August 2021

By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, August 5, 2021 When Kimberly Seals Allers delivered her first child at a top-rated New York City hospital 21 years ago, her wishes were ignored by doctors and nurses. Feeling disrespected and voiceless, she decided to confront the causes and to advocate for equity in pregnancy and childbirth for Black mothers and birthing people.* A journalist by trade, Seals Allers is author of three books on pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding; a...

Children, Youth, and Families Who Experience Migration-Related Trauma and Family Separation Offers information on unaccompanied and separated immigrant youth in the US who have experienced migration-related trauma and family separation. This brief includes information about: who unaccompanied children are and how many are in the US; how traumatic separation affects immigrant children, youth, families, and systems; and what can be done to assist immigrant children, youth, and families who...

By Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks and Benjy Egel, The Sacramento Bee, July 22, 2021 In the middle of March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic slammed daily life to a halt for many Californians, Sacramento leaders met on a Saturday for a kind of emergency war council to tackle the region’s response to the all-consuming public health crisis. Sitting in Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s office, they huddled around a whiteboard with a list of priorities, said policy advisor Julia Burrows. One of the most...

Today, the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) released an application survey for the BOOST Program, a state-wide program tailored to help California cities and towns advance their climate action, resilience, and equity objectives . This technical assistance program supports under-resourced cities and towns in building capacity, optimizing existing resources, strengthening community partnerships, and transforming their approach to address and fund climate activities. The 2021 BOOST...

By Emma Hall and Charlotte West, Cal Matters, August 5, 2021 Victoria Chubb was supposed to study photography at a college in New Mexico after graduating from high school in Riverside County, but was afraid of being far away from home. “I really did just chicken out to leave my reservation and to leave California,” said Chubb, a member of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. She tried to go back to art school in San Bernadino a few years later, but dropped out to care for her mother, who was...

PC Reacts is a new series by PACEs Connection in which we look at current events through a trauma-informed and PACEs science lens. In the next episode in this series, we will respectfully and mindfully discuss issues that are adjacent to Britney Spears' public struggle with mental health, human rights, as she fights to end her conservatorship with her father. The emphasis of our conversation will be on positive and adverse childhood experiences and potential trauma experienced for children...

By Associated Press, MarketWatch, August 5, 2021 When homeless outreach workers first visited her encampment under a Los Angeles highway overpass last fall, Veronica Perez was skeptical of their offer of not just a bed, but a furnished apartment complete with meals, counseling and the promise of some stability in her life. “They said they had housing for me, but it just didn’t seem real,” Perez said. “When you’re homeless, you become leery and you don’t trust people.” Perez, 57, had been...

By ACEs Aware, July 27, 2021 ACEs Aware grantees throughout California have advanced the ACEs Aware initiative by educating clinicians and communities, and building partnerships to address ACEs and toxic stress. The ACEs Aware initiative funds community-based approaches to identify, treat, and heal the effects of ACEs and stress. Last month, we asked grantees Tri-City Mental Health Authority, Kings County Department of Public Health, and the Hanna Institute to share their strategies for...

By Jeremy Loudenback, The Imprint, July 29, 2021 Under a sweeping plan created by California’s health agency, the state has proposed solutions to longstanding challenges for low-income parents that include improved access to an array of pediatric mental health services — before children reach a crisis state. Current state policy requires a diagnosis for clinicians in California to treat a child receiving Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. For children with complex mental health...

By Sydney Johnson, EdSource, August 4, 2021 Bicycles typically aren’t allowed on the blacktop at Verde Elementary School in Richmond. But this year, scooters and bikes are a key feature of the school’s summer program aimed at getting students reacquainted with both in-person play and learning. As schools pivoted to distance learning during the pandemic, school enrollment in California plunged. But even the students who had steady access to the internet and managed to keep up in an all-new...

By The Annie E. Casey Foundation, July 26, 2021 A short video produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation identifies eight principles that every juvenile justice system should embrace right now to transform care for youth in custody. These principles are designed to help all young people realize their potential — regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, neighborhood or personal history. The video introduces ways that jurisdictions can immediately and meaningfully elevate the standard of...

From Immigrant Legal Resource Center, July 30, 2021 This resource, written by Human Impact Partners in collaboration with the ILRC and others as part of the Dignity Not Detention Coalition, outlines recommendations for what healthy, just, and supportive immigration policy can look like for unaccompanied youth immigrating to the US, without relying on detention or detention-like facilities. Rooted in the stories, experiences, and recommendations of young people who arrived in the US as...