Blog

San Diego Unified’s Junipero Serra High School will now be called Canyon Hills High School after students successfully petitioned for the name change, saying that the name of the founder of California’s mission system is offensive to indigenous peoples whose ancestors were subjected to its doctrine. On Tuesday night, the San Diego Unified School Board unanimously voted for the name change and to change the school’s mascot from a conquistador to a rattlesnake, or a “Rattler.” Students who...

Amid laughter and more than a few eyes glistening with tears, much gratitude and a chat-box filled with uplifting messages, members of ACEs Connection from around the world gathered via Zoom on March 4 to celebrate the milestone of the social networking site reaching 50,000 members. The group acknowledged founder and publisher Jane Stevens’ foresight in starting this human and digital catalyst, growing and supporting the worldwide ACEs and resilience movement and telling its authentic...

Please join us for the next Children's Advocates' Roundtable from 12:00pm - 2:00pm on Thursday, March 18 . We look forward to hearing from Dr. Luke Wood to discuss addressing inequitable disciplinary practices in CA public schools. We will also welcome Ann Quirk from the Children's Law Center to talk about ongoing efforts to address inequitable suspensions and expulsions of foster youth. Participants will have the opportunity to share information and resources related to their budget and...

To help raise awareness during Child Abuse Prevention Month, the California Training Institute (CalTrin) and our sister organization, the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC) , are partnering to present Child Abuse Prevention: State of the Science. This webinar will review the research evidence base for child abuse prevention programs, with a focus on primary and secondary prevention. Attendees will also learn how to identify which programs are most appropriate for their agency’s...

Body, Mind, and Spirit. An indivisible combination that is the cornerstone for holistic wellness for Native Americans. It is also the slogan that appears beneath the medicine wheel on the sign for the San Diego American Indian Health Center . “Da'anzho,” said Ruben Leyva, standing at the corner in Bankers Hill where the clinic is located. “That means ‘hello’ in the Apache language. I am a Chiricahua Chíhénde Apache. I stand here honored and humbled to speak to you on Kumeyaay land.” In order...

I recently read a quote that @Christine Cissy White (ACEsConnection) shared that says, "Trauma informed care isn't trauma informed, without the trauma survivor." No matter what degree, training, or book you acquire you can never really know how it feels to experience trauma unless you go through it. I remember when I first discovered I had an ACE score of 7; I had been serving the community by teaching resiliency, self-healing, and breaking stigmas around mental health. I came across the...

We invite you to join us for our Annual RESPITE | Building a Trauma-Informed Community Conference Saturday, March 27, 2021 from 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM (PST) ONLINE Via Zoom About the Conference: Learn more about the impacts of trauma through an informative and interactive day of training with education , resources , and tools that will equip you and your environment to serve the most vulnerable among us. The day will include main sessions, tailored breakouts, and community connections that will...

The Essentials for Childhood Initiative is pleased to share the Building Synergy and Connections Across the Essentials for Childhood Initiative Convening Summary and Presentation Slides. The Convening Summary contains a detailed overview of the information shared and the feedback provided by the participants during the convening. You will find these documents attached below. The EfC Initiative team appreciates the speakers and coalition chairs that served as panelists and the attendees who...

A curated collection of over 75 lesson plans, writing prompts, short films and graphs relating to racism and racial justice. By Nicole Daniels , Michael Gonchar and Natalie Proulx March 4, 2021 The summer of 2020 was not the first time that urgent conversations about race and racism were happening in homes, classrooms and workplaces. But the energy of the Black Lives Matter protests, believed by many to be the largest in U.S. history , was unparalleled. Though the demands and chants may have...

New COVID Campaign to Provide Coordinated Statewide Public Health Response to Most Impacted Communities Led by Public Health Advocates, a new California COVID Justice: Recovery, Response & Repair campaign will strengthen California’s ability to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and build capacity in the state to address underlying systems contributing to longstanding health disparities. With guidance from a steering committee of community partners, targeted statewide and regional...

By Margarita Alegría, STAT, February 9, 2021 Gonzales is a small city in central California populated mostly by Latino immigrant families and farmworkers. Like other places, it has felt the weight of the coronavirus pandemic. When Covid-19 hit, the city’s youth council conducted an online mental health survey of middle and high schoolers. The students received an overwhelming response that revealed high levels of anxiety symptoms and stress among their peers. The findings were a wake-up call...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as child abuse and neglect, can lead to negative psychological, social and physical outcomes later in life – and can even affect future generations. New and exacerbated stressors during the pandemic underscore concern for the risks and long-term health effects of ACEs, particularly for groups already disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Certain interventions can help mitigate negative outcomes from ACEs and prevent them from occurring in the...