True Self Foundation condemned the response of the Mental Health and Addiction Services Administration (ASSMCA) to a report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The report recommended that ASSMCA establish greater "controls" for releasing reports, after a complaint about an El Nuevo Día story on LGBTQ+ youth that made public data the agency had sought to withhold in 2024.
The concern cannot be that the country learned of it
"The handling of data on LGBT+ youth is not a problem of administrative controls. It is information that would help prevent suffering, guide services and protect lives. The concern cannot be that the country learned of it," said Miguel Vázquez Rivera, executive director and founder of True Self Foundation.
His reaction followed the response of ASSMCA head Catherine Oliver Franco, who said she would strengthen "whatever controls are necessary" for publishing data reports the agency handles as part of the Youth Consultation, which is conducted with federal funds. Last week, the OIG confirmed in a report what El Nuevo Día published in July 2024: that the previous ASSMCA administration received data on the mental health of youth who identified as LGBTQ+ but decided not to publish it.
The data come from the Consulta Juvenil 2020-2022 study, which added respondents’ sexual orientation in public and private schools. The reporting revealed that 43.1% of those identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual reported depressive problems, versus 16.4% of heterosexuals; 33.2% of those describing their identity another way also did. On anxiety, 25.7% of that group and 20.5% of gay, lesbian or bisexual respondents reported problems, versus 6.3% of heterosexuals. Months after publication, the OIG received a complaint about an alleged "improper" disclosure.