Tagged With "National Foster Care Month"
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Crossroads of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Developmental Disabilities
Physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, child life professionals, and other patient service providers are invited and encouraged to join a webinar entitled: "Crossroads of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Developmental Disabilities" Increased levels of toxic stress, which can be caused by recurrent or chronic exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), can impair neurodevelopment, behavior, and overall health of a child (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services...
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CYW releases "Children Can Thrive: A Vision for California's Response to ACEs"
The Center for Youth Wellness released a new report “Children Can Thrive: A Vision for California’s Response to ACEs”. This report is a follow up to last November’s Children Can Thrive Summit. ...
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December 2016 California Essentials for Childhood Newsletter
California Essentials for Childhood released its sixth newsletter in December 2016. The full newsletter can be found attached. Check it out!
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Depressed Teen's Struggle To Find Mental Health Care In Rural California [NPR.org]
There's a hot pink suitcase on the floor of Shariah Vroman-Nagy's bedroom. The 18-year-old is packing for a trip to Disneyland, one of several she takes with her family every year. "Let's see, I need a hairbrush," she says, moving past the collection of Mickey Mouse ears on her dresser and glancing at the inspirational quotes from Marilyn Monroe on the wall. The lyrics to a song called " Smile " hang in a frame over her bed. "My mom made me that when I was struggling," says Vroman-Nagy,...
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Disconnected Youth: Negative Personal, Social, and Economic Impact
Disconnected youth—teens who are neither enrolled in school nor working—may be more likely than their peers to experience poor health, lower incomes, and unemployment as adults. They are also more likely to become involved in illegal activity and become dependent on public aid. In 2013, disconnected youth cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $27 billion in costs related to incarceration, public assistance, lost tax revenues, and lost earnings. In 2011-2015, eight percent of California teens ages...
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Dr. Ken Epstein Speaks About Trauma-Informed Work
In recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, the California Departments of Public Health, Health Care Services and Social Services, and multiple community partners welcomed Dr. Kenneth Epstein to speak about his work highlighting trauma and resilience-informed practices. The event was also co-sponsored by ACEs Connection Network, Kaiser Permanente, and UC Davis Medical Center. Dr. Epstein leads the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s (SFDPH) Trauma-Informed Systems Initiative,...
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Dr. Vincent Felitti ACEs - January 17, 11am-12:30pm DHCS Auditorium
CA Department of Health Care Services and Department of Public Health welcome Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the O riginal CDC-Kaiser Adverse Childhood Experiences ( ACEs ) Study, 1995-1997 The DHCS Office of the Medical Director and CDPH would like to invite you to hear Dr. Felitti speak about the seminal ACE Study, one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and later-life health and well-being. The ACE Study now includes more than 80 publications...
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Early Childhood Is Critical to Health Equity [rwjf.org]
The first few years of life are crucial in establishing a child’s path toward—or away from—health and well-being across the entire lifespan. This report, produced in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco, examines some of the barriers to health equity that begin early in life, and promising strategies for overcoming them. Key Findings Poverty limits childrens’ and families’ options for healthy living conditions. Poverty can limit where children live, and can lead to...
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Economist outlines reforms to improve access to affordable, high quality child care [medicalxpress.com]
For families in the U.S., the costs of high-quality child care are exorbitant, especially for those with children under age five. A new policy proposal, "Public Investments in Child Care," by Dartmouth Associate Professor of Economics Elizabeth Cascio, finds that current federal child care tax policies are not benefiting the families most burdened by child care costs. Therefore, Cascio outlines a new policy that could replace the current federal child care tax policies. The research examines...
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Essentials for Childhood Case Study: Collective Impact through Strategic Opportunities
The California Department of Public Health, Safe and Active Communities (CDPH/SACB), Steve Wirtz and Marissa Abbott co-authored a case study showcasing the methodology, successes, and opportunities for improvement from the 2013-2018 Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative. Read more about the lessons learned and how the EfC Initiative will move forward from 2019 and beyond by clicking the attachment below.
