Tagged With "Emergency First Responder"
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Butte College training for firms with wildfire-stricken staff (Chico Enterprise-Record)
By Laura Urseny, November 3, 2019, Chico Enterprise-Record CHICO — Once again, Butte College is playing a huge role when it comes to the Camp Fire recovery and local businesses. Coming in November will be the start of a four-part series through The Training Place at Butte College designed to help employees strengthen their resiliency. The series called Resiliency Zone Training is free to companies that have suffering employees. The trainings run 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Chico center, 2480...
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CA announces robust perinatal depression prevention for Medi-Cal recipients
Melinda Coates experienced a tumultuous pregnancy. “I was really mentally upset literally from day one (of the pregnancy),” she says. (Melinda Coates is a pseudonym. To protect her and her children’s privacy and safety, we are not using her real name.) Coates had hoped to get counseling last October, when she was seven months pregnant. That’s when she enrolled in the state’s Medi-Cal program, shortly after she and her abusive husband moved to California, “but nobody was able to get me in...
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CA Governor's 2020-21 Budget Proposal Summary
Governor Newsom proposed his 2020-21 budget on Friday. Here are some highlights from the perspective of support for children and families from Children Now. See attached for the full summary report that summarizes funding related to child welfare, health, K- 12 education, early childhood, emergency preparedness and response, and adverse childhood experiences. The Governor’s budget proposes a number of initiatives, investments, and restructuring to transform the health care system to better...
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CA pediatrician develops, tests, gets state OK for whole-child assessment tool that includes ACEs
Over the last dozen years or so, many pediatricians, astounded by the ramifications of the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the children they care for, began integrating this science into their practices. The most common approach has been to ask parents about ACEs using a questionnaire, and to use this information to counsel parents and identify resources for the family. Different practices have been using different questionnaires: Some ask parents for their ACE scores...
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CA pediatrician develops, tests, gets state OK for whole-child assessment tool that includes ACEs
[Editor's note: This blog was first posted in April 2017. Dr. Marie-Mitchell updated the assessment by modifying a few of the questions, so we are republishing with the new assessment, one in Spanish and one in English.] Over the last dozen years or so, many pediatricians, astounded by the ramifications of the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the children they care for, began integrating this science into their practices. The most common approach has been to ask parents...
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CA Senate unanimously approves ACEs reduction resolution
On August 18, the California Senate unanimously approved Concurrent Resolution (ACR) No. 155 to encourage statewide policies to reduce children’s exposure to adverse childhood experiences. As reported on ACEs Too High , the resolution is modeled after a Wisconsin resolution that encourages state policy decision-making to consider the impact of early childhood adversity on the long-term health and well being of its citizens. Since the resolution does not require...
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CA Surgeon General and DHCS Launch ACEs Aware Initiative and Website
Join a live webinar with California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and Dr. Karen Mark Medical Director, Department of Health Care Services for a Medi-Cal provider introduction to the new ACEs Aware Initiative and the www.ACEsAware.org website. The Office of the California Surgeon General and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in the first public unveiling of the initiative, will host a live webinar to share details of the new ACEs Aware Initiative for Medi-Cal providers...
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CA Surgeon General Talks Black Mental Health [sacobserver.com]
By Genoa Barrow, The Sacramento Observer, April 29, 2020 As a pediatrician, Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris has spent years trying to get African American families in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point area to see the long term benefits of addressing their mental health. As California’s first Surgeon General, Dr. Burke-Harris is driving home the message on a larger scale. She’s done extensive research on adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress and getting to their root causes. In speaking...
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Access the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s Data Dashboard!
The California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (CDSS/OCAP), has developed a new County Prevention Data Dashboard to identify areas of strength and need pertaining to the prevention of child maltreatment across California. This tool presents relevant data in one location for primary and secondary prevention planning purposes and shares indicators of major risk and protective factors for child abuse and neglect, social determinants of health, and early stages of...
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ACEs Aware: On Jan. 1, 2020, Medi-Cal Providers Can Receive Payment for ACEs Screenings
ACEs and toxic stress represent a public health crisis that has been, until recently, largely unrecognized by our state’s health care system and society, but there’s hope. Together, we can screen for ACEs, respond with trauma-informed care, and significantly improve physical and mental health across the state. All Medi-Cal providers are encouraged to get trained today . Beginning on January 1, 2020, eligible Medi-Cal providers can receive a $29 payment for conducting qualifying ACEs...
