November 2021

By Ali Tadayon, Photo: Jule Leopo, EdSource, November 16, 2021 W est Contra Costa Unified is looking at the sources of conflict and misbehavior on campus, then teaching students the social and emotional skills they may need to avoid violence. In his first year in office , Superintendent Kenneth “Chris” Hurst wants to reduce the number of violent incidents, such as fights and bullying, by 20% by the end of the school year and bring down the number of incidents involving weapons by 50%. So...

By Melissa Montalvo, Photo: Mike Blake: REUTERS, Cal Matters, November 12, 2021 Siete de cada 10 californianos dicen que la brecha entre ricos y pobres es cada vez mayor, según un estudio estatal lanzado el martes. La encuesta, realizada el mes pasado por el grupo de expertos no partidista, Instituto de Políticas Públicas de California , encuestó a 2,292 californianos adultos sobre sus opiniones sobre las perspectivas económicas del estado, la seguridad financiera, la seguridad laboral,...

By Ashley Gebb, Photo: Jason Halley/CSU Chico, Chico State Today, November 9, 2021 What will it take to shape the next generation of social workers, individuals poised to support communities who have experienced unimaginable disaster and trauma? Perhaps there is no university better suited to address this challenge than Chico State—or at least, that’s the premise of a new course in the School of Social Work. This summer, three professionals and educators came together to teach “Contemporary...

As 2021 comes to a close, we want to take a few moments to reflect on this busy and fruitful year as we ask you to remember PACEs Connection in your year-end giving. Despite this physically and emotionally challenging time, we have so very much for which to be grateful, and we would love to share our gratitude list with you. When we practice gratitude, we’re actually practicing a very PACEs-Connection thing to do: helping our brains. Brain imaging studies, says Dr. Daniel Amen, show that “...

By Lauren Helper, Photo: Stephen Lam/The Chronicle, November 16, 2021 When Sonoo Thadaney-Israni and her husband signed the paperwork for their home in the hills above Silicon Valley in 1991, they were assured that the red flag in the fine print didn’t really matter. The couple, who immigrated to the U.S. from India a decade earlier, had been surprised to learn that the deed to the roomy house in the San Mateo County town of Ladera still included a ban on all owners and occupants “other than...

By Jeremy Loudenback, Photo: Khari and Kayla Love, The Imprint, November 15, 2021 A coalition of Los Angeles County racial justice advocates, lawyers for parents in the child welfare system, reproductive rights groups and community-based organizations is calling on elected officials to implement wide-ranging reforms to the local foster care system. The demands presented Monday to the county Board of Supervisors draw on national advocacy efforts. They include a moratorium on removing children...

By John Fensterwald, Photo: Allison Shelley/All4Ed, EdSource, November 15, 2021 A n intensive focus on reading skills. Tutoring. More mental health services. Cleaner indoor air. More teaching aides for English learners. Summer activities for more students. These are some common themes in the plans that California school districts and charter schools have adopted for spending a huge amount from the latest round of federal Covid aid: $13.6 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act that...

By Emily Alpert Reyes, Photo: Jason Armond, Los Angeles Times, November 15, 2021 Maria Guadalupe Reyes was worried about the urgent notice that had arrived, saying that her landlord was seeking to evict her from the house she rents. So she went straight to the usual place: the Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center. There, the 72-year-old handed the document over to paralegal Alejandra Patlán — a familiar face with pink hair and an unflappable manner — and waited outside the little room on...

By California State Parks Foundation, November 2021 Once, millions of monarchs overwintered along the Pacific coast in California and Baja, Mexico. In the 1980s,  an estimated 4.5 million butterflies migrated to the coast annually. But by the mid-2010s, the population declined to 200-300 thousand butterflies. And in both 2018 and 2019, volunteers counted under 30,000 monarchs — less than 1% of the population’s historic size. In 2020, volunteers counted less than 2,000 monarchs — that’s less...

Please join us for our new series Education Upended: Talking Out of Turn . This monthly series will feature a conversation facilitated by Lara Kain, PACEsConnection Education Consultant , with special guests on education related current events and hot topics. We will use a trauma-informed and PACEs science aware lens to examine what is going on K-12 education, what needs changing, and strategies being used in the field to disrupt harmful policies and make positive changes in the system.

Replay Now Available Viewable through Wednesday, November 17 The Forward Together: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Protecting Children from Abuse conference had many powerful voices with empirical data, outside perspectives, culture-shifting steps, policy makers on a mission, advocates with hope and so much more. This not-to-be missed conference that provided perspective on protecting children from abuse is available to replay. The replay is available now through Wednesday, November 12 at...

By Aisling Carroll, Photo: Dr. Atul Nakhasi, California Health Care Foundation, November 2, 2021 A patient was on the phone with Atul Nakhasi, MD, internist at Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Outpatient Center in Los Angeles, after a routine surgery in the summer of 2021. She was recovering well, and she didn’t want anything to mess with that. The vaccine for COVID-19 might, she thought. Similar to the hundreds of conversations he’s had with other patients, staff, friends, and strangers,...