Tagged With "Amy Cooper"

In the late afternoon on Feb. 26, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H. Res. 443 , a resolution recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma-informed care and calling for a national trauma awareness month and trauma-informed awareness day. The impetus for the resolution resides with the First Lady of Wisconsin, Tonette Walker, who has taken a strong leadership role in advancing trauma-informed policy and practice statewide through Fostering Futures , and has elevated...

The woman used a thick extension cord on her foster children. Welts rose. Bruises formed. Fear became the norm inside the Watts neighborhood home in Los Angeles where LaToya Cooper and six other children were sent to live. But no one believed the then-fifth grader. Not Cooper’s teachers. Not the police. [For more on this story by Susan Abram, go to https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/child-welfare-2/california-considers-a-bat-signal-for-foster-youth-in-distress/30903 ]

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...

One June day in 1983, a California professor drove over to a neighbor’s house to pick up his 11-year-old son from a sleepover. Nobody answered the door, so the professor peered through a window — and saw a ghastly panorama of blood. The professor found his son stabbed to death, along with the bodies of Peggy and Doug Ryen, the homeowners. The Ryens’ 10-year-old daughter was also dead, with 46 wounds, but their 8-year-old son was still breathing. This quadruple murder began a travesty that is...

Trauma is the theme of the 2018 SAMHSA-sponsored (U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day on May 10 th (7-9:00 pm ET) . The virtual town hall, “Partnering for Health and Hope Following Trauma,” will focus on taking an integrated health approach to support children, youth, and young adults who have experienced trauma. The goal of Awareness Days in general is “to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health and...

Yesterday, NPR published the following story: CLICK HERE "Childhood trauma causes serious health repercussions throughout life and is a public health issue that calls for concerted prevention efforts. That's the takeaway of a report published Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experiencing traumatic things as a child puts you at risk for lifelong health effects, according to a body of research. The CDC's new report confirms this, finding that Americans who had...

SONOMA COUNTY CA written by Marcy Cooper I want to thank our community groups, the Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, CHP, the selection committee, and the full Homeless Task Force . It has been voted and recommended that the Patrick McCaffrey Foundation receive $300,000 for building tiny houses, buying land, having an outreach team, and transporting folks as needed - thus saving vital services for locals living between Sea Ranch and Forestville. Here is a short synopsis of one part that...

By Sonrisa Cooper and Sylvia Chi, Cal Matters, June 4, 2020 The recent tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic and high-profile incidents of police violence against black people have shown us that our country has a deep and visceral need for racial justice. Whether we are talking about a global pandemic, climate change or police brutality, people of color, especially black communities, are always hit first and hardest, and this has to change. We have a collective moral imperative to do better by...

People are angry. Angry about institutional racism, angry about racial profiling, angry about police brutality, and angry about so many other displays of inequity that are happening in our country. People of color have always been marginalized in our society and people of all colors are finally saying enough is enough.

By Sydney Johnson, EdSource, June 10, 2020 California schools were already undergoing a transformation to the way science is taught across the state before campuses were forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic. During the last few months of school, science teachers had to use a variety of tools to keep science lessons going at a safe distance, from at-home experiments to virtual simulations. The pandemic has forced teachers to adapt goals and lessons to a virtual setting where...

CWA Flash Newsletter - October 13, 2020 (Blue text=hyperlinks) Report on WIC Role in Reducing Maternal Mortality The National WIC Association released a report titled " The Role of WIC in Reducing Maternal Mortality ." NWA’s Maternal Mortality Task Force created the report to consider ways in which maternal mortality is addressed and discussed with program participants throughout the WIC appointment, as well as explore opportunities for additional focus on the topic. The report highlights...

American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) in collaboration with the Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA), the California Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (CAPSAC), and the Center for Innovation and Resources, Inc. (CIR), are working to support California's ACEsAware initiative. The CALIFORNIA ACES ACADEMY webinar series is one effort to promote and educate MediCal providers and others about the ACEsAware initiative throughout the state. To register for a...

Californians have experienced an alarming epidemic of adverse childhood experiences. Between 2011 and 2017, 60 percent of Californians reported experiencing at least one type of childhood adversity; about 16 percent experienced four or more. People who experience four or more ACEs are 1.5 times as likely to have heart disease, 1.9 times as likely to have a stroke, and 3.2 times as likely to have asthma as people who have experienced no ACEs. (For more information about ACEs and ACEs science,...

State of California HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY California’s health and human services leaders today issued the following joint statement on the Biden Administration’s announcement that it will no longer enforce the 2019 public charge final rule. Joint statement from California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly; California Department of Social Services Director Kim Johnson; California Department of Public Health Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón;...

During February the Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) and the Child Welfare Policy and Program Development Bureau (CWPPDB) , worked together to host a two-day FFPSA Summit. Stakeholders from across the State were invited to learn more about FFPSA and engage in conversations pertaining to candidacy, evidence-based practices, evaluation methodologies and fiscal considerations. The summit featured keynote speakers: Robin Jenkins PhD., Khush Cooper PhD., Clare Anderson MSW., Daniel Webster...

Medical Advocacy in the Face of Discrimination presented by Sharon Cooper, MD, FAAP Thursday, May 27, 2021 | 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm (PT) There is a significant impact on the body, mind, and spirit when racism is a part of a child and adolescent’s life experiences. The historical impact of systemic racism affects how families of color will parent their children, and at times intentionally overlook discriminatory treatment for fear of retaliation against their child. This realization has not been...

Medical Advocacy in the Face of Discrimination presented by Sharon Cooper, MD, FAAP Thursday, May 27, 2021 | 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm (PT) There is a significant impact on the body, mind, and spirit when racism is a part of a child and adolescent’s life experiences. The historical impact of systemic racism affects how families of color will parent their children, and at times intentionally overlook discriminatory treatment for fear of retaliation against their child. This realization has not been...

The circumstances were already tragic. The parents of a three-year-old dying from hydranencephaly, a fatal condition marked by abnormal brain development, had requested one final consultation with a neurosurgeon. Dr. Sharon Cooper , a developmental, behavioral and forensic pediatrician who accompanied them to the appointment, recalled the horror she felt at the words the neurosurgeon, who was White, blithely said to the child’s parents who were Black, when he viewed the CT scan of the...

By Melissa Montalvo, Cal Matters, September 2, 2021 Leaders from a newly formed revitalization task force joined California State Parks representatives last week in announcing a partnership to honor a piece of California Black history in the Central Valley. Randall Cooper, chief executive officer of the Global Economic Impact Group, which will lead revitalization effort, said the once-prosperous community of Allensworth was devastated by a series of racist decisions and policies and never...