October 2020

The election is upon us. In two short weeks, we voters in this country decide who will lead us for the next four years. We have the opportunity to embrace — as a national priority — the tenets of understanding, nurturing and healing that underlie the science of adverse childhood experiences and move in a direction that embraces cultural and racial equity and anti-racism. Or not. What is clear is that no matter what, the ACEs movement will continue.

Please disseminate the attached information: As you may already be aware, San Diego County is currently experiencing a marked increase in deadly drug overdoses from fentanyl which is often being marketed to substance users as other drugs, including prescription oxycodone (blue pills), cocaine and methamphetamine. Attached are informational flyers about fentanyl and a public awareness campaign that will be coming out soon. It is important that all substance users and potential substance users...

Students will no longer be graded based on a yearly average, or on how late they turn in assignments. Those are just some of the major grading changes approved this week by California's second-largest school district. The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is overhauling the way it grades students. Board members say the changes are part of a larger effort to combat racism. “This is part of our honest reckoning as a school district,” says SDUSD Vice President Richard Barrera. “If we’re...

Local leaders and organizations in San Diego dedicated to serving some of the most vulnerable and under-served communities were recognized for their contributions Monday during RISE San Diego’s fourth annual awards ceremony. RISE San Diego, which creates leadership opportunities for diverse individuals in San Diego, distributed seven Inclusive Leadership in Action Awards during an online presentation, instead of an in-person event at the Joe and Vi Jacobs Center dining hall. The Mothers with...

Monica Bhagwan was interview by Guy McPherson of The Trauma Therapist Podcast. Here's a description of this episode. To read the rest of this introduction and to check out the interview of Monica Bhagwan by Guy McPherson, please go this hyperlink. Please know that Monica Bhagwan along with Adrienne Markworth are Community Managers of the ACEs and Nourishment community right here on ACEs Connection. We are proud of the work of our community members and managers.

Real Talk with Rafael is joining the A Better Normal (ABN) webinar series. Real Talk with Rafael i s designed to give the ACEs Connection community and guests an opportunity to have a safe space to talk about issues around the intersections of race, identity, and toxic stress. For those of you who attended the ABN “Episode 32: Reinterpreting American Identity, A Community Discussion” , you’ll recognize that Real Talk with Rafael is very similar, and will continue these conversations over...

We just received word that Governor Newsom signed microstamping bill, AB 2847! We'd like to thank Assembly Members Chiu & Gabriel, and coauthoring Assembly Members Bauer-Kahan, Gipson, Gloria, Muratsuchi, M. Stone, Ting, and Wicks. We'd also like to thank coauthoring Senators Jackson & Wiener, and of course, Governor Newsom. Congratulations to the thousands of Brady supporters who helped steward this lifesaving bill through the state legislature and onto the governor's desk. Your...

By Ashley Mackin-Solomon, La Jolla Light, September 28, 2020 A La Jolla pediatric office is one of a select few to pilot a new screening and treatment program for adverse childhood experiences, known as ACEs, as a way to lessen the possible long-term negative health effects associated with them. Through an initiative known as ACEs Aware, a first-of-its-kind effort led by the California surgeon general’s office and the Department of Health Care Services to cut ACEs and related stress in half...