Blog

By Emilia Reyes and Joseph Castro, The Fresno Bee, November 20, 2019 Over the last few years, our community has given birth to innovative solution-driven projects to combat one stark fact: Fresno County ranks No. 1 on the list of California counties, with the highest preterm rate of two-thirds of all births. More startling, African American babies continue to die in their first year of life at three times the rate of all other babies. Landing on what to do about our reality has been no easy...

By Ana B. Ibarra, Kaiser Health News, November 21, 2019 Starting in January, young adults can sign up for California’s Medicaid program regardless of immigration status. But a fundamental question looms: Will they? Some young people already say they won’t enroll in public coverage because they fear federal immigration policies could later penalize them for participating — though that fear might be unfounded. Add to that their age. Young adults — both immigrants and non-immigrants — are...

By Mary Severance, Public Policy Institute of California, November 20, 2019 The 2020 Census is fast approaching, and the stakes are high for California—political representation and federal funding are on the line. The San Joaquin Valley, with a population of 4.3 million, may be one of the state’s hardest-to-count regions. In Sacramento last Friday, PPIC convened a discussion about how valley communities are preparing for the census. California has long been home to high numbers of “hard to...

By Bob Erlenbusch and Drew Factor, California Health Report, November 21, 2019 “Adverse childhood experiences are the single greatest unaddressed public health threat facing our nation today,” Dr. Robert Block, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has been widely quoted as saying. According to the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, conducted in the 1990’s by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, adverse childhood experiences are common,...

By ChangeLab Solutions and Merced County Public Health Department (CA), November 20, 2019 How can communities use school spaces during vacation times? Schools are more than just places of learning for children. They serve as centers of connection for families from surrounding neighborhoods and have many facilities and resources that can benefit the wider community. Opening school spaces during times when students are not on campus can significantly improve health and equity for those who...

Join a live webinar with California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and Dr. Karen Mark Medical Director, Department of Health Care Services for a Medi-Cal provider introduction to the new ACEs Aware Initiative and the www.ACEsAware.org website. The Office of the California Surgeon General and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in the first public unveiling of the initiative, will host a live webinar to share details of the new ACEs Aware Initiative for Medi-Cal providers...

By Sunny Shin, The Conversation, November 18, 2019 As the first person to hold the new role of Surgeon General of California, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is pushing an unprecedented plan to implement universal screenings for childhood trauma within the state’s schools. Childhood trauma is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as an “emotionally painful or distressful” event that “often results in lasting mental and physical effects.” Burke Harris’ plan is already more than a dream:...

This Tweet Chat by the Center for Health Care Strategies will focus on ways health care organizations can get started on becoming trauma-informed. Join us!

By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, November 18, 2019 In the course of a single year, a homeless man named Steve in Phoenix, Arizona, visited the emergency room 81 times. Only 54 years old, Steve is coping with a daunting array of medical conditions: multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, heart disease, and diabetes. Because of his health and reliance on emergency rooms, his medical costs averaged about $13,000 per month that year. Thanks to an innovative housing program run...

By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource, November 15, 2019 A San Diego area community college that moved early to eliminate remedial math courses is drawing lots of attention across the state for success in teaching math. Not only are students at Cuyamaca Community College taking math classes that can transfer to four-year colleges, but Latino students are bucking a national trend by outperforming their white counterparts. Cuyamaca, along with College of the Siskiyous in Northern California, were two...

By Taylor Walker, Witness LA, November 11, 2019 Research and the national conversation around racial disparities in school discipline have largely remained focused on the outsized disparate treatment that black students receive when compared with their white peers. Yet Native American youth face much the same disciplinary treatment in schools that black students do, according to a report from San Diego State University and Sacramento Native American Higher Education Collaborative (SNAHEC)...

By The Government Alliance on Race and Equity, November 18, 2019 The Government Alliance on Race and Equity 2020 Annual Membership Meeting, Confronting Today’s Reality: Restoration, Learning, and Action will be held in Portland, Oregon on April 14th-16th! Confronting Today’s Reality: Restoration, Learning, and Action will feature some of the things you’ve loved about past gatherings and some new features incorporated by popular demand: Workshops conceived and delivered by members for...