Tagged With "Youth Advocacy Board"
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1 in 5 L.A. community college students is homeless, survey finds [LA Times]
One in every 5 of the Los Angeles Community College District’s 230,000 students is homeless, and nearly two-thirds can’t afford to eat properly, according to a new survey commissioned by the system’s board of trustees. The study looked at students with unstable housing and ”food insecurity,” which is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as lacking enough to eat to sustain an active, healthy life. Nearly half the L.A. community college students surveyed reported struggling with high...
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2018 Community Stories from across the state
Thank you everyone for your help to create community stories highlighting the efforts happening to raise awareness about ACEs from across the state for 4CA’s 2018 Policymaker Education Day ! Attached find a 2018 version of the community stories detailing information about community ACEs initiatives from across the state. Please download and share. And see HERE for a list of CA ACEs Connection communities from across the state.
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37th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium Recap
"Speak Out! Confronting the Culture of Child Sexual Abuse and Secrecy" was the theme of Santa Clara County's 37th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium which featured a Keynote conversation with Olympic Gold Medal winning gymnast and current UCLA Assistant Gymnastics Coach Jordyn Wieber. Jordyn, and other athletes and survivors of former USA Gymnastics team doctor and serial child sex abuser Larry Nassar, earlier spoke to a U.S. Senate Subcommittee about a “culture of silence” more...
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A Guide to Creating “Safe Space” Policies for Early Childhood Programs [CLASP]
From the Center for Law and Social Policy Early childhood programs play an important role in the lives of young children and their families. But in our current immigration policy climate, families across the country are questioning whether it’s safe to attend or enroll. Providers can take steps to protect families’ safety and privacy by implementing policies that designate their facilities as a safe space from immigration enforcement. This guide explains federal agency guidance related to...
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A Guide to Increase Mental Health Services for Students - Project Cal-Well, CA Dept of Education, 2018
This guide is created by Project Cal-Well, with input from the Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup, to assist schools and districts to build capacity to better address mental health challenges among students. Learn about Project Cal-Well See Guide attached.
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A Historic Win For Students, Parents, And Advocates: LAUSD Officials Vote To End Random, Ineffective Searches In Schools [Witness LA]
June 19, 2019, by Taylor Walker In 2011, the Los Angeles Unified School District established a policy requiring schools to subject students at its 200 middle and high schools to daily “random searches.” School administrators pull kids out of class, search them with a handheld metal detector wand, and go through their bags and belongings looking for “contraband.” On Tuesday, after years of protest from parents, students, community groups, and others concerned about the practice, the LAUSD...
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A New Program Helps Foster Kids in Orange County Avoid Homelessness when They Age Out of Public Care [ocregister.com]
By Theresa Walker, The Orange County Register, December 20, 2019 For three years after he aged out of foster care, at age 18, Christian was homeless. During that time, he was hit by a car and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for six months and his speech and memory were affected. Over most of the last year he’s lived at The Link, a homeless shelter in Santa Ana. This week, Christian, now 22, moved into his own one-bedroom apartment, in Tustin. That change is the result of...
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Attorney General Becerra Announces Final Regulations to Implement Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) (oag.ca.gov)
SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced that the regulations drafted by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) for the collection of data pertaining to law enforcement stops under Assembly Bill 953 (AB 953), the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) of 2015, are now final. Beginning July 1, 2018, law enforcement agencies, starting with the nine largest agencies, will begin collecting stop data and reporting the information to the DOJ. “Public safety is...
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August 29 Children’s Advocacy Institute Hosts Roundtable Discussions
The Children's Advocates Roundtable , established in 1990, is an affiliation of over 200 statewide and regional children's policy organizations, representing over twenty issue disciplines (e.g., child abuse prevention, child care, education, poverty, housing, juvenile justice). The Roundtable is convened by the Children's Advocacy Institute (CAI), and is committed to providing a setting where statewide and locally-based children's advocates gather with advocates from other children's issue...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Because of Andres Perez, 10,000+ Latinx parents in Northern California embrace trauma-informed parenting
Andres Perez immigrated to San Jose, Calif., from Mexico in 1990. He was 24 years old, undocumented, knew little English, lacked job skills, and had a pregnant wife to support. He hit the ground running by completing an ESL program in San Jose City College, and, while working days at any job he could find, at night he earned an associate of science degree with specialization in electronics and computers in 2002. Fortunately for thousands of Latinx parents and their children, he never worked...
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Black Youth Experience Highest Felony Arrest Rate in California
Kidsdata.org recently shared their interactive online platform for data related to felony arrests for children and youth under age 18. Youth who have contact with the juvenile justice system are at increased risk for a number of negative long-term outcomes when compared with the general youth population. For example, an estimated 30 percent of the youth who enter California's juvenile justice system have mental health issues and those who have been held in detention have higher rates of...
