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California lawmakers will consider a proposal to allow parents to bring their newborns to work at state offices. Assembly Bill 2481 was introduced by Assemblyman Randy Voepel, the former mayor of Santee, with bipartisan support. The program is for babies between 6 weeks and 6 months when they still sleep a lot and before they can crawl away. The infant-to-work program would initially be an option only at state offices, and if passed, would be tested out for a year. "This is a voluntary...

The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) invites you to participate in our 2018 Policymaker Education Day on Childhood Adversity. Last year, we had over 100 4CA representatives who participated in the day-long event. Policymaker Education Day is an opportunity to come together as advocates to educate policymakers about childhood adversity, the long-term consequences of childhood adversity on communities, and garner support for 4CA endorsed legislation. Please register...

If you are on this site. you are probably familiar with ACES, the triune brain, and the resiliency zone. Are you ready to learn more? Come to Echo's one-day training Working with Childhood Trauma II to gain a more advanced understanding of the biology and psychology of childhood trauma - everything from how trauma impacts brain waves to microbiology, from a newly discovered stress hormone to the factors that lead to post-traumatic growth. Don't let your knowledge stagnate. In this...

Federal and state laws mandating parity in coverage of mental and physical illness, together with expansion under the ACA of both Medi-Cal eligibility and scope of mental health services, have made more services available to more Californians. Public and private actors have devoted significant resources to expand access to care, better integrate physical and mental health care, and reduce stigma. Despite these efforts, the incidence of some mental illnesses continues to rise, many...

Trauma is the theme of the 2018 SAMHSA-sponsored (U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day on May 10 th (7-9:00 pm ET) . The virtual town hall, “Partnering for Health and Hope Following Trauma,” will focus on taking an integrated health approach to support children, youth, and young adults who have experienced trauma. The goal of Awareness Days in general is “to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health and...

A California lawmaker is calling for $22.7 million in state funding to help prevent unwarranted arrests of abused and neglected children in the state’s residential foster-care facilities — a disturbing practice exposed in a Chronicle investigation last year. The three-year budget proposal, to be introduced next week by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson (Los Angeles County), comes as arrests continue across the state at county children’s shelters, despite pledges of reform. While the total...

Director of UC Berkeley’s Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society and Author of Racing to Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society Tuesday, May 22 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sierra Health Foundation 1321 Garden Highway, Sacramento john a. powell is an internationally recognized author and expert in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties and a wide range of issues including race, structural racialization, ethnicity, housing, poverty and...

In 1996, right after voters in California banned affirmative action in employment and college admissions, minority student enrollment at two and four-year institutions plummeted. What has happened since though, is pretty remarkable. Of the 2.8 million students attending college in California today, two out of three come from racially and ethnically diverse populations. The most eye-popping increase in enrollment has been among Latinos. They now make up 43 percent of all college students in...

STOCKTON, Calif. — In California, known for decades as one of the nation’s most avid jailers, the trajectory of law and order is shifting. Through litigation, legislation and a series of ballot initiatives, the state’s prison population has dropped 25 percent over the past decade. The photographer Joseph Rodriguez has been documenting crime and punishment in California for years and recently focused his gaze on the migration home, in Stockton — a barren outpost in California’s Central...

Kidsdata and Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) have partnered to release the latest data on poverty among California's children. Poverty and inequitable distribution of resources are fundamental impediments to healthy and well children. Addressing poverty among all children must be a key part of programs and policies that aim to maximize health and well being. Guest author, Caroline Danielson, who is a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, shares important...

The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) is hosting its second annual Policymaker Education Day in Sacramento on May 22nd, 2018 with guest speaker Assemblyman Dr. Joaquin Arambula! Policymaker Education Day is an opportunity for advocates from all over California to come and educate their policymakers about childhood adversity, the long-term consequences of childhood adversity on communities, and what they can do to help. Please register by April 30 at http://bit.do/peday...

Key provisions that are closely aligned with sections the Heitkamp-Durbin “Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act (S. 774)” are included in opioid legislation that is advancing in the U.S. Senate. A draft bill, “The Opioid Crisis Response Act,” is the subject of a hearing on Wednesday, April 11 in the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) Committee and a mark-up of the legislation is expected over the next several weeks. Senator Heitkamp’s office highlighted three...