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Essentials for Childhood Framework
From the CDC’s Injury Prevention & Control, Division of Violence Prevention: "Safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments are essential to prevent child abuse and neglect and to assure all children reach their full potential. The Essentials for Childhood Framework proposes strategies communities can consider to promote relationships and environments that help children grow up to be healthy and productive citizens so that they, in turn, can build stronger and safer families and...
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Essentials for Childhood Initiative: October 30th, 2019 Convening Summary Document
The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB), (formerly the Safe and Active Communities Branch) and the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (CDSS/OCAP), co-hosted an Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative convening on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. This event, entitled “Defining Goals and Strategies to Achieve Child Wellbeing,” took place at the California Endowment in Sacramento from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM...
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Fact Sheet on Resilience and Child Traumatic Stress from National Child Traumatic Stress Network
This four-page fact sheet provides questions and answers about child traumatic stress and resilience, which is the ability of a child to recover and show early and effective adaptation following a potentially traumatic event. Topics include what resilience looks like in children, what factors might enhance resilience in children after traumatic events, and some initial steps to enhance recovery during treatment or services.
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Free For a Limited Time: The Raising of America – Early Childhood and the Future of our Nation (Documentary)
We are pleased to inform you of another opportunity to view the acclaimed documentary series, The Raising of America – Early Childhood and the Future of our Nation . In honor of Week of the Young Child (April 10-16), National Public Health Week and National Child Abuse Prevention Month, the series will be made available online for free for a limited time from April 1-17! Please see details below. As you may know, this important film shows how a strong start for all our kids leads to a...
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From Trauma-Informed to Asset-Informed Care in Early Childhood [brookings.edu]
By Ellen Galinsky, Brookings Institute, October 23, 2019 The focus on “toxic stress,” ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), and trauma-informed care have been game-changers in the field of early childhood development. They have helped us recognize the symptoms of trauma, provide appropriate assistance to children, and understand that prolonged adversity in the absence of nurturing relationships can derail a child’s healthy development. Just look at the media’s and the public’s reaction to...
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Futures Without Violence - Safe, Healthy, and Ready to Learn
Interesting report from Futures Without Violence: Safe, Healthy, and Ready to Learn: Policy Recommendations to Ensure Children Thrive in Supportive Communities Free from Violence and Trauma
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Getting Food Stamps to Poor Californians is Surprisingly Difficult [fresnobee.com]
By Jackie Botts and Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, The Fresno Bee, September 2, 2019 In May 2017, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors set an ambitious goal: enroll 70,000 new families in food stamps in two years. Home to the state’s highest poverty rate and a growing homeless crisis, the county was enrolling just 69% of residents who were eligible for CalFresh, the state’s name for the federal food stamps program. With full participation, the county would have been expected to gain...
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Hanna Boys Center to host renowned UCSF physician, who believes childhood traumas can lead to disease [PressDemocrat.com]
A nationally renowned Bay Area physician, known for his impassioned belief that childhood poverty leads to disease, is bringing that message to the Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma next month as part of an ongoing networking series. Bertram Lubin, associate dean of Children’s Health at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, will speak from 7:30-9 a.m. June 8 alongside Barbie Robinson, Sonoma County’s director of health services and Dayna Long, another physician from UCSF Benioff Children’s...
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Health care for 7 in 10 CA children funded by Medicaid or CHIP
Proposed cuts and changes to public health insurance programs would have a disproportionate effect on California kids compared with kids in the nation as a whole.
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Helping Children Heal: Promising Community Programs and Policy Solutions
Ad vo c ate s and policymakers in public health are paying more attention to the impact of exposure early in life to trauma or chronic adversity, since it is now known to impair brain development in children and have rippling effects on c aregivers...
