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By Kristen Taketa, The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 7, 2021 Pediatricians across San Diego County say they are deeply troubled by what they see school closures doing to children. Dr. Janet Crow, a pediatrician at UC San Diego, talks every day with middle and high school kids who are heading toward depression or are flat-out depressed, she said. One of her high school patients can’t bring himself to do Zoom school, she said. His mom isn’t there to help him because she is an essential...

In a recent article titled, " Adverse Childhood Experiences: Breaking the Cycle in a Time of COVID-19 ," the Medical Board of California newsletter highlighted the work being done by the American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 3 , Dr. Wendy Pavlovich and Dr. Pradeep Gidwani.

The struggle to maintain mental health is a universal experience in the American workplace. Before the pandemic, one in four American workers had been diagnosed with depression[1] and one in three reported having experienced some form of depression[2]. This is even more relevant in this current crisis. As February comes to a close, we are approaching 12 months of the battle against COVID-19 and the upending of what work, safety or even community looks like. We are bombarded daily with stats...

Sara Schairer is the founder and executive director of Compassion It® , a nonprofit organization and global social movement whose mission is to inspire daily compassionate actions and attitudes. A facilitator of the Compassion Cultivation Training® (CCT) course developed at Stanford University, Sara leads trainings for audiences of all walks of life, from corporate executives to inmates at a maximum security prison. She led compassion trainings in Africa sponsored by the Botswana Ministries...

When children encounter police because they were a witness to violence or a traumatic event, they can sometimes show up to school the next few days feeling upset, setting off a cycle of poor school performance or acting out, whether in school in person or virtually. Unless a teacher knows the student experienced recent trauma, the child could end up in trouble instead of receiving support. The District Attorney's Office, the San Diego County Office of Education, local law enforcement, and...

Adolfo Gonzales began work Monday as Los Angeles County’s chief probation officer, overseeing a system that supervises more than 40,000 juveniles and adults and managing an annual budget of over $1 billion. A former San Diego County probation chief, Gonzales brings 43 years of law enforcement experience to his new position, including being chief of the National City Police Department and assistant chief with the San Diego Police Department. Gonzales was appointed to the position last month...

Please see information below regarding the Prevention Institute’s upcoming peer learning forum on trauma-informed approaches during catastrophic events taking place on Wednesday, February 17 th from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM . Registration link below. Join Feb. 17 peer learning forum on trauma-informed approaches during catastrophic events What does it mean for a city or other local government to be trauma-informed and what might this look like during the COVID-19 pandemic? Agencies and...

We had wonderful presentations from our mini-grant awardees at our January meeting, including the voice of lived-experience in solving Urban Domestic Human Sex Trafficking from Armand King and Jaimee Johnson and dealing with Workplace Trauma from Cambria Rose Walsh . Please see the attached handout and minutes, which include links to presentations and other valuable information.

President-Elect Joe Biden announced Monday he has nominated San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten to the post of deputy secretary in the federal Department of Education . Marten has been SDUSD superintendent since 2013. She got her start as a teacher and school-wide literacy specialist in the Poway Unified School District and has worked as an educator for 32 years, including 17 years as a teacher and stretches as principal and vice principal. She worked for 10 years...

San Diego County supervisors last week formally defined racism as a public health crisis, acknowledging for the first time that a broad and baked-in prejudice underpins virtually every aspect of public policy. The unanimous declaration came days ahead of the national holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and after a majority of Democrats was elected to the county board. Among other actions, the vote directed county officials to begin collecting data that will help them...

A year ago, we officially launched San Diego for Every Child . On January 15, 2020, with more than a year of preparation and the help of many individuals, families, and organizations, we declared that the decade to tackle the experience of child poverty in San Diego County was upon us. The time was now. And it was going to take all of us, moving in the same direction, to achieve that goal. Then COVID-19 hit. In honor of our shared vision—a San Diego where every child has healthy food, stable...

Our specialty yoga school (now virtual) is open for enrollment, emphasizing trauma-sensitive practices, inclusion, and accessibility. Meets two weekends a month: Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 5pm Some people show up to dive into their personal healing, others want to learn how to better serve vulnerable populations in their profession, still more have a passion for sharing healing yoga with the world. No matter why you want to study trauma-informed yoga, this training will equip you with the...