Tagged With "safe spaces"
Blog Post
37th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium Recap
"Speak Out! Confronting the Culture of Child Sexual Abuse and Secrecy" was the theme of Santa Clara County's 37th Annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium which featured a Keynote conversation with Olympic Gold Medal winning gymnast and current UCLA Assistant Gymnastics Coach Jordyn Wieber. Jordyn, and other athletes and survivors of former USA Gymnastics team doctor and serial child sex abuser Larry Nassar, earlier spoke to a U.S. Senate Subcommittee about a “culture of silence” more...
Blog Post
4CA Policymaker Education Day on Childhood Adversity, July 11 in Sacramento - REGISTRATION CONFIRMED
If you registered for 4CA's Policymaker Education Day, you should have received a confirmation (looks like what is included below). If you did NOT receive confirmation please email Sara at smarques@centerforyouthwellness.org> And if you are interested in attending, there is still space. You can register at: http://www.4cakids.org/education-day/ Thank you for registering for the 4CA Policymaker Education Day on Childhood Adversity on July 11, 2017. Your registration has been confirmed! As...
Blog Post
A Guide to Creating “Safe Space” Policies for Early Childhood Programs [CLASP]
From the Center for Law and Social Policy Early childhood programs play an important role in the lives of young children and their families. But in our current immigration policy climate, families across the country are questioning whether it’s safe to attend or enroll. Providers can take steps to protect families’ safety and privacy by implementing policies that designate their facilities as a safe space from immigration enforcement. This guide explains federal agency guidance related to...
Blog Post
A Guide to Increase Mental Health Services for Students - Project Cal-Well, CA Dept of Education, 2018
This guide is created by Project Cal-Well, with input from the Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup, to assist schools and districts to build capacity to better address mental health challenges among students. Learn about Project Cal-Well See Guide attached.
Blog Post
A little hope for a homeless solution: Tiny housing units sprout in the Bay Area (sfchronicle.com)
Nearly two years after a smattering of tiny homes popped up in the Bay Area as a peculiar new way of housing homeless people, the technique is exploding from one end of the region to the other. Nearly 1,000 tiny homes or their close cousins — stackable modular housing units, typically with less than 200 square feet of living space — are being planned in San Francisco, San Jose, Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland and Santa Rosa. Planners say that’s just the beginning. “We’re very excited about...
Blog Post
Building Bridges to Resilience in Santa Barbara County
The full moon was setting and the sun was rising as organizers from KIDS Network, Children & Family Resource Services, Casa Pacifica, and the Department of Behavioral Wellness began setting up the 2019 BRIDGES TO RESILIENCE Conference on October 14 th at the beautiful Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. The stately halls and ballrooms were a flurry of activity as staff prepared to receive over 350 community members who work with children, youth and families in Santa Barbara County.
Blog Post
Built Environment Policy Advocacy Fund (BEPAF) Program Overview [preventioninstitute.org]
By Prevention Institute, January 2020 The BEPAF Request for Proposals was released on January 8, 2020 and can be accessed in the list of Resources on this page. The BEPAF Informational Webinar for Applicants will be held on January 13, 2020, from 10:00-11:00am. Register at www.tinyurl.com/BEPAFLOIWebinar . A recording of the webinar will be posted here on January 14. Please contact BEPAF@preventioninstitute.org for additional information. Built Environment Policy Advocacy Fund (BEPAF)...
Blog Post
CA Task Force on Maternal Mental Health Care - Networking Lunch, Hearing at the Capitol
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.
Blog Post
ACEs Connection Network Confab -- Northern California, May 12, 2016
About 50 people drove in from north, east, west and south of Sacramento County, CA, for our first (but not our last) confab for members of ACEsConnection.com groups in Northern California. This was one of two confabs we hosted -- the other was May 10 in Southern California. Both confabs were organized with generous support from The California Endowment. (l to r) Ben Rubin, Charlotte Ormond, Carolyn Curtis, Imani Lucas, DeAngelo Mack, Carlina Ramirez Wheeler We were very fortunate to have the...