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Board of State and Community Corrections Awards $96m In Prop 47 Grants
SACRAMENTO (June 13, 2019) – The Board of State and Community Corrections today approved grant awards from a voter initiative that reduces from felonies to misdemeanors certain low-level crimes and directs state savings to programs primarily focused on mental health and substance-use disorder treatment. It is the second round of Proposition 47 funding approved by the Board, to which voters allocated the bulk of the state savings for rehabilitative grants targeting Prop 47-impacted...
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Board of State and Community Corrections Awards Grants for Youth Diversion
SACRAMENTO – (June 13, 2019) The Board of State and Community Corrections approved two grants worth millions of dollars for programs designed to prevent young people from entering the justice system or from furthering their involvement in it. Just over $1 million was awarded to Native American tribes, and $29.1 million was awarded to cities and counties. Preference points for the larger grant were given to local governments who also plan to serve Native American youth. The Youth Reinvestment...
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Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) Grant-Administered Opportunities
BSCC-administered Grant Programs: Federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program - The BSCC released the Request for Proposals for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) on December 6, 2018. You may review it here . The proposals are due on April 25, 2019 . Prop 47 Grant Program - The Proposition 47 Grant is scheduled to be released, and information on key due dates provided, in January 2019 . The Prop 47 Bidders' Conferences are scheduled for...
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Budget realities challenging California school districts’ restorative justice programs [EdSource]
By David Washburn, July 1, 2019 Legions of California educators have been trained in recent years in restorative justice, which is no longer considered an obscure alternative to traditional school discipline. Yet even in districts with well-established programs, finding and keeping funding for it remains a challenge. Earlier this year, for example, the Oakland Unified School District board approved a package of austere budget cuts that appeared to have dismantled the district’s program,...
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Access to civil justice in California remains elusive. It could be an opportunity (calmatters.org)
More than half of California households had problems last year that are civil legal issues, but nearly 70% of them received no legal help. That is one of the stark findings of the State Bar’s California Justice Gap Study . The study, which surveyed nearly 4,000 California adults, spotlights a harsh reality: There is an enormous gap between the need for civil legal services and most people’s ability to access legal help. Think this is only a problem for low-income Californians? Think again.
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ACEs champion pediatricians talk about life and practice in a COVID-19 world
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers everywhere are changing how they care for their patients. I asked a few members of the ACEs in Pediatrics community what they’re doing differently. Dr. R.J Gillespie, pediatrician at The Children’s Clinic in Portland, OR. Dr. R.J. Gillespie Gillespie says that, as much as possible, they’re switching to virtual visits, which allows them “to comfort and reassure our patients face-to-face as much as possible without risking their...
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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 -- 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 Connection Webinar: The trauma toll on pediatric immigrants, refugees and their families
ACEs Connection Webinar: The trauma toll on pediatric immigrants, refugees and their families You’ll receive tips for health care providers in pediatric settings and beyond When: Friday, Dec. 14, 2018, 10:30-11:30 am Pacific Time/1:30-2:30 Eastern Time Please register here for this webinar. Our speakers include: Dr. Heyman Oo , MD MPH is a primary care pediatrician in Marin County and an Associate Physician/Clinical Instructor for the General Pediatrics Department at Zuckerberg San Francisco...
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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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Advocate for Early Childhood Programs in Your School District
California’s funding model for school districts is known as the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Under LCFF, school districts have flexibility—and an unprecedented opportunity—to spend district dollars on early childhood education. Researchers, economists, and educators all agree: early childhood programs set kids up for success in school and in life. Now is the time for district leaders to make sure that students in your community are getting off to a strong start. And you can help...
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After hours of testimony, California state board rejects two history textbooks, approves 10 others [edsource.org]
After hours of testimony, the state Board of Education Thursday rejected two history textbooks from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, but approved 10 others based on new history social sciences guidelines. Following nearly eight hours of emotional pleas from Hindus and Indian American, as well as advocates for the LGBTQ community requesting fair historical representations in K-8 textbooks, the state Board of Education endorsed the recommendations of an advisory panel. When Board President Mike...
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Aiming to Help Homeless, UCLA Residents Practice ‘Street Psychiatry’ (californiahealthreport.org)
New programs begun in the last two years at UCLA include a resident-faculty group focused on community psychiatry, as well as health-system and community mentorships. There are also new clinical electives for psychiatry residents at the Los Angeles County Jail and the county’s Office of Diversion and Reentry . The Diversion office was created by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in 2015 to develop and implement alternatives to the criminal justice system for people with mental illness and...
