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This year, voters were given the opportunity to start swinging back toward stricter penalties — and opted not to. Proposition 20 would have given prosecutors new powers to charge certain non-violent crimes as felonies and made it harder for long-time inmates to qualify for early-release consideration. As of late this afternoon, the measure is down by 24 points with the vote count continuing, and the Associated Press has projected its defeat. That’s proof, Prop. 20 opponents say, that...

By Christina Santiago, California Health Report, November 5, 2020 While I was on call in the pediatric emergency department of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, three firefighters rolled in a gurney with little girl strapped in — but she didn’t look injured. Unlike most kids arriving in an ambulance, she had no obvious injuries, no cervical collar to support her neck, no signs of bleeding and she was alert. Tracy looked to be about 4 years old and was so tiny compared to the gurney. Her...

From The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, October 2020 In partnership with the Sacramento County Division of Behavioral Health Services, The Center will award funding for eligible community-based agencies — including nonprofits, for-profits and public-private partnerships — to provide trauma-informed community outreach and engagement and support services that address mental health and wellness of the African American/Black community. Successful applicants will demonstrate understanding of...

Yesterday, millions of CA voters approved Proposition 17, restoring the right to vote to over 50,000 Californians who have completed their prison terms. Together, we have freed the vote for our community members on parole! We know how important the voices of these citizens are and we’re grateful that Californians across this state voted to include them in our democracy. Our democracy now includes more of US! For more information, visit, votersguide.sos.ca.gov by clicking HERE.

From Futures Without Violence, November 2020 Multi-Day Virtual Training Institute in February 2021 Application Deadline: Thursday, December 3, 2020 Multidisciplinary teams are invited to participate in th Building Collaborative Responses to Trafficked Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Institute. The Institute will focus on improving collaborative responses for adult/youth domestic violence and sexual assault victims who have also experienced human trafficking. As a result of...

WEBINAR RECORDING WITH SLIDES: https:// futureswithoutviolence-my. sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/ aali_futureswithoutviolence_ org/EaPTM5WcfiZOvQMBjvgq- b8BeoUJAZZSX-x3_vVWY6xRtQ?e= Xxn571 PAPER: Expansion of School-Based Health Services in California: An Opportunity for More Trauma-Informed Care for Children. SLIDES: Please see attachment. It is our hope that this is just the beginning of our journey together to develop strategies that can help California schools provide services to support...

By Amber Christ and Georgia Burke, California Health Care Foundation, October 28, 2020 One might think dual enrollment in Medicare and Medi-Cal should provide relief from health coverage worries, but many of the 1.4 million Californians with low incomes enrolled in both programs find it as much a struggle as a help. The two systems don’t always mesh. They have different criteria for services and different bureaucracies. Sometimes there are overlaps in benefits, sometimes there are gaps, and...

Before the pandemic, Sara Buckley, an 8 th grade science teacher at Park Middle School in Antioch, California, could handle students who were acting out during class. Understanding that trauma lies beneath disruptive behavior, she didn’t send kids to the principal for punishment. Instead, she’d talk with them to find out what was going on at home or outside of school—and then work out a plan for how to respond differently the next time they were triggered. They could visit the school’s...

On Monday, October 19, 2020, over 60 leaders from Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties virtually gathered to begin weaving connections at the Tri-County ACEs Aware Care Network Leadership Convening. Under the guidance of Barbara Finch (SBC Department of Social Services, KIDS Network), Terri Allison (Moonlit Consulting), and Carl Palmer (LegacyWorks Group), participants came together with the intention of learning about local implementation of the ACEs Aware initiative,...

By Taylor Walker, Witness LA, October 26, 2020 With an overall juvenile justice budget of $156 million, Alameda County spends approximately $493,000 per year for each kid in its probation-run juvenile detention facilities, says a new report from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Nearly one in three of those young people will be re-convicted after release. Alameda’s probation report for the first quarter of 2020 counts the county’s juvenile hall population at 57 kids, and Camp Sweeney’s...

By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, November 2, 2020 For the past 15 years, Bay Area resident Sonja Summerville Trotter has cycled in and out of homelessness. As with so many others, there wasn’t one single event or cause that led to her living on the streets. Her life has been complicated by post-traumatic stress disorder from painful experiences that included surviving a rape, and she has been in and out of addiction treatment and jail. In March, Summerville Trotter left...

Sharing this insightful post from the RYSE Center Facebook page . I have transcribed the text below. Please check out the original post to see these points as a series of images. Provide emotional support-- do not censor their righteous rage, anger and grief, or insist they should feel something they don't. Bear witness and be present. If you cannot do this find adults who can. Actively affirm our young people. Be the first one to say or do something that shows young people we love them, we...