Tagged With "social safety net"
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A New Suite of Data on Safeguards for Youth
Safeguards for Youth is a compilation of the latest data on promoting California children’s health and well-being. The data describe protective factors and supportive services, both of which are critical to building a solid foundation for life and addressing the effects of childhood adversity. Protective factors highlight the importance of preventive health care, a strong start in education, and a nurturing school community. Supportive services address adverse experiences such as health...
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A Smarter System: Addressing Social Determinants of Health as a Cost-Saving Measure
by Edward Schor, MD, Senior Vice President at the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health The importance of social factors in determining individuals’ health status and their use of health care services has been receiving increasing attention. A recent report from the Bipartisan Policy Center suggests that opportunities to control health care costs reside primarily in addressing patients’ social and behavioral care needs. The report lays out the arguments for integrating social and...
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Back to Our Roots: Catalyzing Community Action for Mental Health and Wellbeing [preventioninstitute.org]
Mental health is at the heart many of the challenges we face, including trauma and adverse childhood experiences, social isolation, institutionalized bias and discrimination, and ‘diseases of despair’ that manifest in depression, suicide, and substance misuse. Addressing social determinants of health is key to helping communities navigate adversity, heal, and flourish. PI’s new report, Back to Our Roots: Catalyzing Community Action for Mental Health and Wellbeing , illustrates how improving...
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Board of State and Community Corrections Awards $96m In Prop 47 Grants
SACRAMENTO (June 13, 2019) – The Board of State and Community Corrections today approved grant awards from a voter initiative that reduces from felonies to misdemeanors certain low-level crimes and directs state savings to programs primarily focused on mental health and substance-use disorder treatment. It is the second round of Proposition 47 funding approved by the Board, to which voters allocated the bulk of the state savings for rehabilitative grants targeting Prop 47-impacted...
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Building Community Health
Dr Sandy Escobar is transforming healthcare in East Palo Alto, one family at a time.
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CA looks to cast broader safety net for foster youth [CabinetReport.com]
(Calif.) Legislation set for a final Senate floor vote sometime in the next week would significantly recast the public school systems safety net for foster youth by, among other things, creating regional support networks overseen by...
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ACEs screening in CA — a Q and A with Dr. Dayna Long
Last year, the California Department of Health Care Services rolled out its plans for universal screening for trauma among its pediatric and adult Medicaid population. Beginning January 1, 2020, California physicians were able to receive an incentive payment of $29 for each pediatric patient screened for ACEs using the PEARLs ( Pediatrics Adverse Childhood and Resilience Study) tool. Dr. Dayna Long talked with ACEs Connection staff reporter Laurie Udesky about ACEs science, what led to the...
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Addressing Homelessness Is High on Governor Newsom’s Agenda [chcf.org]
By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, March 2, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom made an unconventional move in his second annual State of the State address — he devoted almost the entire speech to California’s housing and homelessness crisis. It is clearly on the minds of many Californians. A recent CHCF and SSRS statewide poll found that more than 8 out of 10 state residents say addressing homelessness is an “extremely important” or “very important” issue. “The problem has...
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Announcement: Technical Assistance Grant [cdss.ca.gov]
From California Department of Social Services, December 19, 2019 The California Department of Social Services’ (CDSS) Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) is pleased to announce the availability of funds for a Technical Assistance Program. The Technical Assistance Program will provide technical assistance (TA) to counties and prevention partners participating in collaborative child abuse and neglect prevention initiatives in California for fiscal years (FY) 2020-23. The OCAP is seeking an...
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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...
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Urban Crime Trends Remain Stable Through California's Policy Reform Era (2010-2016) Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Newly released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statistics for the first six months of 2016 show California’s reported urban crime rate remained stable from 2010 through 2016, despite the implementation of large-scale criminal justice reforms during that period. The report finds that: Total urban crime fell 3 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to the first half of 2015. This decline was driven by a 4 percent reduction in property offenses and a 4 percent increase in reported...
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WEBINAR: Preventing Child Neglect by Building Protective Factors on 2/14
Join Strengthening Families for a webinar on Thursday, February 14, 12-1pm. Explore ways that it is "Everyone's Responsibility" to help prevent child neglect and how building protective factors at all levels of the social ecology can be an effective strategy to prevent child neglect. The session will include segments from one of the training sequences from the National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds' new four-part training, "Let's Talk About . . . Preventing Child...