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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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Assembly OK’s Bill to Expand ‘Gravely Disabled’ to Include Mental Illness (scvnews.com)
The California Assembly passed AB 1971 Wednesday, legislation which amends the state’s definition of “gravely disabled” to include medical treatment as a basic human need for those suffering from a serious mental illness, just as necessary to well-being as food, clothing or shelter. AB 1971 is sponsored by Los Angeles County, the Steinberg Institute, and the California Psychiatric Association. The bill passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 66-0. The proposal for the change in state law...
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CalEITC 101: Expanded State Tax Credit Puts Cash into the Pockets of California’s Transition-Age Youth
John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) invites you to partner with us in 2020 to support youth in care with filing taxes and claiming the expanded CalEITC. This webinar will include the California Franchise Tax Board and discuss strategies to help transition-age youth access the CalEITC. Description: In the 2019-2020 budget, the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), a cash-back tax credit that puts money back into the pockets of California’s working families and individuals, was...
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California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative’s “Enhancing the Collective Vision” Slides Are Available and Opportunity to Participate in an Orientation Webinar
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative convened more than 65 stakeholders on Friday, July 12, 2019 to assess the current state of collective action around adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); align EfC Initiative goals and project interventions with existing efforts; identify mutually reinforcing activities; and establish a collective agreement on how to strategically promote Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships, and Environments (SSNR&E), to prevent and reduce child...
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California lawmakers propose $2 billion plan to aid homeless [OCRegister.com]
SACRAMENTO – California would spend more than $2 billion on permanent housing to help the nation’s largest homeless population, under a proposal outlined by state senators on Monday. The housing bond would be enough to construct more than 10,000 housing units when it’s combined with other federal and local money, estimated Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles. The bond would be repaid with money from Proposition 63, the 2004 ballot measure that added a 1...
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California, Like Other States, Needs Independent Monitor to Solidify Reform, Ward Off Abuses (jjje.org)
Despite the well-publicized harms of prisonlike institutions for youth, there are few states like Illinois or New York that endow nongovernmental watchdog groups with the authority to inspect facilities. Some states have failed to establish even a credible governmental monitor of their youth system. California, with its long history of institutional abuses, is notable for its lack of dedicated independent monitoring. From 2004 to 2016, the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice was subject to...
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Transition Age Youth (TAY) conference
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Updated Community Health Assessment now available [Humboldtgov.org]
The Community Health Assessment (CHA), a comprehensive overview of the health of the Humboldt County community, was presented at the Board of Supervisors meeting this afternoon. The Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) Public Health report looks at traditional public health measures of illness, mortality, nutrition and physical activity in the community. The CHA also includes data about income, housing status, community safety and access to care, as underlying...
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Vinnie Pompei wants you to know that we're all biased, and we can work with that [edsource.org]
Vincent “Vinnie” Pompei is director of the Youth Well-Being Project of the Human Rights Campaign, a national civil rights organization, and the chair of Time to Thrive, an annual national conference about LGBT student inclusion. He spent more than 10 years as a middle school teacher and high school counselor in the Paramount and Val Verde unified school districts in Southern California. Pompei is also a past president of the California Association of School Counselors. On Oct. 5 at the...
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Webinar — Moving to universal ACEs screening: Findings from a CA advisory group on screening children for trauma
On April 23rd, 2019 from 12:00pm-1:30pm PST the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC) , an initiative of the Center for Youth Wellness, will be hosting a webinar to support efforts to screen all children for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and additional adversities. This webinar will summarize the findings of a state advisory group assigned to review tools and protocols for screening children for trauma, and provide an introduction to two tools the advisory group...
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Webinar Oct. 17 — Integrating ACEs science in pediatrics: Early adopters share lessons from the field
An ACEs Connection webinar co-sponsored with 4 CA In 2017, California became the first state in the country to pass a law supporting universal screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the 5.3 million children in the state’s Medicaid program. As clinicians around California await the state’s announcement of what this new policy will entail, many are wondering what it takes to integrate ACEs science in a pediatric practice. Meet Drs. Deirdre Bernard-Pearl, R.J. Gillespie and...
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Webinar Oct. 17 — Integrating ACEs science in pediatrics: Early adopters share lessons from the field
An ACEs Connection webinar co-sponsored with 4 CA In 2017, California became the first state in the country to pass a law supporting universal screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the 5.3 million children in the state’s Medicaid program. As clinicians around California await the state’s announcement of what this new policy will entail, many are wondering what it takes to integrate ACEs science in a pediatric practice. Meet Drs. Deirdre Bernard-Pearl, R.J. Gillespie and...
