Tagged With "African American"
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No more ‘cowboys and Indians’: Newsom wants Californians to learn Native American history (Sacramento BEE)
By Hannah Wiley, Sacramento Bee, September 27, 2019 Gov. Gavin Newsom at an annual celebration of Native American culture said he wanted greater “truth telling” of California’s indigenous history and a stronger acknowledgment of the state’s genocide of native people. The governor opened his remarks at the 52nd annual Native American Day in Sacramento by describing California’s first governor, Peter Hardeman Burnett , authorizing a “war of extermination” against the state’s indigenous...
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NPPC News and Resources
As 2019 comes to a close, we wish you a peaceful and healthy holiday season. As trauma-informed healthcare practitioners, this is also a time to acknowledge that the holidays can trigger loneliness and anxiety -- so please take time to care for yourself and perhaps provide extra support for your patients and families. As always, below you’ll find other news, webinars and resources we hope you find helpful for your ACEs screening efforts. Medi-Cal Funding Available for ACEs Screening Starting...
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Oakland, CA, leading the country in programs to better black male achievement, according to new report [MercuryNews.com]
Oakland is one of the best U.S. cities for embracing initiatives that better the lives of black men and boys, according to an index released Thursday. The index was compiled by Campaign for Black Male Achievement, or CBMA, a national network representing 2,500 organizations and programs across the U.S. and funded by nonprofits like The California Endowment, Skillman Foundation and the Knight Foundation, to name a few. Oakland scored a 95, tied with Washington, D.C. and Detroit for best on...
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OCAP grants announced, applications due by 12-14-18
The Office of Child Abuse and Prevention ( OCAP ) recently announced a funding opportunity that may align with the work of California based ACEs champions. Please see the details below, the OCAP Grants link, and the attached document for further details. Copied from the website : The Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) administers federal grants, contracts, and state programs designed to promote best practices and innovative approaches to child abuse prevention, intervention, and...
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OCAP grants announced - Deadline EXTENDED TO DEC 28th
The Office of Child Abuse and Prevention ( OCAP ) recently announced a funding opportunity that may align with the work of California based ACEs champions. Please see the details below, the OCAP Grants link, and the attached document for further details. Copied from the website : The Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) administers federal grants, contracts, and state programs designed to promote best practices and innovative approaches to child abuse prevention, intervention, and...
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OCAP needs you! Apply now to become a member of their 2019 Citizen Review Panels
Make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children in California. Use your voice to change the child welfare system in California! Convened by the Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP), they are seeking citizen (YOUR) input at their quarterly meetings. Now is your chance to make recommendations to the State! Apply now t o become a member of the California Child-welfare Citizen Review Panels (CRPs). Meetings are held 4 times a year. Participation can be by phone, computer, or in-person.
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October is Safe Sleep Awareness Month
The leading cause of death for infants age 1 month to 1 year is Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUIDs). This includes sleep related deaths and SIDS. Here are some facts you can share to make sure the parents you know have the information and resources that can help them make the best parenting decisions when it comes to safe sleep: Babies should always sleep on their backs Babies should be in their own crib, not an adult bed, couch, or car seat Babies should not sleep with others Use firm...
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On Death Row, but Is He Innocent? [NYTimes.com]
One June day in 1983, a California professor drove over to a neighbor’s house to pick up his 11-year-old son from a sleepover. Nobody answered the door, so the professor peered through a window — and saw a ghastly panorama of blood. The professor found his son stabbed to death, along with the bodies of Peggy and Doug Ryen, the homeowners. The Ryens’ 10-year-old daughter was also dead, with 46 wounds, but their 8-year-old son was still breathing. This quadruple murder began a travesty that is...
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One California mayor has tried universal basic income. His advice for Trump: 'Think Big' [theguardian.com]
By Lois Beckett, The Guardian, March 21, 2020 As the Trump administration and lawmakers in Washington debate cash payments to support Americans during the coronavirus crisis, the mayor of one California city that has experimented with universal basic income has advice. Early findings from Stockton, California, which launched a basic income experiment last year, may offer American policymakers some reassurance – and a few notes of caution. It’s “heartening” to see a national focus on...
