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By Brian Burns, May 12, 2020, ScienMag. The virtual intercom communication system allows clinicians to monitor and communicate with patients over video screens from anywhere in the hospital and present a human face to isolated patients whose only other personal contact is typically with providers who are fully gowned, masked and gloved. “These approaches have allowed us to deliver exceptional care during a time of mass contagion, while preserving personal protective equipment in short...

By Kym Kemp, May 9, 2020, Redheaded Blackbelt. North Coast Resource Partnership secures $13.6 million in funding for 26 local projects to provide water security, enhance instream habitats, improve forest health and increase fire resiliency Press release from North Coast Resource Partnership: A variety of integrated projects were approved by the North Coast Resource Partnership Policy Review Panel; a collaborative group comprised of county supervisors and Tribal leaders representing the...

By Natalie Hanson, Chico Enterprise-Record, May 9, 2020 Butte County’s Office of Education has gotten a $1 million grant to help students on the Paradise ridge get services for substance abuse and disaster-related trauma. The Office of Education applied for the 18-month grant, targeted specifically for areas that have experienced disaster, to continue the support process of recovery for ridge schools, students and families. It will focus on four areas for services: Substance abuse services...

By Abbie Roth, The Columbus Dispatch, May 3, 2020 You might have seen the headlines warning that, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the current mental health crisis facing youth in the United States will only worsen. Like adults, children are experiencing new or intensified stressors as a result of the pandemic, including loss of routine, separation from friends and extended family, and increased anxiety and frustration. Some more extreme stressors — food insecurity, loss of a parent or...

Germaine Omish-Lucero’s ancestors were taken from their homes and forced to build California’s Mission San Luis Rey de Francia—a mission in what is now Oceanside—about 200 years ago. There, they were exposed to diseases such as measles, to which they had no immunity. Thousands died—and there is no escaping this tragic piece of California history. Yet Omish-Lucero, her children, and the children in her tribe stand. Despite inequities that continue to this day, the Rincon Band of Luiseno...

By Liz Freeman, April 28, 2020, Naples Daily News He bought a four-pack of tall Budweiser at a convenience store after work one hot afternoon. Normally he gets a Big Gulp. “I had been clean and sober quite a while,” Shepherd, 63, said. “What’s a couple going to do to me?” He got home to his apartment in Sarasota and drank most of the beer. He soon realized he'd messed up big time. He is now in a residential treatment program in Collier County. It’s possible the unknowns of the novel...

Join us in reflecting on the pandemic challenges shared by our ACEs Connection community members so far

People are beginning to be aware that one result of the increased stress around COVID-19 is the tragic fact that child abuse and neglect is increasing, but the safety net provided by schools is no longer in place. Teachers and counselors can continue to be a hero to students in this time of crisis, and can help mitigate the negative impact of traumatic events and stress. Caregivers might not be able to do it alone. We (Dr. Rachel Gilgoff, a child abuse pediatrician and trauma expert, and...

By Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2020 With schools closed because of the coronavirus, educators in vast stretches of rural California are struggling not only to teach their students but to reach them. From the mountain hamlets of Northern California to the farming communities of the Central Valley to the desert towns near the U.S.-Mexico border, small schools are grappling with how to serve far-flung, impoverished students with less access to at-home internet, spotty...

Apply to be a part of ACEs Aware's California ACES Learning & Quality Improvement Collaborative (CALQIC) In partnership with the UCSF Center to Advance Trauma-Informed Healthcare and other key partners, we'll select 15 organizations across California to participate in this 18-month learning collaborative to support clinics in screening for and responding to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in children and adults. This is a challenging time, and we know that many of our health care...

The COVID-19 pandemic will put many healthcare workers around the world in an unprecedented situation. How can healthcare workers cope during this time? Here are a few suggestions. Thanks to Scientific Advisory Committee members Carmen McLean and Katy Kamkar for creating this resource. Healthcare staff will likely be exposed to many potentially traumatic events and events leading to significant distress and moral suffering. As frontline workers, they are highly exposed to the virus itself.

By @Anndee Hochman “What are your signs of stress?” asked the leaders of a recent mindfulness webinar hosted by the Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF), held during the week that U.S. cases of COVID-19 neared half a million and more than sixty Philadelphians had died of the disease. Participants spilled their responses into the chat box: “headache…teeth grinding…can’t think clearly…nervous stomach…ruminating thoughts…muscle pain…itchiness…bad dreams.”