about 2,000 youth 25 and younger died or were hospitalized from firearm injuries annually since 2016, according to the California Department of Public Health. This includes suicides. Still, California has the fifth lowest youth firearm death rate in the country.
“It’s very clear that violence, and gun violence in particular, is salient in young people’s lives,” said Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, an associate professor with the Centers for Violence Prevention at UC Davis. Research shows that the trauma of firearm violence can be especially disruptive for young people who are still developing mentally and emotionally, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, hypervigilance, sleep disruption, grief, substance use and suicidal thoughts.
Yet many survivors and their families go without timely help. Some people mistrust the health system. Others may not even know where to start. Getting connected to mental health care isn’t straightforward even for those who try. People with medical coverage have reported having to wait months to find a therapist that works for them, and those without coverage may not even try because they can’t afford counseling.
Tinisch Hollins, executive director at Californians for Safety and Justice, an advocacy organization sponsoring the bill, said this “made a lot of families kind of give up on the process.”
In California, victims of violence may be eligible for state compensation they can use to reimburse therapy costs, but navigating that system is tricky and not all victims qualify. Eastman has applied twice and has never heard back.
Hollins said the latest bill aims to remove cost and insurance barriers. It would also push counties to standardize how they connect victims to services and promote counseling more widely to victims and their families.
Hollins said the legislation is also a direct response to the disproportionate impact of gun violence on Black and Hispanic communities. In California, 78% of youth who were killed or hospitalized due to firearm injuries between 2016 and 2024 were Black or Hispanic, state data show.
A bill, but no funding
Hospitals, counties and other care providers have no consistent standard for connecting young survivors to mental health care after a shooting.
Handing a person a referral for counseling and expecting them to follow through while in survival mode is not enough, said Kravitz-Wirtz.
“Services for young people impacted by firearm violence are too often fragmented,” she said. “Young people often leave the hospital after a shooting with their physical injuries treated … but without a clear pathway into ongoing mental health.”
Some hospitals do have intervention and trauma recovery models in place, but they’re not universally or consistently available. Youth Alive!, the organization that provided Eastman free therapy, is one. Rhea Corson-Higgs, a mental health counselor there, works with youth who have experienced violent trauma in the Bay Area. In the group’s model, a social worker connects youth to a counselor before they are discharged from the hospital. That counselor goes to their home and provides trauma-informed therapy, prioritizing safety and trust. But her program always has a waitlist, she said.
Even if the legislation were to pass, one key challenge remains: There’s no money behind it. Ashley Anderson, a spokesperson for Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, a Los Angeles Democrat who authored the bill, said her office is still trying to find a funding source.
An analysis of the bill estimates it will cost $7,800 per person per year to provide grants to counties. The Assembly’s fiscal committee scaled back the scope of the bill, replacing its statewide requirement with a four-county pilot project. On Tuesday, the Assembly approved the legislation and it now heads for discussion in the Senate.
Finding help and ‘freedom’
Earlier this month Eastman traveled to Sacramento to advocate for the bill, joining dozens of survivors and families of those who were killed. After a brief march, attendees gathered at Capitol Park where around a stage they placed poster boards and banners with victims’ photos and messages: “Never forgotten” and “Forever 18.”
Today, Eastman is able to share her story publicly in large part because of therapy.
Bridgett Montoya was also there. She grew up in Pacoima, in the San Fernando Valley; a decade or more ago, gang activity there was commonplace. When she was 21 she was struck by two bullets — one in the head and one in the hip. She was in a coma for about a week and hospitalized for 28 days. A bullet remains lodged on the right back side of her head. Fragments from the hip shot impair her walking.
Two years passed before she saw a therapist. She wants others to have an easier path. “Going to therapy gave me a sense of relief and a sense of freedom,” she said.
James Michael, 20, was shot in the leg while attending an Oakland house party two years ago. At the hospital, before he could even see a doctor, he said law enforcement questioned him aggressively, as if he had something to do with the shooting. He recalls feeling really angry.
He thought twice about therapy, but decided to give it a try. That’s where he met Corson-Higgs at Youth Alive!, who he credits with helping him work through his anger. As he re-trained his left leg to walk, he also regained his confidence.
Therapy, he said, “showed me that life is still beautiful, no matter what you go through.”
Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.