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One year after release of PI framework, communities use it to address community trauma, promote resilience (PreventionInstitute.org)
In San Diego, a group is using the ACE|R framework as part of PI’s Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing among Men and Boys initiative , funded by the Movember Foundation. Jama Mohamed, Program Coordinator for the San Diego initiative, describes how community environments can produce and exacerbate trauma among refugees: “When you look at a community that has actually experienced trauma, and you put them in an environment like this, it’s not for us to question their behaviors,”...
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Open Solicitation for Native American Community Implementation Pilot Projects.
The Office of Health Equity (OHE) is accepting applications for Implementation Pilot Projects in Native American communities as part of the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP). CRDP is designed to help reduce mental health disparities across the state among five multicultural communities. From the current solicitation, we will award up to two implementation grants, which will be in effect over the next five years. The grants will have a rural/tribal focus to bring balance among...
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Opinion: All Doctors Should Practice Trauma-Informed Care [calhealthreport.org]
By Bob Erlenbusch and Drew Factor, California Health Report, November 21, 2019 “Adverse childhood experiences are the single greatest unaddressed public health threat facing our nation today,” Dr. Robert Block, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has been widely quoted as saying. According to the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, conducted in the 1990’s by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, adverse childhood experiences are common,...
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Opportunities to Engage your Community in the Trauma-themed May 10th Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day
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...
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Oprah Looks At How California’s Infamous Pelican Bay Prison Is Leading The Way In Reforming Solitary Confinement [witnessla.com]
On Sunday’s 60 Minutes broadcast Oprah Winfrey reported on the use of solitary confinement in American prisons. She talked about how California is leading the way to reform of the practice, with changes in the state’s Pelican Bay Prison, which Winfrey called the most notorious state penitentiary in America. It is a story that is very much worth watching. “Designed and built as a ‘supermax’ facility,” Oprah began, referring to the 1989-constructed prison, “it’s been used for nearly 30 years...
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Over 1 Million Children Live in Low-Income Neighborhoods in California (calhealthreport.org)
Research has shown that the type of neighborhood low-income children live in can influence their health. Children who live in low-income neighborhoods are less likely than those in more affluent areas to have access to quality public schools, healthy food, medical care and green spaces to play, said Scot Spencer, associate director for advocacy and influence at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which released the report. Researchers found, in an analysis of the most recently available U.S.
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Over 10,000 California students are demanding free tuition - and it's working (mic.com)
From 1980 to 2014, California cut state cut funding to the tune of 54% per University of California student and 41% per California State University student, and in-state tuition costs have nearly tripled for students in both systems since 1991. In a December report , the University of California’s Global Food Initiative found that 44% of undergraduate students had reported experiencing food insecurity, and 5% of both U.C. undergraduate and graduate student populations reported having...
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Overturn of ACA Would Wreak Havoc in Time of Pandemic [chcf.org]
By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, May 18, 2020 In April, the US unemployment rate rose to 14.7% , surpassing the previous monthly peak of 10% during the Great Recession in 2009. At least 36 million Americans are now jobless — many of them are suddenly without employer-sponsored health insurance. Some may need to obtain health coverage in the individual marketplace or from Medicaid, whose eligibility requirements were greatly expanded under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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Overview of the 2016 Project on Behavioral Health Services For Children and Youth in California [dhcs.ca.gov]
The California Behavioral Health Planning Council (Council) is under federal and state mandate to advocate on behalf of adults with severe mental illness and children with severe emotional disturbance and their families. The Council is also statutorily required to advise the Legislature on behavioral health issues, policies and priorities in California. The Council advocates for an accountable system of seamless, responsive services that are strength-based, consumer and family member driven,...
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Pelosi, Speier talk gun control at a San Francisco town hall [San Francisco Chronicle]
(From left to right) State Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris, Rep. Jackie Speier, and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, participate in a town hall meeting on gun violence at Lincoln High School in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, August 27 Photo: Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle Editor's note: In her role as state surgeon general, Dr. Harris addressed gun violence as preventable and important to treat as a public health issue. She said that in 2017, there were...
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Personal stories from witnesses, U.S. representatives provided an emotional wallop to House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on childhood trauma
Room erupts in applause for the grandmother of witness William Kellibrew during July 11 House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. The power of personal stories from witnesses and committee members fueled the July 11 hearing on childhood trauma in the House Oversight and Reform Committee* throughout the nearly four hours of often emotional and searing testimony and member questions and statements (Click here for 3:47 hour video). The hearing was organized into a two panels—testimony from...
