Many counties and Prevention Planning Teams are engaged in conversations to uplift and improve equity, diversity, and inclusion. These topics are essential in addressing the disparity and disproportionality that exists within systems. Moreover, issues can be complex and tough to address within systems and communities. Below are some helpful resources from the Center for States that can support counties in their exploration and next steps. Please see the Center for States website for more...

Since the Prevention Planning Summit at San Diego in 2019, many Prevention Planning Teams have focused on crafting mission and vision statements, reviewing a variety of data sets, developing asset maps, sharing resources, establishing partnerships and developing community engagement strategies. Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) was established in 1992 and harnesses the power of community action in identifying and addressing the most critical children’s issues in Kern County, including...

Planting Prevention Seeds: Santa Cruz and Father Engagement Engaging fathers as early as possible prior to child welfare or during the child welfare process can be a critical prevention strategy to keep children and youth from entering the foster care system. In this context, Santa Cruz County Family and Children’s Services (FCS) embarked on an ambitious initiative to increase father engagement. To make this happen, the FCS implemented the following: invited male line staff in FCS to join...

The California Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission 's (MHSOAC) Prevention and Early Intervention Subcommittee is hosting public events. Directed by Senate Bill 1004 (Wiener), MHSOAC is leading an effort to advance prevention and early intervention in mental health. MHSOAC is looking for input to establish priority areas for prevention and early intervention programming, develop a statewide strategy for monitoring and evaluation, and create a focused approach to delivering...

The Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) and Strategies TA , a partnership of the Children’s Bureau of Los Angeles and the Sacramento Child Abuse Center , provide technical assistance and support to county Prevention Planning Teams across the state. Together, the OCAP and Strategies TA inspire, build and strengthen cross-sector networks that are committed to the advancement of community-driven child abuse prevention that seeks to improve the overall health and well-being of children and...

To help raise awareness during Child Abuse Prevention Month, the California Training Institute (CalTrin) and their sister organization, the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC) , are partnering to present Child Abuse Prevention: State of the Science on April 8th 2021, at 10:00AM - 11:00AM . This webinar will review the research evidence base for child abuse prevention programs, with a focus on primary and secondary prevention. Attendees will also learn how to identify which...

The California Essentials for Childhood Initiative is excited to share a newly developed attached, “Strategies for Trauma-Informed School Communities: Practices to Improve Resiliency in School-Aged Children and Address Adverse Childhood Experiences”. This new resource is intended to assist state and local public health programs, child-serving systems, non-profits, and philanthropic organizations in their efforts to educate about the need for trauma-informed school policies and practices that...

The Advancing California’s Trauma Informed Systems (ACTS) project is a collaboration between the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), Office of Child Abuse and Prevention (OCAP) and the Chadwick Center at Rady Children’s Hospital . The ACTS Project team is looking to expand their network of trauma-informed Child Welfare county system partners. Currently the ACTS network includes nine counties from across the state and we have openings for new partners now and also have a great...

The Essentials for Childhood Initiative is pleased to share the Building Synergy and Connections Across the Essentials for Childhood Initiative Convening Summary and Presentation Slides. The Convening Summary contains a detailed overview of the information shared and the feedback provided by the participants during the convening. You will find these documents attached below. The EfC Initiative team appreciates the speakers and coalition chairs that served as panelists and the attendees who...

On behalf of the CDSS FURS Implementation Team The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is proud to announce the launch of: Family Urgent Response System (FURS) MARCH 1, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. FURS includes a 24/7 Statewide Hotline and a 24/7 County-based Mobile Response and Stabilization !! FURS will provide current and former foster youth (up to age 21) and their caregivers with immediate, trauma-informed support by caring and trained professionals when they need it. FURS is intended...

Kidsdata has introduced a new category to their site, COVID-19 Pandemic . This new category features data that describe child and family well-being in California during the pandemic. Kidsdata will regularly release new data over the coming weeks. Topics focused on are Education, Health Care, and Social Activities, Supportive Services, Positive Childhood Experiences, and other related topics. The data cover California and seven regions within California. At the state level, findings are...