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Who Knows Why California Crime By Youth Is Plummeting? [jjie.org]
By Mike Males, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, October 23, 2019 The good news: California’s arrests of youths plunged another 17% in 2018 to the lowest levels ever recorded. The bad news: An arrested youth’s odds of being formally sentenced by a juvenile or adult court (rather than receiving informal sanctions) and of being incarcerated are rising rapidly. What underlies these trends? The crime and violence plummet is phenomenal. In 2018, 84 Californians under age 18 were arrested for...
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Why Do LA’s Foster Care Facilities Keep Calling The Cops On Traumatized Kids? (witnessla.com)
On March 21, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an important motion that instructed the Director of the Office of Child Protection, Michael Nash, former presiding judge of Los Angeles County’s Juvenile Court, to find out why so many of LA County’s foster children were crossing into the county’s delinquency system, what could be done to prevent that crossing, and how these so-called crossover kids could be helped if and when and if they found themselves in the clutches of both...
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Why Jerry Brown is a criminal justice visionary (SanDiegoUnionTribune.com)
Gov. Jerry Brown may not want to discuss his legacy just yet, but he is a visionary on criminal justice reform as he used his State of the State speech this week to underscore. He is the first California governor to realize the self-defeating folly of governments routinely ruining the salvageable lives of so many people by locking them up for so long. Brown noted that the state incarcerates nearly three times as many people per capita now than it did in 1970 — while spending nearly three...
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Why One Bay Area County is Exploring Basic Income for Former Foster Youth [mercurynews.com]
By Erica Hellerstein, The Mercury News, January 13, 2020 When Dontae Lartigue left foster care right before his 19th birthday in 2009, finding housing in Santa Clara County was one of his biggest obstacles. He struggled to find places he could afford on his $12 an hour salary at Walmart, and with a limited income and no rental history, he found landlords were often wary of returning his calls. So Lartigue, who is now 29 years old, ended up couch surfing or sleeping in his car. “Right now...
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Wisconsin state agencies end year one of trauma-informed learning community; goal is to be first trauma-informed state
Here in California, many people think that it’s only liberal Democrats who have a corner on championing the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and putting it into practice. That might be because people who use ACEs science don’t expel or suspend students, even if they’re throwing chairs and hurling expletives at the teacher. They ask "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?" as a frame when they create juvenile detention centers where kids don’t fight, reduce...
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Women’s Well-Being Index, interactive map [California Budget and Policy Center]
California Women's Well-Being Index In Partnership With the Women's Foundation of California Women's Well-Being Index: Overall When women thrive, their families and communities prosper . Yet despite decades of progress, women still face persistent disparities on a range of issues, from economic security to health to participation in political leadership. By viewing women’s well-being as encompassing various distinct yet interrelated components, policymakers, advocates, service providers, and...
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Youth Law Center Webinar Series
The Youth Law Center has launched a webinar series to highlight some best practices for parents and resource parents during the Covid-19 crisis. More information is available below. https://ylc.org/news/ylc-launches-qpi-resource-series-covid19-the-new-normal/ YLC launches QPI resource series "COVID19: The New Normal" We understand that the daily changes and constantly updated information on the COVID-19 crisis can be overwhelming. However panic cannot and should not drive our work off...
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Yuba County: Building a Structure for Sustained Action [Strategies 2.0 Newsletter]
Yuba County is ready for results. “Our county has ranked very low on health outcomes. This year we were 53rd out of 58 in California—pretty far down—on all health indicators,” laments Cathy LeBlanc, Executive Director at Camptonville Community Partnerships. Ms. LeBlanc and her colleagues have recognized this challenge for decades and have built their capacity to collaborate and align their work to push for solutions, from the formation of the Yuba County Children’s Wellness and Child Abuse...
Ask the Community
Anyone using MHSA or other funds in innovative ways to address ACEs or trauma?
Question: Please share examples of innovative uses of existing funding to address ACEs and trauma. For example, Mental Health Services Act has a funding category called "Innovative Projects" which might be a way to fund ACEs and trauma related efforts. Are you aware of any CA communities that have found ways to utilize MHSA or other funds in unexpected ways - that have the potential of addressing trauma and ACEs? See below and attached for more background re MHSA. Background: The CA...
Ask the Community
New Program Director Job, LCSW for Sexually Exploited Youth Residential Prog
Program Director, Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth, Hayward Click here for more information: Residential Program Director LCSW required This is a unique opportunity to get involved with the launch of a brand new, well-funded program and influence program design from its outset. Further the program allows for rich wrap-around services for clients. The Residential Program Director provides clinical care, supervision and program leadership to transition age youth in need of intensive out...
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