Blog Post
ACEs Connection Network Confab -- Southern California, May 10, 2016
(l to r) Sienna, one of the teens from Youth Voice from City Heights; Dana Brown, ACEs Connection Network regional facilitator and co-founder of Youth Voice; Francisco Mendoza, CEO, Mendoza Consulting; Jessica, Youth Voice; Lizette, Youth Voice; Talitha Thompson, Youth Voice co-facilitator; Joshua Aguirre, RISE Up Industries board of directors; Stephanie Linderman, Youth Voice mentor; Arturo Soriano, Youth Empowerment co-founder; (in front) Adrian, Youth Voice.
Blog Post
An Alternative to Suspension with Trauma-Informed Dynamic Mindfulness: Building Stress Resilience, Emotion Regulation and Empathy
At the November 2019 Northern California Safe and Healthy Schools Conference at UC Berkeley, Niroga Program Managers Sam Weiss and Fatima Ahmed facilitated a session incorporating the theory and practice of Dynamic Mindfulness (DMind) to a standing room only crowd.
Blog Post
California Child Trauma Advocates Eye Policy Impact
Jeremy Loudenback from the Chronicle of Social Change posted a story about last week's California Policy Convening on Childhood Adversity that the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) hosted in San Diego. Here's the beginning: Last...
Blog Post
California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative’s “Enhancing the Collective Vision” Slides Are Available and Opportunity to Participate in an Orientation Webinar
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative convened more than 65 stakeholders on Friday, July 12, 2019 to assess the current state of collective action around adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); align EfC Initiative goals and project interventions with existing efforts; identify mutually reinforcing activities; and establish a collective agreement on how to strategically promote Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships, and Environments (SSNR&E), to prevent and reduce child...
Blog Post
Update: Stand Up for Immigrant Families in California [The Children's Movement in CA]
Two weeks ago, the President announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would begin the process of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants across the country. While these raids were temporarily halted, new information suggests that ICE may begin conducting enforcement actions in 10 cities, including San Francisco, as early as this Sunday, July 14. In California, where many kids are growing up in “mixed status” families (where some members are citizens and others are...
Blog Post
Want to see the play about treating youth trauma, TRIGGER, in your area?
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.
Blog Post
Webinar Slides and Recording: Transformational Resilience for Climate Change Traumas and Toxic Stresses with Bob Doppelt
Recorded live October 28, 2019. Find the slides attached below. The webinar recording: You will learn: how climate change creates personal, family, and community traumas and toxic stresses; how those traumatic stressors trigger feedbacks that expand and aggravate ACEs and many other person, social, community, and societal maladies; why current approaches are woefully inadequate to address what is already occurring and rapidly steaming toward us and why prevention is the only realistic...
Blog Post
When Being Trauma-Informed Is Not Enough
Trauma-informed care is the new gold standard. For the last several years, Echo has been providing professional development in trauma-informed care but we’re beginning to notice a worrying aspect of the new push to train staff and transform systems. Some human service professionals are seeing ‘trauma-informed care’ as another skill to add to their resume or a box to check off on a grant proposal. But if the information stays with the professionals and is not used to empower survivors, then...
Blog Post
Wisconsin state agencies end year one of trauma-informed learning community; goal is to be first trauma-informed state
Here in California, many people think that it’s only liberal Democrats who have a corner on championing the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and putting it into practice. That might be because people who use ACEs science don’t expel or suspend students, even if they’re throwing chairs and hurling expletives at the teacher. They ask "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?" as a frame when they create juvenile detention centers where kids don’t fight, reduce...
Blog Post
Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing. At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the...
Blog Post
Simple & Fun Yoga Lesson Plan
I wanted to share an outline of my Yoga Lesson Plan that I do with my preschool class. It is easy and fun to do with any age group, especially on a rainy or cold day. If you are not familiar with yoga or yoga poses, there are millions of videos, tutorials, and charts that are available online. Preparation Move all furniture out of the way to create a large open space Implement some type of yoga mat or defined space for each child (carpet squares as yoga mats) Turn off or dim the lights Play...
Blog Post
Simulation Participants Learn the High Cost of Being Low Income [mercurynews.com]
By Anne Gelhaus, Bay Area News Group, November 4, 2019 Jack Jolly, 25, almost lost his job for being late, had his pay withheld and got evicted, all with in the space of a month—or an hour, depending on your perspective. Jack was the role played by Kyle (participants didn’t give last names) in a Nov. 2 poverty simulation staged by West Valley Community Services and the city of Cupertino, in partnership with Step Up Silicon Valley. Kyle was one of about 30 participants who each adopted the...
