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Thirty-seven percent of California children who need mental health treatment failed to receive it, according to the most recent data available on kidsdata.org. Madera, Merced, Monterey, and Tulare counties had the lowest rates of all counties with available data, with nearly half of children who need mental health treatment failing to receive it in the previous 12 months. Screening, early identification, and treatment are critical, as untreated mental illness can disrupt children’s...

As California shifts away from its reliance on group homes for children and youth in foster care, the first domino to drop is the elimination of 30-day emergency shelter facilities. As California rolls out the ambitious overhaul of its foster care system , advocates who pushed for the reform are hopeful that shortening timelines for placement, and other imminent changes, will disrupt the system and transform it into one that better serves children. But, some local service providers are...

"Volunteers-4-Youth" is pleased to announce the showing of two important films that explore factors that affect the wellbeing of young people. Resilience View Trailer HERE and Paper Tigers View Trailer HERE These films are free of charge and open to all people who work with and are concerned about the future of our youth. To attend, you need to sign up through the Brown Paper Tickets link (see below). Please sign up soon, as seating is limited. Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the...

Trauma Transformed's third "Rage, Reflection & Restoration Healing Circle" event will take place in Oakland, CA, on March 15. Information embedded below, and a PDF is attached for download. Trauma Transformed supports the the San Francisco Bay Area Trauma Informed Systems of Care Initiative, which focuses on centralizing and building a regional trauma-informed Bay Area system of care and improving the ways we understand, respond to and heal trauma.

In a first for the Ventura Community College District, a state grant will make the district’s workforce training program free or nearly free to local companies. What’s more, funding for the program, which trains employees to upgrade their job skills, could keep flowing for years to come, officials said. “We’re really excited,” said Holly Correa , director of grants for the college district. “This is a great way to up-level the skills of workers in our county, provide a service to the...

A new state program aimed at providing housing for homeless individuals with serious mental illness is slowly coming together. The "No Place Like Home" program was approved by Gov. Jerry Brown last year. He recently appointed Alfredo Aguirre, director of San Diego County's Behavioral Health Services, to the program’s advisory committee. Of the 118,000 thousand homeless people the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates are living in California, more than 60 percent live on...

In the first three years of a child’s life, foundational brain architecture is established, making children’s earliest experiences the most important. The creation of healthy brain architecture is dependent on good health, positive and nurturing relationships with adults, exposure to enriching learning opportunities and safe neighborhoods. Yet too often in California, children—especially children of color, foster youth, and those growing up in poverty—lack the components critical for a...

Paul Palmer is part of Sober Circle at the Mary Isaak Center (Photo by Beth Shankler) ____________________________ At this time last year, Paul Palmer was going on seven years of being homeless. A methamphetamine addict living along the Petaluma River, he had been in and out of rehab a few times, but it never seemed to work. He mostly kept to himself, staying out of the way of police officers and other homeless people, burrowed deep into the bushes along the river bank on the north side of...

Some foreign-born Californians are canceling their Medi-Cal coverage or declining to enroll in the first place, citing fears of a Trump administration crackdown on immigrants. Among those dropping coverage are people in the country legally but concerned about jeopardizing family members who lack permanent legal status, according to government officials, immigration attorneys and health care advocates. Others worry they will be penalized in the future for using public benefits such as...

Between 2007-2015, the rate of youth mental health hospitalizations rose by 50 percent , according to the latest data available on Kidsdata. In seven counties , the rate grew during this time period by more than 100 percent. Fresno county had, by far, the most drastic rise, at 241 percent. Similarly, both California and the US have begun seeing a rise in self-inflicted injury hospitalizations among youth in recent years. Between 2009-2014, the national rate of self-inflicted injury...

What We Have Learned and Where Should We Go Next? Tuesday, February 28, 2017 - 8:00am - 12:00pm UC Center Sacramento 1130 K Street, Suite LL22 Sacramento, CA 95814 Child poverty continues to be a major challenge for the United States and California. The UC Davis Center for Poverty Research and UC Center Sacramento will bring together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners together for a workshop “Child Poverty Research, Public Policy and the Road Ahead: What We Have Learned and Where...

Please join the CA Task Force on Maternal Mental Health Care for a networking lunch & hearing at the State Capitol to unveil much anticipated findings and recommendations. See attached flyer for all details and to RSVP. Space is limited.