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ACEs Aware: Request for Proposal Issued – Applications Due on February 10, 2020 [acesawareorg]
A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued today for the ACEs Aware initiative , California’s effort to screen, treat, and heal the harmful effects of childhood trauma. The RFP supports the work of the Department of Health Care Services and the Office of the California Surgeon General to implement ACEs Aware. Please visit the ACEs Aware Learning & Engagement Opportunities page for further updates. RFP applications are due on Monday, February 10, 2020, and should be sent in Microsoft Word...
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ACEs Aware Request for Proposal Q&A Released (Applications Due on February 10, 2020)
The Department of Health Care Services and the Office of the California Surgeon General today posted questions and answers (Q&A) about the ACEs Aware Request for Proposal (RFP). Please visit the ACEs Aware Learning & Engagement Opportunities page for the RFP Q&As and other materials. RFP applications are due on Monday, February 10, 2020 . Applications must be submitted in Microsoft Word format and emailed to info@ACEsAware.org . The ACEs Aware initiative is a first-in-the-nation...
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ACEs Aware "Stress Relief" Playbooks for COVID-19 and Beyond
Stress Relief Playbooks and other resources from ACEs Aware
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ACES Aware Webinar: Dec 13th, 12-1pm PT - Public Comments about soon-to-be-released Request for Proposal
The Department of Health Care Services and the California Office of the Surgeon General are hosting a webinar of the Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Advisory Committee’s Provider Education and Engagement Subcommittee. Subcommittee members will discuss a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) released for public comment as part of the ACEs Aware initiative. The draft RFP invites external organizations to apply for grants to support provider training activities, provider engagement activities...
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ACEs Aware Webinar: Trauma-informed practices to address stress from COVID-19
How can health care providers take care of themselves, their colleagues and their patients during this COVID-19 pandemic? First and foremost is recognizing how the pandemic can stir up trauma from the past, said Dr. Alicia Lieberman, a psychologist specializing in trauma. “COVID19 is reawakening traumatic reminders in many of us and in the families we work with. And that often makes it difficult for parents to protect themselves and their children,” she noted. Lieberman, the director of the...
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ACEs Champion Julie Kurtz Gives Every Child (and Adult) a Voice
Julie Kurtz hasn’t stopped creating ways to build and promote resilience in herself and others who have experienced trauma since she left her family home for college at age 18. Although she experienced four types of adversity during her childhood, the CEO of the Center for Optimal Brain Integration has traveled a complex journey to mitigate those adversities by recognizing her own internal resilience, building skills to buffer her toxic and traumatic stress, uncovering her voice through...
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ACEs Connection “Map the Movement” now includes an up-to-date section on laws and resolutions
Photo credit: Texasarchitects.org An updated map of laws and resolutions addressing ACEs science and trauma-informed policies is now available in the “Laws and Resolutions” section of Map the Movement (you can also find "Map the Movement" on the navigation bar on the ACEs Connection home page). The earliest law on the map was passed in the state of Washington in 2011, creating an ACEs science public-private partnership. The data base of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is...
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ACEs Connection Network Confab -- Northern California, May 12, 2016
About 50 people drove in from north, east, west and south of Sacramento County, CA, for our first (but not our last) confab for members of ACEsConnection.com groups in Northern California. This was one of two confabs we hosted -- the other was May 10 in Southern California. Both confabs were organized with generous support from The California Endowment. (l to r) Ben Rubin, Charlotte Ormond, Carolyn Curtis, Imani Lucas, DeAngelo Mack, Carlina Ramirez Wheeler We were very fortunate to have the...
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ACEs Connection Network Confab -- Southern California, May 10, 2016
(l to r) Sienna, one of the teens from Youth Voice from City Heights; Dana Brown, ACEs Connection Network regional facilitator and co-founder of Youth Voice; Francisco Mendoza, CEO, Mendoza Consulting; Jessica, Youth Voice; Lizette, Youth Voice; Talitha Thompson, Youth Voice co-facilitator; Joshua Aguirre, RISE Up Industries board of directors; Stephanie Linderman, Youth Voice mentor; Arturo Soriano, Youth Empowerment co-founder; (in front) Adrian, Youth Voice.
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"ACEs Resilience and Recovery" presented at Marin Communications Forum
First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission featured Jane Stevens in a Marin Communications Forum event on Monday, May 15. Thanks to the hard work of host Michelle Fadelli of First 5 Marin, a full Embassy Suites ballroom of up to 180 Marin County service providers, from a variety of agencies, gathered.