Blog Post
Small wonders: Chico State professor offers lessons in tiny-house villages [NewsReview.com]
From TV shows such as Tiny House Hunters to books such as The Big Tiny, the notion of living a smaller-scale life has large-scale awareness. “People are overhoused,” said Mark Stemen, Chico State professor of geography and planning, noting how the average American takes the same amount of residential space that two generations ago sufficed for an entire family. The popular—and popularized—approach to downsizing is the tiny home that resembles an RV, with comforts of...
Blog Post
Sonoma County ranks among top 5 healthiest in California [Pressdemocrat.com]
For years, local politicians, county health officials and health care professionals have been talking about making Sonoma County the healthiest county in the state by 2020, a goal that is at the heart of numerous local health, education and socio-economic initiatives. In 2011, Sonoma County ranked 12th among 56 California counties surveyed in the first County Health Rankings by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It took three years for the county to break into the top 10, reaching eighth.
Blog Post
Starting Now: A Policy Vision for Supporting the Healthy Growth and Development of Every California Baby [ChildrenNow.org]
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...
Blog Post
State Dropping Ball in Dealing With Childhood Trauma, New Report Says [CaliforniaHealthline.org]
The lowest of 31 grades issued in the 2016 California Children's Report Card released on Wednesday was for dealing with the effects of childhood trauma. In Children Now's biennial assessment of the status of California kids, researchers gave the state a "D-" for how it deals with childhood trauma. The report contends that children who experience traumatic problems such as abuse, neglect and witnessing violence at home can suffer serious long-term consequences, including health...
Blog Post
RockSoberFest 2019 Boonville California
Sitting under redwood trees and listening to great music with a community of people was how I experienced RockSoberFest 2019. The three day event, in the small town of Boonville in Northern California was organized to provide a safe space for people in recovery to have fun with friends and family. “Our goal is to provide a great weekend of fun, fellowship, friends, family while enjoying music. A grass-roots organization trying to create a place where performers who are clean and sober can...
Blog Post
RYSE Center's Listening Campaign: Young people in Richmond, CA help adults understand trauma, violence, coping, and healing
"My experience with violence is very brutal...I grew up with violence as if it were my sibling." - LC participant (youth) "We know we can't run the city- it's too complex- but our experience and our voices should count, especially because we're the most effected ." - LC participant (youth) "Our city's problems are shared by us all; we are all part of the problem AND the solution. Listening is a key component to healing." - LC Share Out partici pant (adult) Three years ago, RYSE Center in...
Blog Post
San Diego training opportunity with Dr. Felitti and members of the Academy on Violence and Abuse
The 30th annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment kicks off next week at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. This annual event brings an estimated 1,800 - 2,000 multidisciplinary professionals in the child abuse field from around the world each year. This year, the Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA) is hosting one of the preconference sessions on Sunday, January 24th from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM. This session, titled: Building Trauma...
Blog Post
Systems Transformation for the Better Normal: Follow-up Slides and Call Recording
Find in this post the slides from the Systems Transformation Better Normal call, featuring RYSE Youth Center's Associate Director Kanwarpal Dhaliwal. A link to the call recording is also provided.
Blog Post
The California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review [ CMQCC, CDPH, MCAH, PHI]
New reports, recently released: The California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (CA-PAMR) is a statewide, in-depth examination of deaths while pregnant or within one year after end of pregnancy, which aims to identify the cause and timing of death, factors that contributed to the death, and improvement opportunities in maternity care and support, with the ultimate goal to reduce preventable deaths and associated health disparities. CA-PAMR is a collaborative effort between the Maternal,...
Blog Post
Trauma-informed groups rev up to address race, inclusion
Eighteen-year-old Kia Hanson has always enjoyed her time as a youth leader at the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC). She’s worked mostly with five- and six-year-olds since she began in 2016. Recently, she tapped into new skills, especially if the kids were having a meltdown. Kia Hanson “If they’re off, we ask them, ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘Do you want to talk about anything?’,” she explains. “Basically asking before assuming they’re mad at the world for no reason.” What made the...