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Helping Working Families Succeed: Paid Leave in the Spotlight [ascend.aspeninstitute.org]
By Anne Mosle, Ascend: The Aspen Institute, May 28, 2019. Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee held the first hearing this Congress on paid family and medical leave. As witnesses shared their testimony and legislators asked questions and made statements, it became clear that there is bipartisan support for ensuring working people should not have to choose between their family and a paycheck. We will all need to give or receive care at some point in our lives, and we all...
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Hidden Crisis Report - ACEs in CA
Attached find the full report from Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) d ata report of ACEs in California, prepared in partnership with Public Health Institute (November 6, 2014).
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How To Get Dads To Take Parental Leave? Seeing Other Dads Do It [NPR.org]
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may have taken an extended paternity leave after the birth of his daughter, but generally, American men do not take more than a few days. Ninety-six percent of American men are back to work within two weeks of a baby's birth. "There might be some stigma attached," says Gordon Dahl, an economist at the University of California, San Diego. " 'What if I take paternity leave, will I not get the next promotion? Or will people think I'm not as connected to the...
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How Work-Life Balance Helps a Baby’s Brain [LinkedIn.com]
Most of us understand that a baby’s earliest months and years are the most critical for brain development. But did you know that a baby’s relationships with parents and caregivers actually stimulate that process? That’s right: An infant’s connections to nurturing, trusted adults help build the foundation for emotions, language, behavior, memory, physical movement – you name it. Right from the start, as parents, we need to bond with these brand-new little people, teach them how the world...
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In Spanish: Handouts for parents about ACEs, toxic stress & resilience
The Community & Family Services Division at the Spokane (WA) Regional Health District has come through again, with a Spanish version of the parent handout (in English) that we posted last year , and which has been downloaded thousands of times. The English versions came about whiledoing a story about the trauma-in formed elementary schools in Spokane, WA .I interviewedp ublic health nurse Melissa Charbonneau who said that she'd been giving an...
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Infancy and early childhood matter so much because of attachment (theconversation.com)
We are born to connect. As human beings we are relational and we need biological, emotional and psychological connection with others . Attachment is the relational dance that parents and babies share together. You can think of this when you see a baby look at their parent and they catch each other’s eyes in a wonderful gaze: the parent smiles and the baby smiles and then the parent kisses and the baby coos. Or, when an infant cries to tell their parent they are hungry, and the parent picks...
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Infants and Toddlers Need Strong Parents [clasp.org]
Parents play the most active and significant role in their baby’s healthy development. Young children learn and grow in strong families where parents are able to successfully face the challenge of nurturing their children. During the first three years of life, experiences are shaping a child’s brain and providing the foundation for later development. Parenting support services, which range from informational resources to more intensive interventions, can help improve parenting skills,...
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It Saves Lives. It Can Save Money. So Why Aren’t We Spending More on Public Health? [nytimes.com]
Not only have many public health interventions in the United States been hugely successful, but they’ve also saved more money than they’ve cost. And yet Americans spend relatively little money in that domain and far more on medical care that returns less value for its costs. Instead of continually complaining about how much is being spent on health care with little to show for it, maybe we should direct more of that money to public health. What Do We Mean by Public Health? It encompasses...
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January California Essentials for Childhood Newsletter
California Essentials for Childhood has just released its second newsletter. The full newsletter can be found attached. Check it out!
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Journal Article: “Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout Among Refugee Resettlement Workers: The Role of Coping and Emotional Intelligence.”
An article published in Journal of Traumatic Stress (Akinsulure‐Smith, A. M., Espinosa, A., Chu, T., and Hallock, R., 2018, 202–212, (https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22279), promotes an enhanced understanding of the impact of refugee resettlement work on refugee resettlement workers by examining the prevalence rates of toxic mental health and occupational outcomes, such as secondary traumatic stress and burnout, among a sample of 210 refugee resettlement workers at six refugee resettlement...
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July California Essentials for Childhood Newsletter
California Essentials for Childhood has just released its fifth newsletter. The full newsletter can be found attached. Check it out!
