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To See the Conference Agenda, List of All-Star Speakers, and To Register Click Here Why Should Californians Attend This Unique Conference ? From high levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), to job and financial struggles, racism and other forms of inequity and injustice, traumatic stress is epidemic today. Climate change will aggravate all of these existing adversities, and add many new ones as well. Yet, California is leading the U.S. in finding innovative new ways to address...

We've long known that there's something cyclical about poverty, chronic drug abuse and other life-defeating circumstances. We in Kern County hear descriptors like "Appalachia of the West" and shrug, often chalking up the conditions that create cultures of pervasive hopelessness to laziness or ignorance or Darwinian selection. The widespread perception about these ills, particularly common in the poverty-wracked Kern County communities of the Kern River Valley, Oildale and Taft, is that...

One particular message to the agriculture industry was simple: You want Gov. Jerry Brown to be a friend or an enemy the rest of his term? To business leaders: This legislation provides tax and regulatory breaks that you've long sought. Grab them now or forget it. To agriculture and business: You don't like this cap-and-trade program? Wait until you see what replaces it if it's not extended. Brown's hardball messages, his willingness to compromise and personal dealings with lawmakers were...

A groundbreaking new play about trauma, TRIGGER, was most recently featured at part of the training and inspiration provided to community members participating in the 4CA Policymaker Education Day on July 11, 2017 in Sacramento at the state Capitol.

California insurance regulators announced Tuesday that they have reached a settlement with Kaiser Permanente to address its repeated failures to provide patients with timely access to mental health services. Under the agreement — the result of two years of negotiations between the state Department of Managed Health Care and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan — Kaiser has agreed to hire an outside consultant for three years to help it address the access problems and improve oversight of its...

People who live in Oildale, Kern River Valley and Taft — three impoverished, majority-white communities — have the highest premature death rates across Kern County, dying four to 17 years sooner than those in other parts of Bakersfield. Residents in those three communities have an average life expectancy of between 68 and 72 years old — roughly eight to 10 years less than the national average, according to data analyzed by the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Human Needs. It’s...

Twelve parent and youth leaders, reentry and educational leaders, and community organizers represented the region of San Diego in Sacramento on July 11th. Aligning with about 80 other community members and professionals statewide, everyone met with and educated legislative staff on the impact of ACEs, community trauma, community healing and resilience building. Organized by the 4CA steering group led by Center for Youth Wellness, Children Now, and ACEs Connection Network, the ACEs science...

A bi-partisan resolution “Recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma-informed care” ( H. Res. 443 ) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 13 by Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and co-sponsor Danny K. Davis (D-IL). The impetus for the resolution resides with the First Lady of Wisconsin, Tonette Tonette Walker Walker, who has taken a strong leadership role in advancing trauma-informed policy and practice statewide through Fostering Futures and of late with the new...

On July 11, the “4CA” Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity organized approximately 100 people into small teams of 3-6 people to visit the offices of 80 legislators. Organized by the 4CA steering group led by Center for Youth Wellness, Children Now, and ACEs Connection Network, the day was a decided success.

Could state policies be improved by a greater understanding of the lingering effects of childhood trauma? That's the case that social workers and psychologists will be making to California legislators Tuesday as part a policymaker education day. The California Campaign to Combat Childhood Adversity wants lawmakers to learn about the effects of toxic stress resulting from childhood trauma, which they say can influence everything from health care to the economy . The campaign points to...

No matter where you are, be sure to follow the events of the day on twitter: Follow @acestoohigh and #4CAKidsDay17 to get live updates all day.

[Editor's note: This blog was first posted in April 2017. Dr. Marie-Mitchell updated the assessment by modifying a few of the questions, so we are republishing with the new assessment, one in Spanish and one in English.] Over the last dozen years or so, many pediatricians, astounded by the ramifications of the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the children they care for, began integrating this science into their practices. The most common approach has been to ask parents...