Blog Post
Trauma Informed Public Health Nursing Visits to Parents and Children (publication pending in Public Health Nursing)
Sonoma County Field Nursing's Liz George and Julianne Ballard have been busy! Together they lead an effort to develop a PHN home visiting model that integrates ACEs science! Their research will soon be published in The Journal of Public Health Nursing ! Here is the abstract: Trauma Informed Public Health Nursing Visits to Parents and Children (publication pending in Public Health Nursing) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) research has demonstrated a strong correlation between a traumatic...
Blog Post
Trauma Transformed launches regional effort in San Francisco Bay Area
Nearly 300 impassioned and committed people crowded into the Green Room at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center last week to launch Trauma Transformed. Known as T2, the regional effort representing the San Francisco...
Blog Post
Upcoming Training in California Worth Considering
As parents of 4 young children and career education professionals working in special education in rural Washington State - my wife and I embarked on an "adoption journey" through a number of events several years ago. In addition to drawing from our...
Blog Post
Darrell Hammond, Subject of Cracked Up, Will Be Joining Twitter Chat!!
Saturday Night Live veteran Darrell Hammond will be joining the live Twitter Town Hall i mmediately following the virtual screening of Cracked Up! T he documentary film details the long term effects of childhood trauma, told through Darrell’s personal journey in discovering adverse childhood experiences at the root of his lifelong battle with self-harm, addiction, and misdiagnosis. Please join us for this unique chance to hear directly from Darrell Hammond, joined by the film’s director,...
Blog Post
Do you live in Arizona, Hawaii, California, Nevada or the US Pacific Islands? Come to our no-cost mental and school mental health Winter Institute!
Do you live in Arizona, Hawaii, California, Nevada or the US Pacific Islands?If so...Check it out! 👇 NO COST. MENTAL HEALTH & SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH WORKFORCE. AMAZING FACULTY. JANUARY 14, 15, & 16th! LONG BEACH, CA. JOIN US. 🤝 👏 Learn more here: http://bit.ly/mhttc-winterinstitute-flyer Register here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07egq2f9gaebafa6bd&llr=8wdk4ubab
Blog Post
Dozens of stakeholders representing thousands of practitioners send public comments on Calif. ACEs-screening plan
Update: We posted this story on Tuesday evening and received a response from the Department of Health Care Services Wednesday that clarifies additional information. DHCS information Officer Katharine Weir said that subject to budget approval by the legislature and the governor: The reimbursement rate will be $29. Federally Qualified Health Centers will also be reimbursed for screening pediatric patients for trauma through Prop 56 funds and federal matching funds. In response to a question...
Blog Post
During COVID-19, how does a trauma-informed school pivot to distance learning?
Antioch Middle School seventh-grader Alyssia Garcia was accustomed to scanning the cafeteria during lunch for kids who might need her assistance. “I’d look for kids who looked sad, kids who were sitting alone, kids who looked angry,” says Garcia, a peer advocate at her school. Alyssia Garcia When she’d spot students sitting alone or looking sad, she’d approach them and ease into conversation. “If it’s a sad person, I’ll try to cheer them up or ask them what the problem is,” she says. “If...
Blog Post
Early childhood educators learn new ways to spot trauma triggers, build resilience in preschoolers
A hug may be comforting to many children, but for a child who has experienced trauma it may not feel safe.
That’s an example used by Julie Kurtz, co-director of trauma informed practices in early childhood education at the WestEd Center for Child & Family Studies (CCFS), as she begins a trauma training session. Her audience, preschool teachers and staff of the San Francisco-based Wu Yee Children’s Services at San Francisco’s Women’s Building, listen attentively.
Blog Post
Early childhood educators learn new ways to spot trauma triggers, build resilience in preschoolers
A hug may be comforting to many children, but for a child who has experienced trauma it may not feel safe.
That’s an example used by Julie Kurtz, co-director of trauma informed practices in early childhood education at the WestEd Center for Child & Family Studies (CCFS), as she begins a trauma training session. Her audience, preschool teachers and staff of the San Francisco-based Wu Yee Children’s Services at San Francisco’s Women’s Building, listen attentively.
Blog Post
Early Discount 20th Annual Families & Fathers Conference
Call to action- Fathers and Families Coalition of America is nearing the 20th Annual Families and Fathers Conference, March 4-7, 2019 in Los Angeles, California with a comprehensive program that hosts presenters from the United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Bolivia and throughout the United States. We are providing the conference information for your consideration to participate. We are asking you to share this conference information with your community...
