Blog

Child advocates across the State of California are working on the passage of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 140 (ACR 140) authored by Assembly Member Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay). The initiative seeks to designate January 2020 as Positive Parenting Awareness Month across the state and build upon the county-level proclamations that have spread from Santa Cruz County where it was conceived and launched 8 years ago. Positive parenting is a known remedy for the public health problem of child...

By Richard Thomason, Blue Shield of California Foundation, December 30, 2019 Domestic violence is a complex phenomenon that impacts families across generations. Victims can become perpetrators. Perpetrators are often victims. Family members who were never physically touched by violence are still deeply affected. Fear and shame can generate silence. These factors, and many others, allow the cycle to continue. A 2017 survey showed that 58% of Californians have been touched by domestic...

By Matt Levin and Jackie Botts, Cal Matters, December 31, 2019 California’s most vexing issue is also its most shameful: the large and rising number of residents who lack a safe place to call home. In a state with vast amounts of wealth, more than 150,000 of its residents sleep in shelters, cars, or on the street. The United Nations compared the tent encampments of San Francisco to the slums of New Delhi and Mexico City. Nearly 5,000 people live in the half square mile of Los Angeles’ Skid...

By Index Tribune Staff, Sonoma Index-Tribune, January 2, 2020 The Hanna Institute announced on Dec. 20 that it received a $30,000 grant from Community Foundation Sonoma County that will provide scholarships for Title I school staff and educators to attend the Hanna Institute Summit Jan. 29 through 31. “The mission of Hanna Institute is to support parents and child-serving systems with resources that build resilience and hope,” said Erin Hawkins, co-director of the Hanna Institute in a press...

By Mary Benjamin, The Mendocino Beacon, January 2, 2019 Editor’s note: Last week, this community suffered a tragedy in which a young person’s life ended. The particular event is too painful for clumsy public treatment, and rightfully outside the norms of American media coverage. But suicide is a terrible and growing problem, especially in rural America, and we relay these resources to anyone who has questions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that rural counties...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Norman Williams NUMBER: 19-03 (916) 440-7660 DATE: December 30, 2019 www.dhcs.ca.gov DHCS EXPANDS MEDI-CAL YOUNG-ADULT ELIGIBILITY, RESTORES BENEFITS, ADDS CHILDHOOD-TRAUMA SCREENING IN 2020 SACRAMENTO – Medi-Cal, California’s health care program for low-income individuals and families, will extend full coverage to tens of thousands of additional young adults statewide effective January 1, 2020, another step toward building a California for All. The young adult...

ACEs and toxic stress represent a public health crisis that has been, until recently, largely unrecognized by our state’s health care system and society, but there’s hope. Together, we can screen for ACEs, respond with trauma-informed care, and significantly improve physical and mental health across the state. All Medi-Cal providers are encouraged to get trained today . Beginning on January 1, 2020, eligible Medi-Cal providers can receive a $29 payment for conducting qualifying ACEs...

Gateway Mountain Center in Truckee, California provides nature-based therapeutic mentoring for youth. Gateway's program, ‘ Whole Hearts, Minds and Bodies ’ is the first nature-based therapeutic program in California to achieve full-service partner contracts with County behavioral health departments and certification as a MediCal provider. Peter Mayfield, founder and Executive Director, spoke with James Moore of Mad In America. To read the interview or listen to the podcast, go to ...

By Vanessa Rancano, Cal Matters, December 26, 2019 Darryl McKellar makes teaching look easy. Over 20 years in the classroom, the English teacher has mastered some of the job’s trickiest tasks. He has a writing assignment for the 10th graders in his second period class today, based on a short story they read, “The Lottery.” “When I say lottery, what do you think? Breanna, what do you think?” “Drama,” she says. [ Please click here to read more .]

By Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times, December 26, 2019 The wildfires were more destructive. The drought was the longest on record. And the storms, when they finally came, unleashed more water than our dams could contain. To live in California over the last decade has meant enduring a steady procession of weather-related disasters, each one seemingly worse than the last. Five of the 10 largest fires in state record books have occurred since 2010. So has California’s third driest year since...

By Anna Schussler, The Daily Journal, December 26, 2019 When San Carlos resident Suzanne Hughes formed a nonprofit offering mental health services four years ago, she started out with just three interns and a mission to make them affordable and accessible to anyone who might need them. Trained as a marriage and family therapist, Hughes drew from more than 20 years of mental health experience to identify what she saw as the most pressing mental health needs and build programs to address them.

By Carmel de Bertaut, Benito Link, December 26, 2019 After retiring as a detective with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, Hollister resident Steve Austin wanted to do something in service to others. He found that something while watching a segment of the “Today” show earlier this year. On the show, he saw Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs speak about the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace based in Twin Falls, Idaho. Rowe explained how the organization makes beds for underprivileged children who...