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Pharmacies now can offer birth control to women without a prescription, but few do (latimes.com)
A new law in California allows women to pick up birth control pills from pharmacies without a doctor's prescription. But more than a year after the law took effect, women say they're still struggling to get the medicines, in part because they can't find pharmacies offering them. A study released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that only 11% of pharmacies in the state are dispensing hormonal birth control to women without prescriptions. Pharmacists don't have to...
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Positive Childhood Experiences offset ACEs: Q & A with Dr. Robert Sege about HOPE
Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...
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PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education [ppic.org]
By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Alyssa Dykman, and Rachel Lawler, Public Policy Institute of California, April 2020 Key findings from the current survey: Many California parents see school closures for COVID-19 as somewhat of a problem and are concerned with providing productive learning at home. An overwhelming majority of parents approve of school districts’ handling of closures and Governor Newsom’s handling of K–12 education. As optimism wanes about the economy, views on school bonds...
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Preparations begin for 2018 State Legislative Sessions—Tools to help you communicate with your state legislators
With the majority of states convening legislative sessions in 2018*, now is the time to begin preparations to advance trauma-informed proposals and educate lawmakers on the impact of trauma on the health and wellbeing of their constituents. ACEs Connection Network (ACN) will be sharing tools to help in this process over the next months. Two are now available—“How to Create a Community Profile” and “Tips on How to Build Relationships with Your Legislators.” One of the most effective tools...
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Press Release — New Survey of California Community College Students Reveals More than Half Face Food Insecurity and Nearly 20 Percent Have Faced Homelessness [California Community Colleges]
Press Release — New Survey of California Community College Students Reveals More than Half Face Food Insecurity and Nearly 20 Percent Have Faced Homelessness March 7, 2019 Sacramento — More than half the students attending a California community college have trouble affording balanced meals or worry about running out of food, and nearly 1 in 5 are either homeless or do not have a stable place to live, according to a survey released today. Click HERE to read the press release and click HERE...
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Principals to Get Specialized Training to Tackle Racial Inequities in Their Schools [blogs.edweek.org]
By Denisa R. Superville, Education Week, November 5, 2019 The country's second-largest school district—where 82 percent of students are Latino and African American—is tapping principals to root out racial bias and inequitable practices in their schools. Los Angeles Unified School District and the Race and Equity Center at the University of Southern California have partnered to train principals and other school leaders to tackle systemic inequities. The Racial Equity Leadership Academy for...
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Program offers hundreds of young men, boys safe space to heal from ACEs
Dennis McCollins recounts some of the experiences that caused him to harden against the world as a teenager. “There were times I went to more funerals than birthdays,” says McCollins, who is the clinical director of the School Based Health Center at Greenwood Academy in Richmond, Calif. And it took its toll: “I spent time homeless. I got expelled [from school]. I was so angry and upset and mad,” he says. Dennis McCollins Then a man that he met when he was sent to Job Corps as a teen turned...
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Racial status And The Pandemic: A Combustible Mixture [californiahealthline.org]
By Anna Almendrala, California Healthline, May 12, 2020 In early March, Madalynn Rucker, then 69, agonized over whether to close her Sacramento consultancy office. On the 16th, she finally succumbed to a barrage of texts and calls from her daughter about the heightened risk of the coronavirus, and told her employees to begin working from home. That was three days before California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide stay-at-home order . Her daughter was right in more ways than one. While Rucker’s...
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Racism as Trauma: Clinical Perspectives from Social Work and Psychology
Last Friday, February 26, 800 people filled the Laguna Honda Hospital & Rehabilitation Center in the beautiful Twin Peaks area of San Francisco. They were there for a Black History Month event coordinated by the San Francisco Health Network. The event featured presentations from two outstanding clinicians: Dr. Joy DeGruy, researcher, educator, and author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome : America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing; and Dr. Ken Hardy, professor at Drexel University...
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Rate of Depression is Double for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Youth
Depression-Related Feelings Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Youth, 2013-2015 An alarming 61% of youth who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual have felt depressed in the previous year in contrast to 29% of their peers who identify as straight. These students, who are in grades 7th, 9th, or 11th grade or are in non-traditional programs, felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more that they stopped doing their usual activities. Disparities among youth who experience...