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Webinar readies doctors for universal ACEs screening in Ca and beyond
Editor’s note: Governor Gavin Newsom set aside federal funds and funds through Proposition 56 that will reimburse health care providers for screening patients in the Medi-Cal program for trauma beginning July 1 using the CPT code 96160. Notably the Department of Health Care Services recommended in March that only California providers using the PEARLS tool to screen pediatric patients will be reimbursed. ACEs Connection has made repeated public records requests for public comments submitted...
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What the ACEs Screening Movement Can Learn from the Healthcare Hotspotting Movement
No brief intervention or short-term infusion of services is a silver bullet that will overcome the long-term harm caused by structural racism, poverty, and multi-generational trauma.
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Women’s Well-Being Index, interactive map [California Budget and Policy Center]
California Women's Well-Being Index In Partnership With the Women's Foundation of California Women's Well-Being Index: Overall When women thrive, their families and communities prosper . Yet despite decades of progress, women still face persistent disparities on a range of issues, from economic security to health to participation in political leadership. By viewing women’s well-being as encompassing various distinct yet interrelated components, policymakers, advocates, service providers, and...
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Workshop in Oakland, CA: Adverse Childhood Experiences: Health and Mental Health Consequences
Drs. Vincent Felitti and John Preston will do a presentation about ACEs from 1-5 pm, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, at Kaiser Center Auditorium, 300 Lakeside Drive, 2nd floor, in Oakland, CA. The course is sponsored by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Mental Health Training Program. This is the course description: [The workshop organizers say that this workshop is not limited to licensed professionals, but anyone who is interested. Seats are limited, and...
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Young children are hardest to count but have most at stake in 2020 census [dailycal.org]
By Kim Goll, The Daily Californian, May 8, 2020 Today in California, there are an estimated 210,000 children younger than 6 hiding in plain sight — they weren’t counted in the last U.S. census. As a result, communities in our state missed out on a decade’s worth of crucial funding for programs to support them, including those that provide basic necessities such as food, shelter and health care. The census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and determines how billions of dollars of federal...
Ask the Community
Anyone using MHSA or other funds in innovative ways to address ACEs or trauma?
Question: Please share examples of innovative uses of existing funding to address ACEs and trauma. For example, Mental Health Services Act has a funding category called "Innovative Projects" which might be a way to fund ACEs and trauma related efforts. Are you aware of any CA communities that have found ways to utilize MHSA or other funds in unexpected ways - that have the potential of addressing trauma and ACEs? See below and attached for more background re MHSA. Background: The CA...
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Social distance puts squeeze on multigenerational homes [sfchronicle.com]
By Otis R. Taylor Jr., San Francisco Chronicle, April 10, 2020 Gerardo Peña can’t pay this month’s $2,700 rent for Right-Way Shoe Repair on College Avenue in Oakland, a store he’s owned for 16 years. He also can’t pay the $2,300 he owes for Shoe Clinic, the sister repair shop less than 2 miles away on Piedmont Avenue. He’s owned that store for seven years. “I know he’s stressed out,” Leslie Peña said about her father. “I think everybody is.” [ Please click here to read more .]
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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...
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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...
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Strategies to Stabilize and Sustain Youth Behavioral Health During COVID-19 [cachildrenstrust.org]
By Claudia Page, California Children's Trust, April 10, 2020 The nation’s health care system is in the midst of unprecedented transformation as it responds to the COVID-19 crisis. The crisis provides an opportunity to rethink care for the state’s most vulnerable children and youth who receive behavioral health services through Medi-Cal and the health and human services safety net. In this brief, California Children's Trust outlines three specific and immediate actions counties are taking to...
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Strengthening Families Webinar: Technical Assistance Clinic
Join a webinar on Thursday, June 13, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT , to get answers to your questions about Strengthening Families implementation and help answer other people's questions! You can submit questions in advance by emailing cailin.oconnor@cssp. org or typing them in during the webinar. We will also hear from the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and the National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds about new resources and opportunities. To register:...
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Rich, poor: California’s split personality (capitolweekly.net)
Two recent studies have confirmed it: In California, poverty exists in the most unlikely places. First, a Gallup-Healthways State of American Well-Being study lists five California regional areas as among the best places to be in the country. In the top 20 among the 189 places ranked, Santa Cruz-Watsonville is in third place nationally, San Luis Obispo — Paso Robles was seventh, Santa Barbara – Santa Maria was 12th, Santa Rosa was 17th and Salinas was 19th. The rankings are based on criteria...
