July 2023

The face of the current health and behavioral health workforce fails to mirror the workforce it cares for. The recent SCOTUS decision will only further negate cross-sector efforts to attract, admit, train and, sustain the inclusive workforce patients need. What must happen to mitigate this massive gap in care?

Dear PACEs Community Members, In 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, DCF launched the Office of Resilience to lead our work in responding to and raising awareness around Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences (PACEs). Since then, the office has continued to make progress supporting healing-engaged communities through local partnerships with law enforcement, educators, public officials, and non-profit organizations, with the intention to build up the capacity for...

By Alex Gailey and Tori Rubloff, Photo: FG Trade/Getty Images; Illustration: Hunter Newton/Bankrate, Bankrate, July 24, 2023 Eric Broussard-Bueno, a 47-year-old property manager in Lake Charles, Louisiana, knows financial anxiety all too well. In 2007, Broussard-Bueno left his 9 to 5 government job to become a part-time caregiver for his mom, who was on a double lung transplant list. He said he walked away from a stable job with a “great salary and retirement benefits” because he believed...

Participants arrive at the Generation Equality Forum organised by UN Women in Paris, France, June 2021. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images By Kaamil Ahmed, The Guardian, June 12, 2023 Bias against women is as entrenched as it was a decade ago and gender equality progress has gone into reverse, according to a UN report . Nine out of 10 people of all genders have a bias against women, found the Gender Social Norms Index, a figure unchanged from data collected more than a decade ago.

A student walks near Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA on April 23, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Under a new law, foster children in California will have their tuition covered if they attend a state or community college. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images By Christopher Galvin, The Messenger News, July 12, 2023 Children and teens in foster care across California will be able to attend state and community colleges free of charge under legislation signed into law this week. Through the new...

Melissa Perez was shot to death by three San Antonio police officers at her home on June 23. By Colbi Edmonds, Photo: from article, The New York Times, July 22, 2023 The San Antonio Police Department, like the police in other cities, has a Mental Health Unit available around the clock to respond to calls that require trained, empathetic responses and support for people in distress. None of the mental health officers on duty were dispatched before Melissa Perez was shot and killed in her home...

[Columbus, Ohio, May 15, 2023] – Chefalo Consulting, a leading provider of trauma-informed change solutions, and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC), Ohio’s prison system dedicated to reducing recidivism and crime in Ohio, have successfully launched trauma-informed training for agency staff across the state.

La Maida Project (LMP) is hosting two upcoming experiential workshops aimed to create a trauma-responsive and ACEs-aware culture in all the communities and settings where you engage. We are inviting the PACEs community to sign up free of charge using the promo code PACEsTogether . LMP is working to address the mental health crisis by healing our connection to self, community, purpose, and the natural world. Our experiential education workshops emphasize the participant's felt experience in...

By U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Image: from article, Office of Minority Health, July 2023 National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is observed each July to bring awareness to the unique struggles that racial and ethnic minority communities face regarding mental illness in the United States. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, and helps determine how we handle...

By Cedars-Sinai, Photo: screenshot from article, NewsWise, July 19, 2023 People belonging to racial and ethnic minority groups are less likely than white people to receive mental healthcare. Anna Solt, MD , a Cedars-Sinai psychiatrist, said that reduced access to mental healthcare, cultural stigmas and even stereotypical beliefs within a culture can cause barriers to mental health treatment. “There are stereotypes within Hispanic communities, for example—women are seen as being dramatic and...

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is observed each July to bring awareness to the challenges that some racial and ethnic minority groups face regarding mental health. Getty Images By Heather Loeb, Corpus Christi Caller Times, July 3, 2023 Happy Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. As I began working on this column, my daughter, who is as nosy as I am, asked what I was doing. I tried to explain that there were groups of people who aren’t treated the same way by doctors, who...

From Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Photo: from article, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, June 27, 2023 Mental health matters! Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, act, handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is just as important as physical health throughout our lives. Mental health issues are common – more than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness. Mental health...