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California Essentials for Childhood Initiative (CA)

The California Essentials for Childhood Initiative uses a public health and collective impact approach to align and enhance collaborative efforts to promote safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children, youth and families through systems, policy and social norms change.

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Blog Post

Supporting Brain Development in Traumatized Children and Youth

Gail Kennedy ·
This Administration on Children and Families (ACF) bulletin summarizes the effects of early trauma on brain development and looks at steps child welfare professionals can take to screen for developmental delays and identify the trauma-affected children and youth in their care. It also looks at ways to access cross-sector, therapeutic, and evidence-based treatment to encourage healthy recovery for trauma-affected children and youth. HERE TO ACCESS MATERIALS. Document attached.
Blog Post

The Economics of Child Abuse: A Study of California

Jenny Pearlman ·
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...
Blog Post

Toxic Stress, Behavioral Health, and the Next Major Era in Public Health
 by Mental Health America

To view the document, click on the following link:  http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/toxic-stress-behavioral-health-and-next-major-era-public-health      
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Translating Child Adversity Data into Actionable Information [NACCHO] Sept 2018

Karen Clemmer ·
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative launched a new set of child adversity and resilience data indicators on Kidsdata.org Furthermore, the initiative created state and local dashboards to bring together sources of data that represent a broader set of life experiences than originally reflected in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, such as living in poverty or dangerous neighborhoods. The goal was to make these data widely available and provide training on how...
Blog Post

Traumatic Experiences Widespread Among U.S. Youth, New Data Show

Jane Stevens ·
[This is a media release from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.] New national data show that at least 38 percent of children in every state have had at least one Adverse Childhood Experience or ACE, such as the death or incarceration of a parent, witnessing or being a victim of violence, or living with someone who has been suicidal or had a drug or alcohol problem. In 16 states, at least 25 percent of children have had two or more ACEs. Findings come from data in the 2016 National Survey...
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Two studies shed light on state legislators’ views on ACEs science and trauma policy

New and returning lawmakers take the oath of office on day one of Washington state's 2017 legislative session. — Jeanie Lindsay/Northwest News Network As advocates prepare to see how ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) science, trauma, and resilience play out in the 2020 state legislative sessions — many beginning in January — they are undoubtedly asking: “What does a legislator want?" It may be a stretch to play on Freud’s question: “What does a women want?", but the query captures how...
Blog Post

Webinar Recap: Health Equity and COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Child Wellbeing through Policy with Dr. Flojaune Cofer

Elena Costa ·
On May 13, 2020, the California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative held a webinar entitled, “Health Equity and COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Child Wellbeing through Policy” and heard from special guest speaker, Dr. Flojaune Cofer, Senior Director of Policy with the All Children Thrive (ACT) California project . This interactive webinar examined what success could look like to address COVID-19 by describing equity concerns arising for children and families that have been...
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With a Little Help from my Friends—The Importance of Peer Relationships For Social-Emotional Development [rwjf.org]

Alicia Doktor ·
The Issue Successfully navigating the social world of peers can be challenging. Children and teenagers benefit from the social and emotional support that friends offer, but they can also experience occasional social stressors and peer conflicts. Key Findings Peer relationships provide a unique context in which children learn a range of critical social emotional skills, such as empathy, cooperation, and problem-solving strategies. Peer relationships can also contribute negatively to social...
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Congressional Briefing Addresses Public Policy to Improve Response to ACEs

In the final weeks of the 114 th Congress, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) welcomed her colleague Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) as a new host in the third and final briefing on addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The December 1 briefing focused on public policies to improve coordination, prevention and response to childhood trauma. In addition to joining forces to raise awareness of the impact of ACEs, Senators Heitkamp and Durbin are drafting legislation based on a framework they...
Blog Post

CYW releases "Children Can Thrive: A Vision for California's Response to ACEs"

Jane Stevens ·
The  Center for Youth Wellness  released a new report “Children Can Thrive: A Vision for California’s Response to ACEs”.     This report is a follow up to last November’s Children Can Thrive Summit.  ...
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Dr. Ken Epstein Speaks About Trauma-Informed Work

Gail Kennedy ·
In recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, the California Departments of Public Health, Health Care Services and Social Services, and multiple community partners welcomed Dr. Kenneth Epstein to speak about his work highlighting trauma and resilience-informed practices. The event was also co-sponsored by ACEs Connection Network, Kaiser Permanente, and UC Davis Medical Center. Dr. Epstein leads the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s (SFDPH) Trauma-Informed Systems Initiative,...
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Essentials for Childhood Case Study: Collective Impact through Strategic Opportunities

Elena Costa ·
The California Department of Public Health, Safe and Active Communities (CDPH/SACB), Steve Wirtz and Marissa Abbott co-authored a case study showcasing the methodology, successes, and opportunities for improvement from the 2013-2018 Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative. Read more about the lessons learned and how the EfC Initiative will move forward from 2019 and beyond by clicking the attachment below.
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Essentials for Childhood Framework

Emerald Montgomery ·
From the CDC’s Injury Prevention & Control, Division of Violence Prevention: "Safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments are essential to prevent child abuse and neglect and to assure all children reach their full potential. The Essentials for Childhood Framework proposes strategies communities can consider to promote relationships and environments that help children grow up to be healthy and productive citizens so that they, in turn, can build stronger and safer families and...
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From Trauma-Informed to Asset-Informed Care in Early Childhood [brookings.edu]