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ACEs Science Champion Series: Dr. Angela Bymaster: This Faith-Based Physician Integrates ACEs Science with Healing Arts
Dr. Angela Bymaster, a family physician at Washington Elementary School in San Jose, CA, operates her clinic in a portable unit on the school property.
Because the unit faces students as they are dropped off by their families, she gets to “pick up the kids” before they are sent to the clinic, practicing “upstream medicine.”
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ACEs screening in CA — a Q and A with Dr. Dayna Long
Last year, the California Department of Health Care Services rolled out its plans for universal screening for trauma among its pediatric and adult Medicaid population. Beginning January 1, 2020, California physicians were able to receive an incentive payment of $29 for each pediatric patient screened for ACEs using the PEARLs ( Pediatrics Adverse Childhood and Resilience Study) tool. Dr. Dayna Long talked with ACEs Connection staff reporter Laurie Udesky about ACEs science, what led to the...
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ACEs Within Tribal Communities
Mechuksus, As I write this I am trying to overcome the taboo's within California Tribal Communities that come along with asking the ACE questions. Our traditional societies had very strict factors on what we talked about between male and female relationships as well as outside of the community unit. Unless you work within the wellness realm or you have pursued your own healing many Tribal Communities are unaware of what ACEs are. This is something that my family has pledged to change. My 15...
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Addressing Childhood Trauma, Center for Learning & Resilience [actionnewsnow.com]
By Deb Anderaos and Julia Yarbough, Action News Now, April 15, 2020 Butte County health representatives say they have long realized the need for coordinated mental health services for family and children dealing with trauma. The Camp Fire drove that point home and now the coronavirus crisis. Julia Yarbough recently spoke with the Executive Director of the new Center for Learning and Resilience. It’s a resource to help meet community needs. First of all, thank you for joining us, and tell me...
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Adult Reentry Grant Program (ARG): Proposals due November 1st.
The Adult Reentry Grant (ARG) Program was established through the Budget Act of 2018 (Senate Bill 840, Chapter 29, Statute of 2018) and appropriated $50,000,000 in funding for competitive awards to community-based organizations to support offenders formerly incarcerated in state prison. The Budget Act requires that funding be allocated as follows: -$25 million be for rental assistance; -$9.35 million to support the warm handoff and reentry of offenders transitioning from prison to...
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Advancing a Plan for Addressing Trauma and Building Resilience within L.A. County Systems [prnewswire.com]
LOS ANGELES , Oct. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- First 5 LA, the California Community Foundation, The California Endowment, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation along with other local, state and nationally-recognized expert organizations today released a report to advance a comprehensive trauma and resiliency-informed approach in Los Angeles County . Building on research and the experience of experts from Los Angeles , the report defines trauma as the effects of a...
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Adversity and resiliency: The case for integrating ACEs and Strengthening Families approaches
Attached is the PowerPoint that was presented by Diane Kellegrew, Jane Stevens and Katie Albright in a webinar April 16. And below is the slide that ID's the presenters.
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All too often, California’s default mental institutions are now jails and prisons (calmatters.org)
Perhaps nowhere is California’s mental health crisis more evident than in its criminal justice system. After decades of failure to create and fund policies that effectively help people with serious mental illnesses, many now say the jails and prisons have become the state’s default mental institutions. Close to a third of California’s inmates have a documented serious mental illness, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. A few decades ago, fewer than half...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Allen Nishikawa: ACEs Storyteller Helps People Develop Their Resilience
Sonoma County ACEs Connection members Allen Nishikawa and Lena Hoffman at California Policymaker Education Day, 2018 Allen Nishikawa, a sansei, or third-generation Japanese American, majored in political science and American history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he participated in antiwar (Vietnam) marches. But it was his experience as a military brat — moving from school to school across the U.S. and even to Japan as a child — that shaped his own childhood experiences and...
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Alternative IHEBA with ACEs for California (and Other) Pediatricians
If you are a pediatrician serving Medicaid managed care patients in California, then you are required to use the Staying Healthy Assessment or an alternative IHEBA (Individual Health Education Behavioral Assessment) at all well-child visits. The bad news is that getting approval to use an alternative IHEBA is a tedious process. The good news is that as of October 27, 2016 the Whole Child Assessment (WCA) is available for use in English and Spanish. Most importantly, the WCA has been...
