Family Service Agency is a non-profit organization that has provided basic needs assistance, family support, and mental health counseling since 1899, and has offices encompassing most of the entirety of Santa Barbara County. They are truly dedicated to promoting a trauma responsive team through their year-long training with the National Council for Behavioral Health and annual surveys to measure the organization’s progress in becoming a more trauma informed agency. Through these trainings,...

Virtual Conference | April 5-6, 2022 Our world gets more complex every day. So it's more important than ever to address the traumas that affect our communities. That’s why we’re coming together at the Hanna Institute Summit: to heal our communities. But why should you join us? Here are the top three reasons people attend the Summit: 1) Learn from Experts From best-selling authors Ibram X. Kendi and Resmaa Menakem to Nancy Dome and Dr. Gary Slutkin, national and Bay Area experts will bring...

SANTA BARBARA – The Santa Barbara County Network of Care, a partnership of the Pediatric Resiliency Collaborative (PeRC) and Resilient Santa Barbara County, has awarded more than $800,000 in buffering services grants to 19 community organizations addressing toxic stress in children and youth. Children who experience toxic stress, or high levels of adversity, have been shown to experience disruptions in their health and development. Cottage Health, on behalf of PeRC and Resilient Santa...

Last month, LegacyWorks Group was able to participate in a training surrounding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science and trauma informed care, led by Terri Allison. While LegacyWorks Group is a non profit focused on community driven projects, we are not healthcare providers nor do we work directly with youth in the community. Yet we still value ACEs science and wanted to incorporate the language and practices more within our own work. Most of the trainings associated with...

CAPC Intro It’s week three of Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time when we pause to appreciate all of the people who come together to support and encourage children, youth and families. Everyone has a role to play in making sure that our community is a great place for children and youth to thrive. Parenting can be hard, and parents must be flexible and strong to meet the needs of their families when challenges arise. Stress can make it harder to be a patient and supportive parent. This...

CAPC Intro April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, an opportunity to appreciate the ways we work together to strengthen families and communities. There are simple steps we can take every day to help reduce the risk factors for child abuse and neglect. With the help of a supportive community, parents and children can be resilient even in the face of adversity. There are seven wellness practices shown to reduce stress and strengthen resilience. This week we are focused on Mindfulness,...

For the final week of Child Abuse Prevention Month, our stress-busting strategy is Supportive Relationships. Supportive relationships make a significant impact on our social, emotional and physical well-being. Renowned psychiatrist and trauma expert, Dr. Bruce Perry writes, “The more healthy relationships a child has, the more likely he will be to recover from trauma and thrive. Relationships are the agents of change and the most powerful therapy is human love.” We will be highlighting the...

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, an opportunity to appreciate the ways we work together to keep families strong. Everyone has a role to play in making sure that our community is a great place for children and youth to thrive. Whether acting as a caring neighbor, a family member, a parent, or coworker, we can prevent child abuse and neglect by helping parents be the best they can be. There are seven wellness practices shown to reduce stress and strengthen resilience. This week...

Wow! What a great story. LVCHO is a remarkable organization and plays such a catalytic role serving the people of Lompoc and building a more resilient community. Ashley and Emily see opportunities like these - the Route One Farmer's Market, the POP Program, and the Mobile Market - and bring people together to figure out how to make them happen. They're consummate social entrepreneurs. They're also network weavers and stewards of their local network of care. How does such a small team...

Ask Governor Newsome to sign AB 2660 now

September is Self-Care Awareness Month, and a good reminder to think about how you can support your own mental health. To me, authentic self-care is the radical act of prioritizing your own well-being. It's diving deep, addressing hard things, and understanding how you can best meet your needs in positive ways. It’s not as simple as taking a bubble bath or dancing in your living room, but rather, building a life—day in and day out—that you don’t need to escape from. It’s being honest with...

“As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and one for helping others.” ~Audrey Hepburn I remember this moment vividly, almost as if I was in her classroom yesterday. The elementary student ran over to me, a grin spreading wide across her face, before she wrapped her arms into a tight hug around my legs. Her eyes glowed with excitement as she told me she had recognized me from helping in her classroom a previous year. After four years of reading to...

The Children’s Resource and Referral of Santa Barbara County has been a pillar in the community for over 50 years. The grassroots nonprofit organization began in 1971 as various childcare programs and family workshops offered throughout parks in Santa Barbara. Today, CRR works with an astounding 725 licensed and licensed-exempt child care sites! The organization is composed of dedicated leaders who steward the mission to develop strong and healthy families by providing education, care, and...

Thank you CRR for supporting children, families and care providers in our county to help ensure that children have the best possible start in life!

Christina Bethell, Ph.D, MBA, MPH, founder of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), principal author of the groundbreaking study on positive childhood experiences, and creator of the free Well Visit Planner, among other innovations. Two internationally-respected leaders and innovators in complementary aspects of early relational health and childhood and maternal health equity recently launched a partnership they believe will benefit everyone from newborn babies and...

The Bridges to Resilience conference is one of the most recognized conferences in California’s coastal tri-counties. Bridges to Resilience seeks to increase understanding of the widespread impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and provide hopeful strategies to build resilience within our communities and across systems of care throughout the Central Coast.

In July, the Partnership for Safe Families & Communities of Ventura County hosted the first Lunch & Learn Session: Mitigating ACEs for Families with Children Ages 0-5. The session educated participants on how sustaining safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children and families can prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), increase positive childhood experiences (PCEs), and help all children reach their full potential.

As we head into our full CRC curriculum this January, we invite current and future CRC Accelerator participants to join us with collective care and self care in mind.

The September Lunch & Learn session hosted by the Center for Family Strengthening of San Luis Obispo County increased our knowledge of the impact of trauma on the body and brain, helped practitioners learn to apply a trauma lens in their work, and provided guidance for implementing sustainable self-care practices.

Nationally recognized days of awareness remind us of important civil and human rights movements led by Black and African-American communities and social justice advocates. February puts leadership, education, access, justice, policy, and governance under the spotlight. Through a PACEs science lens, this month is an opportunity to consider trauma-informed transformation through a PACEs science lens as the way forward.