December 2016

Shortly after being sworn in to his second term in the California State Assembly, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) this week introduced Assembly Bill 11 (AB 11), which will create a child care early intervention partnership to help California infants and young children suffering from toxic stress. Toxic stress most commonly impacts infants and young children in households where a relative is suffering from physical, emotional or sexual abuse, mental illness, substance abuse,...

If you are a pediatrician serving Medicaid managed care patients in California, then you are required to use the Staying Healthy Assessment or an alternative IHEBA (Individual Health Education Behavioral Assessment) at all well-child visits. The bad news is that getting approval to use an alternative IHEBA is a tedious process. The good news is that as of October 27, 2016 the Whole Child Assessment (WCA) is available for use in English and Spanish. Most importantly, the WCA has been...

A packed town hall meeting in Eureka on Thursday night called for greater collaboration by state and local agencies to address an issue that contributes to many challenges Humboldt County faces today — childhood poverty and trauma. North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), who hosted the meeting, said that despite California being the sixth largest economy in the world, childhood poverty rates have actually increased since the Great Recession began in 2007. In this way, he called...