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Rebalancing Act: How To Change The Fact That Too Many Black & LGBTQ Kids [Witness LA] Land In LA’s Foster Care System
In Los Angeles County, as in many other areas of the U.S., African American children are disproportionately overrepresented in foster care when compared with their representation in the general population. Research also shows that lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are overrepresented in foster care. An August 2014 report by UCLA Law School’s Williams Institute found that LA County has 13.4% LGBQ-identified youth in foster care (compared to 7.2% in the...
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Register Now! Webinar on Children in Detention for Health Professionals
National Health Collaborative on Violence and Abuse Children in Detention: Critical Clinical, Legal, Policy, and Human Rights Issues for Health Professionals Date: Wednesday, September 25th, 2019 Time (by time zone): 11:00 - 12:30 PM Pacific/ 12:00 - 1:30 PM Mountain/ 1:00 - 2:30 PM Central/ 2:00 - 3:30 PM Eastern Register for the webinar This webinar will feature closed captioning and will be recorded. Thousands of children seeking refuge from life-threatening danger in their home countries...
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Registration Open - 2019 Families and Fathers Conference Early Rate and Hotel Discount Closing
In 48 days, we open our 20th convening of a powerful conference focused on strengthening families, improving outcomes for children, and strategies to engage families: the 20th Annual Families and Fathers Conference hosted by Fathers and Families Coalition of America. Sponsorships allow the extended early rate for an exceptional experience in Los Angeles, California, from March 4th (pre-conference institute credential) through the main conference dates of March 5th - 7th. Please share this...
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Report Finds Many Californians Experience Discrimination at Health Care Offices (calhealthreport.org)
Going to see a health care provider is often a frustrating and demeaning experience for people of color, as well as those who are LGBTQ or have disabilities, according to a preliminary report by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. The health advocacy group collected testimony from dozens of health care consumers, including Asian and Latino immigrants in Southern California, Native American residents in Sacramento, LGBTQ individuals in Ventura County, black women in Los Angeles, and...
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Report Rates Child Well-Being in California Counties [ChronicleOfSocialChange.org]
A new report from Children Now details wide disparities in children’s well-being across California’s 58 counties. The 2016–2017 California County Scorecard of Children’s Well-Being looks at a series of indicators organized around the three domains of child welfare and economic well-being; health; and education. The report provides a comparison over time for each of 28 indicators, as well as a breakdown by ethnicity on each data point for every county in the state. Children Now, an advocacy...
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Report reveals how foster care, juvenile and adult justice systems traumatize youth, calls for policy shifts
YWFC sponsored Sister Warriors meeting When she was 15 years old, Lucero Herrera was put in a rehab program by San Francisco’s Juvenile Court because she was getting drunk regularly. And in doing so, the court failed to explore the root of her drinking. Had they done so, she said, they would have found that anger and trauma were lurking underneath, driven by her ACEs: adverse childhood experiences. Lucero Herrera "Why did they put me in a drug program when I had an anger problem? I went...
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Resilient Communities are Healthy Communities
Resilient Communities are Healthy Communities…what’s good for health is good for climate!” Authored by: Judy Robinson and Sara Jensen Carr, Design 4 Active Sacramento Climate change directly threatens the health and well-being of California’s nearly 40 million people. Without intervention at the local, regional, and state scales, these dangers will only become more pronounced in coming years. The Safeguarding California Plan devotes an entire public health chapter to these risks, stating:...
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Resilient Communities are Healthy Communities
Resilient Communities are Healthy Communities…what’s good for health is good for climate!” Authored by: Judy Robinson and Sara Jensen Carr, Design 4 Active Sacramento Climate change directly threatens the health and well-being of California’s nearly 40 million people. Without intervention at the local, regional, and state scales, these dangers will only become more pronounced in coming years. The Safeguarding California Plan devotes an entire public health chapter to these risks, stating:...
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Resources and Highlights from the May 16, 2019 Sierra Region Learning Community: Fourth in the Building Resilience Series
The fourth Sierra Learning Community in the four-part Building Resiliency Series focused on: Exploring evidence-based tools and interventions for addressing Behavioral Health needs in the Sierra Nevada Region. The power point distributed to attendees is attached. View the recording by clicking here: Sierra Region May 16, 2019 Learning Community ANNOUNCEMENTS Make sure to visit the Strategies2.0 YouTube Channel to access recordings of all the Strategies2.0 sponsored webinars and Learning...