Blog Post
El Dorado ACEs Collaborative Celebrates its 3rd Year of Accomplishments!
12.5 percent of people have 4 or more ACEs. FOUR! This statistic really hit me today as I attended my second El Dorado ACEs Collaborative meeting since starting my time with El Dorado County as a Community Health Advocate. I work in the Community Hubs program in which ACEs is at the heart of all we do, and today’s meeting solidified the importance of that. ACEs are a new topic to me but a fascinating one at that. I didn’t realize prior to coming to EDC that so much of a person’s overall...
Blog Post
Foster & Homeless Legislative Training on 10/21 in Sac
Placer County Office of Education (COE) and Sacramento COE are hosting a Foster & Homeless Legislative Training on October 21, 2019 in Sacramento. Spaces are still available and the registration link is included in the attached flyer. Focus of Training: Learn about state and federal laws intended to improve educational opportunities, school stability, and academic/social outcomes for foster and homeless youth, from legal experts at the National Center for Youth Law. Target Audience: •...
Blog Post
Four Week Course in Kelseyville, CA: A Practice in Mindful Awareness and Compassion
New at A POSITIVE LIGHT meditation center. Joanie Lane will be offering a 4 week course. Beginning Monday March 16 at 7pm and each consecutive Monday for 4 weeks(March 16, March 23, March 30, April 6) each 90 minutes. Offered on a donation basis. ~No one turned away for lack of funds~ Designed as an introductory course to both beginning and seasoned mindfulness practitioners. With easy to learn, yet powerful, tools to create more happiness and a better quality of life. This course offers...
Blog Post
FREE Resilience Workshop (8/16/19) on How to Support Someone Who Has Experienced Trauma
Join us at Berkeley City College for a free workshop, How To Support Someone Who Has Experienced Trauma. Event flyer attached.
Blog Post
From One Survivor to Another, Helping Survivors of Human Trafficking Escape and Stay Safe [sandiegotribune.com]
By Lisa Deaderick, The San Diego Tribune, December 22, 2019 Marjorie Saylor remembers a woman who was looking for help leaving her trafficker. The woman was pregnant and waiting for a bed at a shelter to open up, but she had to wait on the street, alone and in the cold. Her trafficker found her and took her with him. “I never heard from her again. She only had a week left to go before her bed opened up, but the two weeks she toughed it out waiting on the street kept her in harm’s reach,”...
Blog Post
journal article: Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools
Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am . 2012 January Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools Sheryl Kataoka, MD, MSHS, Audra Langley, PhD, Marleen Wong, PhD, Shilpa Baweja, MA, and Bradley Stein, MD, PhD The prevalence of trauma exposure among youth is a major public health concern, with a third of adolescents nationally reporting that they have been in a physical fight in the past twelve months and 9% having been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. Studies have...
Blog Post
KQED and the SF Homeless Project [KQED.org]
This is from Holly Kernan, executive director of KQED News: KQED will be part of a remarkable media collaboration highlighting the issue of homelessness in the Bay Area. More than 70 news organizations have come together to ask some crucial questions: Why do we seem to be seeing so many more individuals living in tents on our streets? What is being done to address the growing housing affordability and availability crisis? You can read the SF Homeless Project's letter of intent here . KQED...
Blog Post
Measure U-Funded "Pop-Up" Program Strives to Lessen Teen Violence With Safe Spaces, Job Opportunities [capradio.org]
By Sammy Caiola, CapRadio, February 12, 2020 A repurposed elementary school in South Sacramento served as a hang-out space for dozens of middle and high schoolers on Saturday morning. They danced, checked in with neighborhood leaders and played life-sized table games such as Jenga and Connect Four. Around the room, nonprofit groups and private employers sat at tables to discuss job opportunities. These “community pop-ups”, as organizers call them, offer low-income teens a place to spend time...
Blog Post
More funding for full-day kindergarten questioned as many low-income California schools already offer it [Ed Source]
Funding proposed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to expand full-day kindergarten would not likely benefit many low-income communities, where the greatest need is more programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, according to a new analysis. Among Newsom’s sweeping budget proposals for early childhood is a one-time investment of $750 million for school districts to expand full-day kindergarten programs by building or renovating classroom space. “Attendance in kindergarten is beneficial to a child’s...