Blog

Two books to expand your horizons

Note: I've not posted in a while. I can't believe it's been almost three years since I was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. I miss this community and I miss work. But I am doing well at the moment and I'm SO grateful to still be here (meaning alive and on the planet). It's been A LOT of treatment and quite a roller coaster of medical and other experiences, but that's not why I'm here and posting today. Today, I'm writing today is to reflect on how healing from trauma feels and is...

PACEs Connection's interactive sessions focus on trauma-informed education and the impact of policy and system changes. This course will be facilitated by Lara Kain, PACEs Connection's educational consultant, and will be a combination of lecture, discussion, and collaboration. This session will use the RYSE center Interacting Layers of Trauma and Healing as a framework. Policy and Systems, Trauma-Informed Education and your Community PACEs Initiative Outline the importance of including...

By Heather Stringer, Photo: José Luis Villegas, California Health Care Foundation, August 24, 2022 Valerie Andrews, director of a community-based organization (CBO) in South Sacramento, was focusing on the fentanyl drug problem among Black residents in her area when a different issue began demanding her attention: hospitalization due to asthma. It was 2019, and she was talking to yet another distraught mother who had taken her child to the emergency room because of a severe asthma attack.

On July 3, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 188 also known as the Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act. The CROWN Act amends the California Education Code and the Fair Employment and Housing Act’s definition of race to include traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Protective hairstyles include, but are not limited to, “braids, locks, and twists.” The legislation makes California the...

“Reimagining Child Wellbeing: Local Policy Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in California’s Communities” is a resource developed in collaboration with the All Children Thrive, California (ACT) project and the California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) ’s , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative . This resource was created...

The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) ’s, Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative is pleased to share a new report titled “Statewide Child Abuse and Neglect Non-Fatal Injury Trends Observed in California Hospitals and Emergency Departments During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The purpose of this new report is to assess changes in the frequency, severity,...

The BulletPoints Project has launched its free, on-demand continuing education cours e, “ Preventing Firearm Injury: What Clinicians Can Do .” The Preventing Firearm Injury continuing education course teac hes medical and mental health care providers how to identify patients who are at increased risk for firearm injury, to engage in conversations about firearm injury prevention with patients, and to intervene appropriately for the level and type of risk. The course focuses on several...

This policy workshop provides advocates, activists & movements the knowledge and tools to increase their capacity to effectively engage in policy advocacy with a lens toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over the course of this series, participants will be provided an actionable framework to define opportunities for change, identify policy levers, engage community stakeholders, and influence policymakers. Each interactive session will allow space for participants to examine how the...

By Betty M Rosales, Photo: Ashley A Smith, EdSource, August 11, 2002 A s community college students return to their campuses, many will find one new resource to count on: a hub where they can seek support in meeting their basic needs. Known as basic needs centers, the resources offered differ from campus to campus, but most tend to help students who are experiencing housing and food insecurity. Others also offer other support like paying for auto insurance, finding low-cost medical care,...

By Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil, Photo: Marissa Leshnov, The Guardian, August 7, 2022 W hen Sol Mercado was incarcerated, one of her few sources of comfort was to dig her hands into dirt. Coming from a family of sugarcane and coffee farm workers in Puerto Rico, a love of gardening was in her roots. But it wasn’t until she was in prison and started participating in a gardening program that she truly connected with this part of her heritage. “It’s a huge coping skill to be working with the soil,...

August is Family Fun Month, and the HOPE National Resource Center is all about families creating positive childhood experiences (PCEs) by having fun together! Throughout the month, there are several days to remember that promote PCEs and the Four Building Blocks of HOPE: Exercise with your Child Week – Starting August 7 th : There are so many ways to exercise or get moving with your children. People of different mobility levels can share in a day of intentional, and fun, exercise; from...