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Listen Here We’re at the start of another school year. And that means more than just a focus on basic academic skills. In Fresno County, there’s a new push to address mental health and wellbeing. It’s part of a five year, $111 million dollar campaign that’s called “All 4 Youth” that’s bringing together the county’s office of education and the behavioral health department. We spoke with director Dawan Utecht to learn more about how the program aims to expand everything from suicide prevention...

A new study from the UC Berkeley Early Childhood Think Tank and the American Institutes for Research found that the San Joaquin Valley doesn’t have enough daycare and preschool spots for its population of young children, which will continue to grow through 2030. The shortage affects both middle- and working-class families, the latter of whom face waits for subsidies while the former shoulder steep tuition costs for full-time care. Both groups have to contend with a scarcity of openings in...

Decades after civil rights icons Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta brought worldwide attention to the plight of farm workers in California’s Central Valley , a new generation of activists are making an impact in the region — with the focus now on the myriad issues facing young people and efforts to get them involved in civic affairs. The issues — which include poverty, environmental justice, immigrant rights and the school-to-prison pipeline — are not new to the cities and towns that dot the...

In recent years, the Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society has turned its focus to caring for caregivers. The medical society, one of the oldest medical societies in the west, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, is attempting to curb the effects of physician burnout through its Joy of Medicine program. The program is a multi-disciplinary approach to address burnout by encouraging wellness and resiliency among physicians in the region. It was designed with input from all of the...

Learn more about All Children Can Thrive (ACT/CA), trauma informed effort funded through the CA state legislature.

I slamophobic incidents in California are skyrocketing under the administration of President Donald Trump , according to a report released Wednesday by the Council on American Islamic Relations advocacy group. Analysts say the sobering new numbers indicate how xenophobic rhetoric and policy from on high inspire hate at the grassroots level, even in a state like California, typically viewed as a bastion of liberalism and diversity. Reports of Islamophobic incidents in 2017 skyrocketed by 82...

It is likely most readers know someone or they are the someone who has personally experienced alcohol's harm to others | secondhand drinking. The tragedy is we hardly talk about it in ways that can change the lives of those affected -- especially the lives of children. In other words, we hardly talk about it in ways that can prevent, intervene, or treat adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Alcohol’s Harm to Others | Secondhand Drinking and the ACEs Connection One of the 10 ACEs measured in...

“We are in a situation now where the wildfire season doesn’t really have its normal beginning or end,” said Lori Kobza, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. The 629,000 acres burned this year follows large swaths torched last year in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Napa and Sonoma counties, causing dozens of deaths, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Many scientists attribute the more frequent and ferocious fires in the...

After the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida earlier this year, schools are at the epicenter of national debates on gun violence and mental health. How can teachers and administrators deal with troubled students? And how can they make schools safer for all? It’s not the first time that schools have been asked to address social problems that originate far outside their hallways. In a nation where more than 40 percent of kids are from low-income families, school teachers and...

Applications Now Open for Nov 15-16 Transformational Resilience Intensive Train-the-Trainer Workshop The ITRC is offering a Train-the-Trainer Workshop on Transformational Resilience for climate change aggravated traumas and toxic stresses workshop. The workshop will be held November 15-16 in San Francisco. This will be an intensive 2-day training offered in cooperation with the SEI Resilient Community Fellows Program. It is open to a maximum of 20 people who want to learn how to apply...

Mental health disorders in childhood and adolescence are extremely common. Studies estimate between 13 and 20 percent of American children experience a mental disorder in a given year. National survey data indicates that one in five children and teens will suffer a mental disorder that severely impairs daily life. Common mental illnesses include anxiety disorder, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Yet research also indicates that many children in need of mental...

A snapshot of 597 juveniles placed under probation supervision in Santa Barbara County in 2017 shows 53 were incarcerated in juvenile hall, a number 38 percent higher than the average in nearby counties. The reason, according to Probation Department officials, is that the county uses fewer alternatives to incarceration for low-level offenders than comparable counties like San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Ventura. Incarcerating misdemeanor offenders, and exposing them to serious,...