Blog

WE HAVE THREE MONTHS LEFT: LET’S ENSURE EVERYONE IS COUNTED! Since our last 2020 Census update, there have been some new developments we are pleased to share. In April, our California Census response rate was 54 percent, and as of July 27th, 2020 , it is 63.9% . That is a nearly 10-percent increase during a once-in-a-century pandemic – which is amazing progress! Let’s keep the momentum going and increase the self-response numbers through October 31, 2020. The California Complete Count –...

Playworks believes in a trauma-sensitive approach Educators should focus on providing a trauma-sensitive approach to the reopening of school. Students are all having different experiences right now. For some students, the shutdown of schools due to COVID has provided them with a welcome reprieve from toxic situations or stressors. For others, it has created an increased chance that they’re experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences or new stressors. “A trauma-sensitive school is one in which...

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report, July 27, 2020 Ana Blanco looked up from her hospital bed at the police officer. Her legs were bandaged, and stung with pain. She tried to focus on what he was saying. Did she want to file a restraining order against her husband? Blanco had just told the officer how, on the way home from her college psychology class, her husband had ordered her out of the truck and then begun driving away as she tried to remove her school bag. She had been...

By Betty Marquez Rosales, The New York Times, July 27, 2020 Julian Balderama’s daily mission, stated starkly, is to keep a dozen boys and young men in Stockton alive and out of jail. His official job title is “Neighborhood Change Associate” for a violence-prevention program called Advance Peace. But on the streets, Mr. Balderama is what is known as an “interrupter” — he defuses conflict. Through constant home visits, sometimes bearing takeout meals, he shows his 12 mentees how to steer clear...

By Valerie Echeverria, Ronishlla Maharaj, Karina Mascorro, and David Sanchez, Ed Source, July 28, 2020 Black Lives Matter and the coronavirus have etched deep memories, as well as life lessons, this year for Richmond area students. Here are reflections from students and recent graduates, based on interviews conducted by participants in the West Contra Costa Student Reporting Project. Except for graduates, their class levels indicate their status in the upcoming school year. Irene Kou, 15,...

By Elaiza Torralba, UCLA Center for Policy Research, July 28, 2020 A new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research shows that low-income California adults are less likely to receive timely dental care like regular checkups and are more likely to visit the dentist for specific problems than those with higher incomes — a fact that holds true even for low-income residents who have dental insurance. The study authors found that among those adults with the lowest incomes, 59%...

In the May 2020 newsletter we shared our policy brief titled “ Babies Don’t Go to the Doctor By Themselves ” and the news that CCT was collaborating with the UCSF/Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) and Trauma Center/Children’s Health Center to propose a pilot to improve health outcomes for young children and their caregivers. The list of collaborators in this work is long. At the top of it are the staff and patients at the Children’s Health Center at SFGH. Just two months...

By Danielle Roubinov, Nicole R. Bush, and W. Thomas Boyce, JAMA Pediatrics, July 27, 2020 The reach of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is global, a health crisis with a ubiquity never before experienced. While the physical health consequences of COVID-19 appear to affect proportionally fewer children compared with adults, its psychosocial consequences may be magnified within families who consistently weather a landscape of severe stressors or adverse childhood experiences...

During this webinar, panelists discussed how integrating behavioral health screenings and care into the dental clinic can improve patient overall well-being while reducing stigma. Participants learned about the behavioral health challenges facing our youth today and how integration can assist with identifying and addressing issues early, as well as what integration of behavioral health practices into the dental clinic looks like in practice. [ Please click here to watch the recording .]

With introductory remarks from Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, FAAP, California Surgeon General Wednesday, July 29, 2020 Noon – 1 p.m. Register for the Webinar Presenters Brent Sugimoto, MD, MPH, FAAFP – Family Medicine Physician and New Physician Director, American Academy of Family Physicians Mimi Mateo, CNM, MSN, CDE – Certified Nurse Midwife and Clinical Director of Midwifery, North County Health Services Denise Gomez, MD, PharmD, ACP – Internal Medicine Physician and Associate Medical...

By Catherine Teare and Katherine Haynes, California Health Care Foundation, July 16, 2020 As the new coronavirus began spreading across the country, what was an infectious disease crisis also became a behavioral health emergency. Compared to a year ago, the rate of people reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression has tripled from April through June, according to the weekly Household Pulse Survey , a new product from the National Center for Health Statistics and the US Census Bureau. The...

By Michael Burke, Ed Source, July 22, 2020 Students at California State University for the first time will be required to take a course in ethnic studies or a class with a social justice component under a policy approved Wednesday by the system’s Board of Trustees. The trustees voted 13-5 to approve the new general education requirement for students who enter the 23-campus system beginning in 2023-24. Students will be required to either take a class in one of four ethnic studies disciplines...