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An inside look at Sacramento’s Youth Detention Facility, named best in nation after turnaround [Sacramento Bee]
BY CANDICE WANG cwang@sacbee.com Six boys dove into the water, passing volleyballs and footballs, in a recent scene that seemed more like a snapshot from an afternoon at a community pool, rather than from Sacramento County’s Youth Detention Facility. Only the barbed wire encircling the area showed the difference. The frequent use of the pool, built along with the facility in 1963, is now part of a series of progressive, rehabilitative programs that contributed to the 2018 Barbara Allen-Hagen...
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An Opportunity the Office of Surgeon General Can't Pass Up
I don't know about you, but I've talked to dozens of people applying for the ACEs Aware RFP, due Feb. 10. Watching myself and my colleagues hustle and brainstorm on how to work together to submit ideas for this opportunity has been very inspiring. Although we have no idea how many grant awards will be made, we know that only a fraction of what must be hundreds of RFP submissions will be funded this year. It would be a tragedy to waste the efforts of those who will have spent many hours on...
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An opportunity to shape the Children's Bill of Rights in California
The ACEs/Resilient Sacramento community is ideal for providing insightful feedback about the needs of California's children!
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APPLY TODAY: Help improve jail conditions in California! (Board of State and Community Corrections) BSCC
Every couple of years, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) revises California's Title 15 and 24 regulations which set standards for the hundreds of local adult detention facilities across all 58 counties. This includes adult jails, temporary holding facilities, and court holding facilities. The standards cover everything from family visits to solitary confinement to nutrition. The revision process has started up again and our coalition is working to make sure a diverse set of...
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Artificial Intelligence Will Soon Be Responsible For Reducing Implicit Bias In The San Francisco DA’s Office [Witness LA]
by Taylor Walker, Witness LA, June 14, 2019 On July 1, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón will launch a new artificial intelligence tool meant to eradicate potential racial bias in prosecutors’ charging decisions via a “race-blind charging system.” The first-of-its-kind algorithmic tool, created by the Stanford Computational Policy Lab, will also be offered free to any other prosecutor’s offices that wish to take part. “Lady justice is depicted wearing a blindfold to signify...
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As California Expands Ban on ‘Willful Defiance’ Suspensions, Lessons From L.A. Schools, Which Barred Them Six Years Ago
September 18, 2019 by TAYLOR SWAAK A s California this month expanded a statewide ban on suspending younger students for defiant behavior, lessons on how this increasingly sweeping school discipline reform may play out can be found in Los Angeles, which barred such suspensions on an even broader scale six years ago. Previously in California, “willful defiance” suspensions were not permitted in grades K-3. Beginning in July 2020, under the new state law , they will be prohibited for students...
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As California Fire Seasons Worsen, First Responders And Their Loved Ones Navigate Difficult Terrain (capradio.org)
As California fire seasons worsen, organizations serving first responders are trying to spread the word about the need for mental health services. And they’re encouraging family members and loved ones of firefighters to seek help, too. “It’s that vicarious trauma,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Nikole Schutz, speaking during last year's Camp Fire. “Seeing things on social media or being exposed to it all the time, knowing they’re gone for a length of time, just those exposures or the...
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As California Moves to Screen Children for Childhood Trauma, Poverty Has To Be Part of the Equation
In California, we are coming full circle in recognizing the connection between poverty and health.
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As Homelessness Rises in Many Parts of California, Counties Search for Solutions [calhealthreport.org]
By Alyse DiNapoli, California Health Report, July 17, 2019. Many California’s counties reported having more homeless residents this year, according to the 2019 Point in Time surveys, which aim to count the number of people experiencing homelessness on a given night. The surveys are completed once every year or two years depending on the county. San Francisco and San Jose counties reported increases of 17 percent and 42 percent in the last two years, respectively. Los Angeles County...
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As Newsom rethinks juvenile justice, California reconsiders prison for kids (calmatters.org)
Though it’s not on the parchment, Moreno, 21, earned his Johanna Boss High School diploma over the past two years at a state prison for juveniles in Stockton. And as one of fewer than 800 remaining youths in the custody of the soon-to-be-shuttered juvenile division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, he said, that accomplishment—behind razor wire—was more than just a step toward a future job or a rite of passage. “Being the first one [in the family] to graduate,”...