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Key Ingredients for Successful Trauma-Informed Care Implementation [CHCS.org]
As the connection between exposure to trauma and long-term health conditions becomes clear, the health care sector is beginning to focus on how to best care for patients with a history of trauma. For many people, trauma may increase their risk of serious health issues leading to poor health outcomes and higher medical and social service costs. Health care providers can address patients’ traumatic experiences and their associated health effects by implementing trauma-informed approaches to...
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Legislation Signals Growing Support for Significance of Trauma Indicators
by David Gorn, California Healthline Sacramento Bureau Thursday, January 28, 2016 As a college student, Rob Bonta had a summer job working as a counselor for troubled kids. Now, two decades later he is bringing legislation to address some of the needs he saw then. "I worked with some of these kids as a counselor out of college, and I'd walk them home and hear some of these stories," Assembly member Bonta (D-Oakland) said. "Shootings they heard. Or shootings they witnessed the night before."...
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Local Researchers' study shows: Trauma support for welfare recipients helps them earn more [medicalxpress.com]
People on welfare can earn more money in their jobs—and potentially leave the program—if the trauma they've faced since childhood is addressed, Drexel University research shows... "Financial education without the trauma-informed peer support had virtually no impact on improving income and in promoting health," said Mariana Chilton, PhD, director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities and professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health. "Once the trauma-informed peer support was mixed...
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Love in the TIme of Coronavirus: Inequities and Supporting Children
This blog is re-posted from positiveexperience.org/blog/ Link there for associated resources, and for the other blogs in the series. Having safe, stable, and equitable environments to live, learn and play forms the second of the 4 Building Blocks of HOPE. Children need homes where they feel safe and secure and have their basic needs met. Children thrive in an environment that encourages curiosity and provides opportunities for learning to play and interact with other children. Today’s blog...
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Low pay for child care workers puts more than half at poverty level, study finds [edsource.org]
A majority of child care workers in California are paid so little they qualify for public assistance programs, according to a new report on the early education workforce. Fifty-eight percent of child care workers in California are on one or more public assistance programs, such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families , a federally funded program that helps pay for food, housing and other expenses, the report by UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment found. This is...
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Low wages undermine efforts to improve the quality of preschools, federal report says [EdSource.org]
Efforts in California and other states to raise the quality of child care and preschool programs are being undermined by the low wages that workers earn in jobs that now require more skills and education, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education released Tuesday. In California, preschool teachers were paid an average salary of $31,720 in 2015, about half of what California kindergarten teachers earned that year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the report said.
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Make Time for Yourself—A Self-Care Guide for Busy Parents from Yolo County Children's Alliance
Yolo County Children’s Alliance is excited to share our new self-care resource for parents and caregivers for Child Abuse Prevention Month. Make Time for Yourself—A Self-Care Guide for Busy Parents talks about the importance of self-care and provides many ideas to try. The guide is available in English, Spanish, and Russian at www.yolokids.org/forfamilies/ . To help parents prioritize self-care, the guide divides specific self-care ideas into those that only take 5 minutes to do and those...
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Many Insured Children Lack Essential Health Care, Study Finds [NYTimes.com]
Margo Solomon has health insurance for herself and her four children. But actually getting treatment is another matter. Ms. Solomon, a 35-year-old mother from the Bronx, says she has struggled to find a doctor who accepts her insurance. And with three of her children coping with asthma, and one with more complicated medical problems, locating a specialist is even more challenging. And once in the door, she cannot afford the costs, including for deductibles and medications. “I feel like I am...
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Mapping Trauma Informed Care throughout First 5 Associations
On April 15th, representatives from 6 counties met on a conference call to discuss recent First 5 activities around Trauma Informed Care (TIC). Since our first gathering at last year's Association Summit, we have been meeting quarterly via conference call and have learned that there is a lot going on with TIC. So much is going on that we decided to send out a survey gathering data to map all our TIC efforts across the state. Please let us know if you are at a First 5 and are interested in...