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Richmond High School students confront demands of social distancing [edsource.org]
By Marina Knowles, EdSource, April 9, 2020 Shutting down California to control the spread of the coronavirus requires everyone to cooperate. Gov. Gavin Newsom urged young people to take the crisis seriously and stay indoors and at least six feet from others after commenting on the tragic loss of a Lancaster teenager who died of COVID-19. He went on to say: “Young people can and will be impacted by this virus. In fact, young people disproportionately are the ones testing positive in the state...
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RWJF Issue Brief Series on Social Determinants of Health
Paula Braverman of the The Center on Social Disparities of Health writes: In 2009-2011 and 2014 The Center on Social Disparities of Health worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to produce a series of issue briefs on the social determinants of health that would have solid scholarship but be aimed at a wide, non-technical audience. A number of people who teach graduate or undergraduate courses are using these issue briefs as core curricular materials. RWJF and we would be...
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Screening for Childhood Trauma
Dr. Ken Epstein has been in the social services sector for nearly four decades and has witnessed firsthand the long-term effects of trauma. As both the son and father of fellow social workers, the work runs in his blood. Now, he’s helping Bay Area health clinics screen for and address childhood trauma through the Resilient Beginnings Collaborative (RBC), led by Center for Care Innovations (CCI) and made possible by Genentech.
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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.
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The Economics of Child Abuse: A Study of California
While the impact of maltreatment on a child and their family is devastating, child maltreatment also has serious effects far beyond those for the victim. Maltreatment results in ongoing costs to taxpayers, institutions, businesses, and society at large. Local communities bear the brunt of these costs in the form of medical, educational, and judicial costs, though more tragic signs are seen in homelessness, addiction, and teen pregnancy. To create a concrete understanding of the widespread...
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The Population Health Learning Network [CHCF]
In partnership with the Center for Care Innovations (CCI) and Blue Shield of California Foundation, CHCF launched the Population Heath Learning Network in March 2018. The PHLN aims to improve the health and well-being of more than 1.2 million Californians by bringing together safety-net primary care organizations to strengthen and advance their population health management strategies. There is ample evidence supporting the implementation of population health management approaches in primary...
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TIC, MTSS and everything in between!
Join us! Offered April 9th or May 7th in Sacramento California! Addressing Social and Emotional Learning by using research-based, behavior-focused strategies for staff, students & families, building resilience in our schools and communities. Anxiety and depression in students is running rampant. Workplace stress for educators and staff as well as rising litigation costs for schools are also top concerns for communities across the country. How can we reduce tension and improve how staff,...
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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...
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UC Davis, Poverty Research & Policy Summit, April 22, 2016,
The Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis is one of three federally designated centers whose mission is to facilitate non-partisan academic research on poverty in the U.S., disseminate this research, and train the next generation of poverty scholars. Their research agenda includes four themed areas of focus: labor markets and poverty, children and intergenerational transmission of poverty, the non-traditional safety net, and immigration. UC Davis Poverty Research and Policy Summit- Please...
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UPDATE: SCOTUS Public Charge Ruling Will Put Immigrant Families and Children at Risk (information below from the Center for the Study of Social Policy)
On Tuesday, January 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) allowed the Trump administration to enforce the "public charge" rule, denying certain immigrants to gain permanent resident if they're likely to need government assistance to basic needs like food, shelter, and health care. The SCOTUS 5-4 decision on the public charge rule, previously overturned by lower courts, broadens the definition of public charge to an immigrant who receives one or more public benefits for more than 12...
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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...
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DULCE helps pediatricians in Oakland, CA, prevent toxic stress in newborns
On a recent day in early March, Laura Lopez met a former patient of hers in the waiting room of Highland Hospital’s pediatric clinic in Oakland, CA. The patient had forgotten her Medi-Cal card and called Lopez asking for help. But in the brief conversation, Lopez, a family specialist with the DULCE program, learned about some dire changes in the patient’s life. Laura Lopez “Without me even asking, she shared with me that she had separated from her partner, that she needs to apply for food...