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At El Dorado ACEs Collaborative meeting, NPPC talks ACEs, new connections forged
More than 65 people showed up in person in Placerville or via teleconferencing from South Lake Tahoe on Feb. 21 to learn about the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC), a program of the San Francisco-based Center for Youth Wellness . Among the discussion points made by NPPC Program Manager Leena Singh were the connection between ACEs and health outcomes, the need for doing universal ACEs screening, and the necessary infrastructure to implement ACEs screening, according to...
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Cal WORKs Training Academy: Compassion Fatigue
Front-line and case workers for the TANF program (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) are at high risk for compassion fatigue. They hear approximately 30 stories of trauma, abuse and hardship each day. Complaints from workers vary from “How many stories of torture will have to I hear.” “It feels like I am spitting at a forest fire.” “After 12 years in the field, I am now on blood pressure medication.” This year the Cal WORKs Training Academy featured a workshop on compassion fatigue...
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CalFresh food benefits available to seniors and individuals with disabilities receiving SSI/SSP beginning June 1 [Porterville Recorder]
The CalFresh food program in Tulare County and statewide is expanding to serve qualifying individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) benefits beginning June 1 . There is no change or reduction to SSI/SSP benefits. “A tremendous change in legislation means we can now provide CalFresh benefits to SSI recipients for the first time ,” states Vienna Barnes, deputy director, Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA), TulareWORKs. “The...
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California ACR 140: Positive Parenting Awareness Month, Jan 2020
Child advocates across the State of California are working on the passage of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 140 (ACR 140) authored by Assembly Member Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay). The initiative seeks to designate January 2020 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month across the state and build upon the county-level proclamations that have spread from Santa Cruz County where it was conceived and launched 8 years ago. Positive parenting is a known remedy for the public health problem of child...
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California Adds Health & Equity Recommendations to General Plan Guidelines (changelabsolutions.org)
Last fall, California's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) issued new guidelines for general plans , the documents created by the state's cities and counties to guide their future development. For the first time, the OPR guidelines include specific recommendations for how local general plans could address health, equitable development, and public engagement. ChangeLab Solutions, with many statewide partner organizations, helped drive this innovation by submitting a detailed set of...
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California Adds Its Clout to States Battling High Drug Prices [nytimes.com]
Gavin Newsom dived into the highly charged debate over prescription drug prices in his first week as California’s governor, vowing action on a topic that has enraged the public but has proved resistant to easy fixes. His idea: Find strength in numbers. Within hours of taking office on Monday, Mr. Newsom signed an executive order proposing a plan that would allow California to directly negotiate with drug manufacturers. The state would bring to the bargaining table not just the 13 million...
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California Allocates $1 Million to Improve Mental Health of Native American Youth (calhealthreport.org)
While mental health resources for Native American youth are sparse throughout California, the state has taken a modest step to support Albers and his peers by earmarking more than $1 million for Native American youth as part of the first-ever statewide Youth Reinvestment Fund. The fund, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into the 2018-19 budget, aims to keep vulnerable youth populations out of the criminal justice system by instead supporting more community and health interventions. While there...
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California And Four Other States Point The Way For States To Downgrade Drug Offenses And Reduce Prison Populations [witnessla.com]
In fives states over the last five years, voters and lawmakers have downgraded felony drug possession to a misdemeanor. California was the first in 2014, with Proposition 47. Then came Utah (HB 348) and Connecticut (HB 7104) in 2015, and Alaska (SB 91) and Oklahoma (State Question 780) in 2016. A new report from the Urban Institute looks at the effect of these reform laws on prison populations, economics, and communities and how other states might fare if they followed the lead of CA, UT,...
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California Assembly Health Committee OKs ACEs resolution 16-0
The California Assembly Health Committee today approved, by a vote of 16-0, a resolution to encourage statewide policies to reduce children’s exposure to adverse childhood experiences. California took a page from Wisconsin’s playbook with the introduction of legislation ( California Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) No. 155 ) on May 28. It drew upon ideas from Wisconsin’s legislation ( Senate Joint Resolution 59 ), approved by the legislature this early this year. Both...
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California Assembly passes bill expanding Medicaid to immigrants (californiahealthline.org)
California's General Assembly has passed a bill to become the first state to extend Medicaid coverage to immigrants, regardless of their status. The bill, known as AB 2965, passed the Democratic-controlled Assembly 33-21 on Wednesday. The proposal would eliminate legal residency requirements in California's Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, and the state has already nixed the requirement for individuals younger than 19. The state Senate will consider the bill next, and its Democrat...