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Maryland Essentials for Childhood Hosts Advocacy Day at the State Capital
Maryland Essentials for Childhood, a statewide initiative educating policy makers and communities on the science of ACEs, developing brains, and how we can build resilience for children, families and communities in Maryland, is poised to meet with Maryland elected officials this coming Thursday, ,February 7th, 9-1 pm. We will educate legislators on the science and policies that reduce or mitigate ACEs and other childhood trauma. Key policies being considered by the General Assembly are:...
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May California Essentials for Childhood Newsletter
California Essentials for Childhood has just released its fourth newsletter. The full newsletter can be found attached. Check it out!
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Meet the Essentials for Childhood Initiative Team (Part 2/2)
Meet some of the Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative team members: Angela Ponivas is the Chief of the California Department of Social Services Office of Child Abuse Prevention (CDSS/OCAP). She has been in the OCAP almost five years, working at a systems level on behalf of children and families. Angela provides executive oversight of the development and execution of Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative activities at CDSS. Prior to working for the State, Angela was the Executive...
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Modeling prosocial behavior increases helping in 16-month-olds [sciencedaily.com]
Shortly after they turn 1, most babies begin to help others, whether by handing their mother an object out of her reach or giving a sibling a toy that has fallen. Researchers have long studied how this helping behavior develops, but why it develops has been examined less. A new study looked at the role of imitation to find that when 16-month-olds observe others' helping behavior, they're more likely to be helpful themselves. The findings come from researchers at the University of Münster and...
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Most kids on public coverage have parents who work for big companies, new study finds [centerforhealthjournalism.org]
By Giles Bruce, Center for Health Journalism, July 3, 2019. The conventional wisdom is that kids are on government health insurance because their parents are unemployed or work at small businesses with meager benefits. A study released this week debunks that theory. Research from the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that the majority of children insured through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — more than 70% — have a parent employed by a large...
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Moving Americans Out of Poverty Will Take More Than Money [citylab.com]
As they worked on assembling a new report on American poverty, a consortium of researchers fanned out across the U.S. to talk to people living in pockets of concentrated need—from rural Maine and the Lummi Nation of the Pacific Northwest to major cities like Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Detroit. One of these site visits took the team to a neighborhood in San Jose, California, where Mexican immigrants struggle with tech-boom-fueled housing costs: Think $600 a month for a couch to sleep...
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Moving Upstream to Address Contributors to Toxic Stress in Pediatric Primary Care [chapinhall.org]
By Angeline Spain, Angela Sander, and Amanda Brown, Chapin Hall at The University of Chicago, October 2019 Healthcare in the U.S. is increasingly moving “upstream” to address the risk of social determinants of health. One common strategy is the early screening of needs and connection to services. Chapin Hall, in collaboration with national and local partners, is conducting an evaluation of innovations designed to promote screening for contributors to toxic stress during pediatric well-child...
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National Council Webinar: Organizational Approaches to Effective Trauma-Informed Services
I viewed this webinar a couple of weeks ago and found it quite useful. https://www.thenationalcouncil...ars/webinar-archive/ Scroll down to find Organizational Approaches to Effective Trauma-Informed Services Cheryl Sharp, Senior Advisor...
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New California law expands low-income parents’ access to subsidized child care [edsource.org]
In an effort to remove obstacles for Californians trying to succeed in the labor market, a new law could make access to child care easier for low-income parents taking classes to learn English or complete high school. The law will expand the eligibility requirements for subsidized child care. It will make low-income parents who are are enrolled in English as a second language classes (ESL) or a program to earn a high school diploma or general education development certificate (GED) eligible...
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New Childhood Adversity and Data and Dashboards [kidsdata.org]
May 19, 2020 New and updated data describing childhood adversity and resilience are now available on kidsdata.org . The data cover more counties than previously offered and provide greater detail on childhood adversity. Also, in partnership with the Essentials for Childhood Initiative, you can now access data dashboards for every county in California. Adversity and Resilience Data See the latest parent reported data on childhood adversity and resilience in California. Based on the National...