October 2019

By Jason Fagone and Megan Cassidy, San Francisco Chronicle, September 29, 2019 The suicide rate inside California prisons, long one of the highest among the nation’s largest prison systems, jumped to a new peak in 2018 and remains elevated in 2019, despite decades of effort by federal courts and psychiatric experts to fix a system they say is broken and putting lives at risk, a Chronicle investigation has found. Last year, an average of three California inmates killed themselves each month...

By Jacob Margolis, LAist, September 30, 2019 We spent one full week writing about climate change, and encouraged you to stop screaming into the void and to scream your questions at us instead. More than 140 of you did, and we've been working on getting them answered. Below is a roundup of a few Q&As about what's happening to Earth. [ Please click here to read more .]

By Nick Garber, Patch Staff, October 1, 2019 Three bills signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom set up new programs, including peer support groups, for firefighters and first responders. SACRAMENTO, CA — Firefighters and first responders will gain access to mental health support programs and become eligible for workers' compensation based on post-traumatic stress, under three bills signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. "The job of firefighters and first responders can be very rewarding,...

By Max Rivlin-Nadler, for KPBS, September 26, 2019 California could lose more than $500 million in federal funding if the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule goes into effect next month (Oct 15th). The “public charge” rule is meant to discourage immigrants from accessing social services. According to a study released last week by researchers at UCLA and the California Immigrant Policy Center, California could lose millions in federal funding that would have gone to hospitals, labs...

By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource, September 29, 2019 California’s newest two-year institution — the online-only Calbright College — opens on Tuesday and for the first time, and students will be able to register and enroll in programs that are intended to serve an entirely new adult and underemployed population. The new college was created to enroll so-called “stranded” Californians who are underemployed, working multiple part-time jobs or stuck in jobs that don’t pay living wages. The California...

By Risa Johnson, Palm Springs Desert Sun, September 30, 2019 Native American students in California's public schools face higher-than-average suspension rates, according to a new report. A joint effort between California State University, San Diego, and the Sacramento Native American Higher Education Collaborative, the report outlines what it calls troubling trends regarding how school administrators discipline students. Racial disparities in school discipline, particularly for African...

By Adria Watson, CalMatters, September 29, 2019 Like most college students, Bianca Rojas has a lot to balance — classes, papers, exams, research. Unlike most of her peers, though, the 25-year-old Cal State Long Beach sociology major also has two extracurricular obligations: Jasper and Adeline, her toddlers. Each semester, she said, she carefully budgets her financial aid, calculating the credits she can afford, given the needs of her family. It’s stressful: Last semester, she and her...

Preventing child abuse and neglect and improving the well being of children, families, and communities is at the core of the outcome we are all so strongly committed to achieving. However, there's a lot of work to be done. Through the “ The Economics of Child Abuse: A Study of California ,” we know that: There are nearly 500,000 reports of child abuse in California each year — that’s about one report every minute. The economic cost to California for the 71,289 victims in 2017 is $19.31...

California tribes are unique in geography, language, land, air, water and cultural resource issues. The land bases of California tribes range from urban centers to some of the most isolated regions in the country. This report examines current threats to traditional foods and tribal food insecurity due to the rapid culture change of California tribal communities in the past century. It explores some of the natural resources that continue to be utilized for subsistence food as well as the...