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Resources to Support Wildfires Response & Recovery in Northern and Southern California
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) has compiled resources to assist with response and recovery from the latest California wildfires. Information guides on disaster topics and the Disaster Lit® database provide access to curated, reliable information from vetted Federal, state, and local governments and organizations. Key National Resources NLM Fires and Wildfires Information Guide Content syndication —embed the content of this page...
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Childhood trauma a crucial public health issue [CapitolWeekly.net]
Preventing childhood trauma should be one of the top goals of California policymakers, a coalition of child advocates say. About 150 of the advocates came to Sacramento last week to educate legislators about the devastating effects of adverse childhood experiences. The goal was to help legislators create policies that will better protect kids. Adverse childhood experiences, known as ACEs, are experiences that are so harmful to children’s developing brains that they affect their lives decades...
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#ChildrenCanThrive Day of Action: How to Address Early Childhood Adversity and Build Resilience in Children - February 18th
On Thursday, Feb. 18, join the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) for a day of action to raise awareness about adverse child experiences and the health effects of toxic stress in children.
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City with a Heart: A Truly American Love Story (hopematters.org)
Behind a remarkable resolution passed by the Santa Rosa City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 2, behind the “Whereas” and the five “Resolved’s,” lies a story – a story unique to a single person whom I know and so respect, and at the same time a story that belongs to millions of Americans. It is “a” story. But really it is “The” story of America – the millions who risked so much to get to these shores, struggled to survive, then thrived, then gave back to their communities. Ernesto Olivares came to...
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Community Engagement [Lucile Packard Foundation Newsletter July 12, 2018]
California counties support vulnerable children and families. Children with Special Health Care Needs Defined as “ Those who have one or more chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally " More than one million children in California have a special health care need, and many of these children and families face severe challenges. Health care and other support...
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Community Profiles from selected CA ACEs Initiatives and Programs
CA communities and organizations from across the state shared information about their trauma informed and resilience building initiatives at the Child Adversity Policymaker Awareness Day on July 11, 2017 in Sacramento. The event, organized by 4CA ( California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity) , educated state legislators about the impacts of child adversity across the lifecourse and strategies for preventing ACEs, healing trauma and creating resilient communities. A series of fourteen...
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Conference- Lessons from the Past: Yellow Peril in Coronavirus Times
Please consider coming to this important event: Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/654842191980055/ RSVP link: https://jacl.salsalabs.org/lessonsfromthepast/index.html
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Congressional Briefing Addresses Public Policy to Improve Response to ACEs
In the final weeks of the 114 th Congress, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) welcomed her colleague Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) as a new host in the third and final briefing on addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The December 1 briefing focused on public policies to improve coordination, prevention and response to childhood trauma. In addition to joining forces to raise awareness of the impact of ACEs, Senators Heitkamp and Durbin are drafting legislation based on a framework they...
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Coronavirus underscores need for healing America’s racial divisions [sfchronicle.com]
By Shawn Ginwright, April 14, 2020 The reports of racial disparities among COVID-19 victims should not surprise us. African Americans and Latinos have typically experienced disproportionate exposure to a range of health issues. For example, African Americans are twice as likely to die of heart disease as their white counterparts. Consider that Latinos are 50% more likely than whites to die of diabetes or liver disease. These issues are not determined by biology, but by a history of policies...
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Coronavirus: Who's getting sick in California? State releases partial race-based data [sfchronicle.com]
By Erin Allday, San Francisco Chronicle, April 9, 2020 Roughly half of the people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in California are African American, Latino or Asian, according to data released Wednesday by state public health officials who have come under pressure to provide more details about who is infected and dying in the pandemic. The state’s demographic profile is based on only 37% — or about 6,300 — of all of California’s confirmed cases, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday...
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Crazy-high rent, record-low homeownership, and overcrowding: California has a plan to solve the housing crisis, but not without a fight (businessinsider.com)
In the past decade, there has been an average of 80,000 homes a year built in California — 100,000 units below what's needed to keep pace with population growth through 2025, according to a recent report by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). "In the Bay Area, we've added more than 600,000 new jobs since 2010 but created only about 60,000 new housing units," Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council , a public-policy advocacy group, wrote in...