Blog

This is the third of three stunning illustrations showing how PACEs (positive and adverse childhood experiences) affected the family of Cendie Stanford, graphic artist and founder of the nonprofit ACEs Matter. This one looks at her positive childhood experiences. The day before her 16th birthday, Cendie Stanford’s older brother was shot and killed by a young man who, just two years earlier, had been her boyfriend. “I was heartbroken that two people I loved were out of my life forever,” says...

Welcome to Virtual Healing Circles! At UC Davis Health we are working to realize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of the Beloved Community . We invite you to join us in a session of compassionate listening and intentional sharing to foster understanding, love, and unity. Join us Wednesday, February 23, 2022 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Please register here: bit.ly/healingcircle2-23

The Hanna Institute Summit is an immersive, multi-day, fully virtual conference focused on learning and sharing new and proven approaches to trauma-informed care. In 2022, the Summit will focus on community violence and will offer a profound opportunity for deep learning, evolution and healing within our collective communities. We invite you to hear from leaders and activists in the field, and lean in to meaningful - at times, uncomfortable - learning to unearth legacies and practices that...

By John Fensterwald, Photo: Green Team/Riverside STEM High School, EdSource, February 8, 2022 F resno Unified is among the school districts encouraging students to become civically engaged and in the process earn a seal affixed to their high school diploma that recognizes their involvement. The State Seal of Civic Engagement recognizes not only that students understand the democratic process but also apply their knowledge to address issues or problems they care deeply about in school or the...

By Rebecca Catterson, Lucy Rabinowitz, and Emily Alvarez, Photo: Unsplash, California Health Care Foundation, January 27, 2022 California is home to a diverse population varying by income, age, region, and racial and ethnic background. Annually since 2019, the California Health Care Foundation has conducted a survey of residents’ views on a variety of health care topics, some of which are tracked over time to detect meaningful differences in public opinion. The California Health Care...

By Aditi Tandon, The Tribune, February 3, 2022 India-born Devika Bhushan was on Thursday appointed California’s top doctor after incumbent surgeon general Nadine Burke Harris resigned on Wednesday, following three years in the role. Bhushan, the newly-appointed California surgeon general, is Agra born. She’s the daughter of Indu Bhushan, who set up and steered India’s flagship Ayushman Bharat Mission for annual cashless hospitalisation cover of Rs 5 lakh for over 10 crore vulnerable...

By Fontana News Room, Photo: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times, Fontana News Room, February 7, 2022 When I conjure the image of a typical public school — the bright fluorescent lighting, the hard, unyielding plastic desk chairs and the shrill bells that announce the beginning and end of class — the word “calming” doesn’t exactly come to mind. Combine that with the frenetic energy that comes with 15 to 30 students crammed into a relatively small room all day, and you’ve got a recipe for...

By Joel Knudson and Jennifer O'Day, Photo: Liv Ames/EdSource, EdSource, February 7, 2022 A s 2022 begins, educators, students, families and communities continue to navigate a state of prolonged and volatile crisis. The persistent spread of Covid-19 has compounded the challenge of ensuring safe and healthy learning environments. Meanwhile, too many students continue to suffer from the ongoing effects of the pandemic — academically, socially, emotionally and mentally. Community schools may...

A Message from UCAAN's Leadership Dear ACEs Aware family, California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has announced that she will step down from her position on February 11. It is hard to overstate her influence in catalyzing the statewide movement to identify, address, and overcome the health impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress on California's families. In just two years, she worked with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to launch...

Has the pandemic stressed you out? Want to learn the self-soothing skills of Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience directly from the author, Dr. Carolyn Curtis? Good news! The Dibble Institute has received generous funding for scholarships to the online, full 12-lesson series, Mind Matters Now . The course helps teachers, social workers, medical professionals, and others manage their stress by building resilience skills and practices for mental well-being. (CEUs are...

Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, shown at her home in San Francisco, became the state’s first surgeon general in 2019. (Paul Kuroda / For The Times) By Hayley Smith | Staff writer California’s top physician is stepping down. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who became the state’s first surgeon general in 2019, announced her resignation Tuesday, her office confirmed. Dr. Devika Bhushan, chief health officer, will serve as acting surgeon general. Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked Burke Harris for “the impactful...

By Jakob Rodgers, Photo: Robert So/Pexels, The Mercury News, January 31, 2022 California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who three years ago placed a moratorium on executions, is moving to dismantle the United States’ largest death row by moving all condemned inmates to other prisons within two years. The goal is to turn the section at San Quentin State Prison into a “positive, healing environment.” Newsom said Monday it’s an outgrowth of his opposition to what he believes is a deeply flawed system, one...