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Emergency Child Care for Foster Families [saccounty.net]
By Sacramento County, SacCounty News, January 9, 2020 To recruit more loving families for children in foster care, Sacramento County is making it easier to find and afford childcare services for resource families. The Emergency Child Care Bridge Program’s goal is to increase the number of resource families for children in foster care by helping families find the right child care provider, connecting families to long-term child care subsidies, and by providing vouchers to pay for childcare...
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Expect More Tehama Education Summit Addresses Social-Emotional Learning [redbluffdailynews.com]
By Julie Zeeb, Red Bluff Daily News, November 20, 2019 Educators and community members converged Wednesday at Red Bluff’s State Theatre for the 11th annual Expect More Tehama education summit. “This year the focus was on social-emotional learning and how we can support it and become a social-emotional community through science, education and self-awareness in the community in both the private and public sector,” said Steering Committee member Kathy Garcia. “We are super excited to have Kyla...
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Facing Rising Homelessness, Los Angeles Adds Hundreds of Beds for Older Foster Youths [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
By Jeremy Loudenback, The Chronicle of Social Change, November 15, 2019 The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to boost housing options for transition-age foster youth at its meeting on Tuesday. Two separate investments totaling nearly $9.4 million will open up 237 transitional beds for foster youth at the greatest risk of homelessness over the next year. “Youth transitioning out of foster care have often experienced significant trauma throughout their young lives,” said...
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For Some Students, Hunger Is Part Of The College Experience [CaliforniaHealthline.org]
When Marci Maxey’s father moved to Texas to take care of her ailing grandmother last August, the Sacramento resident found herself alone for the first time in her life. She was taking classes at a community college and didn’t have a job. She had some money from her family, but it wasn’t enough to live on. “There were times when I felt that maybe I’m not going to be able to have enough food,” she said. Because Maxey qualified for her college’s work-study program, she was eligible for food...
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Lesson learned integrating ACEs science into health clinics: Staff first, THEN patients
Nearly two years ago, a team of colleagues at LifeLong Medical Clinics jumped at the opportunity to integrate practices based on ACEs science to prevent and heal trauma in their patients when it joined a two-year learning collaborative known as the Resilient Beginnings Collaborative (RBC). A few months after training began, the staff realized they had to put on the brakes.
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Looking for online training and consulting?
Looking for tools to help your organization or community integrate a trauma-informed and resilience-building approach? At Origins, we offer training courses to support you from your aha moment to your action plan. It all starts with The Basics, a 90-minute online training that will provide you with an overview of the key concepts behind a trauma-informed approach. When you’re ready to move from aha to action, sign up for The Resilience Champion Certificate, a self-paced 6-week online training...
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Los Angeles County Probation Now Under Civilian Oversight, With Subpoena Power [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
By Jeremy Loudenback, The Chronicle of Social Change, October 4, 2019 On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a civilian oversight body for the the county’s Probation Department that can make unannounced visits and legally compel documents and witnesses. In recent years, the county’s Probation Department has been under fire for conditions at juvenile detention facilities overseen by the department. The department has struggled with reports of excessive use of force...
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Mental Health Focus of New Youth Program in Torrance and Long Beach [presstelegram.com]
By Nick Green, Press-Telegram, October 7, 2019 A fast- emerging youth mental health crisis linked to excessive screen time, loneliness and social media addiction has prompted a Torrance and Long Beach nonprofit group to create a program aimed at countering escalating rates of anxiety and depression caused by the pursuit of an Instagram-like culture of online perfection. Indeed, The Volunteer Center South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach realized when angst-riven youth reach adulthood, they may not be...
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New Grant Opportunity & Program for Bay Area Health Centers: Resilient Beginnings Collaborative
In partnership with Genentech Charitable Giving, the Center for Care Innovations is excited to launch the Resilient Beginnings Collaborative . We’ll select 5-7 Bay Area organizations to participate in this 24-month learning and action community dedicated to addressing childhood adversity in pediatric safety net care settings. We’ll provide access to technical expertise, in-person convenings, site visits to exemplars, and coaching, as well as $80,000 grants to each participating team. If you...
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New Research Shows Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress Costs $112.5 Billion per Year to California [acesaware.org]
By Cate Powers, ACEs Aware, February 28, 2020 The California Surgeon General today shares new research from the Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation (PIRE) that identifies the health-related costs of Adverse Childhood Experiences and toxic stress to California cost $112.5 billion annually. This estimate includes direct ACEs-related health care expenditures totaling $10.5 billion annually, with an additional $102 billion in the cost of disease burden, including premature death and...