By Ellen Galinsky, Brookings Institute, October 23, 2019 The focus on “toxic stress,” ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), and trauma-informed care have been game-changers in the field of early childhood development. They have helped us recognize the symptoms of trauma, provide appropriate assistance to children, and understand that prolonged adversity in the absence of nurturing relationships can derail a child’s healthy development. Just look at the media’s and the public’s reaction to...
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Futures Without Violence - Safe, Healthy, and Ready to Learn

Julia Wei ·
Interesting report from Futures Without Violence: Safe, Healthy, and Ready to Learn: Policy Recommendations to Ensure Children Thrive in Supportive Communities Free from Violence and Trauma
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Hidden Crisis Report - ACEs in CA

Gail Kennedy ·
Attached find the full report from Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) d ata report  of ACEs in California, prepared in partnership with Public Health Institute (November 6, 2014).    
Blog Post

In Spanish: Handouts for parents about ACEs, toxic stress & resilience

Jane Stevens ·
The Community & Family Services Division at the Spokane (WA) Regional Health District has come through again, with a Spanish version of the parent handout (in English) that we posted last year , and which has been downloaded thousands of times. The English versions came about whiledoing a story about the trauma-in formed elementary schools in Spokane, WA .I interviewedp ublic health nurse Melissa Charbonneau who said that she'd been giving an...
Blog Post

Legislation Signals Growing Support for Significance of Trauma Indicators

Alison Lobb ·
by David Gorn, California Healthline Sacramento Bureau Thursday, January 28, 2016 As a college student, Rob Bonta had a summer job working as a counselor for troubled kids. Now, two decades later he is bringing legislation to address some of the needs he saw then. "I worked with some of these kids as a counselor out of college, and I'd walk them home and hear some of these stories," Assembly member Bonta (D-Oakland) said. "Shootings they heard. Or shootings they witnessed the night before."...
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More American children and teens aren't just obese. They're morbidly obese. [Vox.com]

Samantha Sangenito ·
Public health researchers cheered an encouraging trend recently : Childhood obesity rates, which rose steadily through the 1980s and 1990s, seemed to have plateaued in the 2000s. But new research suggests a different, troubling problem lurking behind that plateau — a steep rise in the rates of severe obesity, particularly among older and minority children. The fraction of adolescents with severe obesity — a body mass index of 40 or greater — has more than doubled from 0.9 percent in 1999 to...
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More California kids would attend preschool under push in Legislature [sacbee.com]

Alicia Doktor ·
Democrats return to the California Capitol on Monday with their strongest political advantage in decades poised to fulfill a huge item on their list of pent-up demands: Vastly expanded access to preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds. Their plan comes with a big price tag, a problem that has doomed past proposals, most recently with outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown. But with huge legislative majorities and Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, who called for more spending on early education in his campaign, they see...
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National Council Webinar: Organizational Approaches to Effective Trauma-Informed Services

Gail Kennedy ·
I viewed this webinar a couple of weeks ago and found it quite useful. https://www.thenationalcouncil...ars/webinar-archive/ Scroll down to find  Organizational Approaches to Effective Trauma-Informed Services   Cheryl Sharp, Senior Advisor...
Blog Post

Next "A Better Normal" community discussion series: April 2, 2020/ Secondary Traumatic Stress and Caregivers

Jane Stevens ·
Our next COVID-19 "Better Normal" community discussion is Thursday, April 2, with Vic Compher and Rodney Whittenberg, producers of CAREGIVERS (Portraits of Professional CAREgivers: Their Passion, Their Pain). These wonderful folks are bringing an entire team of people from the secondary traumatic stress committees from the Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF).
Blog Post

OCAP grants announced, applications due by 12-14-18

Karen Clemmer ·
The Office of Child Abuse and Prevention ( OCAP ) recently announced a funding opportunity that may align with the work of California based ACEs champions. Please see the details below, the OCAP Grants link, and the attached document for further details. Copied from the website : The Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) administers federal grants, contracts, and state programs designed to promote best practices and innovative approaches to child abuse prevention, intervention, and...
Blog Post

Offering Childcare at City Meetings May Be Key to Diversifying Civic Engagement [Next City]

Karen Clemmer ·
Since becoming mayor of Ithaca, New York, eight years ago, Svante Myrick has been become known for many things, most obviously being a young, black elected public official in upstate New York. By his own admission, some of his policy ideas are gimmicks, like turning the mayor’s designated parking spot into a pocket park. (Take that, greenhouse gases!) Myrick also takes pride in knocking on 30,000 Ithaca doors and interacting with residents on social media, both tactics that go over well in a...
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Parents talking to kids may blunt negative impact of adversity on schoolwork [physiciansweekly.com]

Marianne Avari ·
By Lisa Rapaport, Physician's Weekly, July 8, 2019. Children who suffer adverse experiences tend to do worse in school than kids who don’t, but a U.S. study suggests parents may still help improve academic outcomes by simply talking to their kids. Adverse childhood experiences, commonly called ACEs, can include witnessing parents fight or go through a divorce, having a parent with a mental illness or substance abuse problem, or suffering from sexual, physical or emotional abuse. ACEs have...
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Reading Difficulty in Young Children Linked to Later Trouble With the Law [JJIE.org]

Samantha Sangenito ·
Every young life starts out with promise, and the adults who love a child yearn for that child to have a bright future. But what if a simple barrier at an early age sets a child up for failure? Difficulty in reading is such a barrier. Poor reading skill is a predictor of, among other things, involvement in the juvenile justice system. “The literature shows a clear correlation between a grade-level reading problem and, later on, incarceration in the juvenile justice system,” said Ralph Smith,...
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Resilience, Development, and Covid-19 [positiveexperience.org/blog]

Chloe Yang ·
By Guest Author, positiveexperience.org/blog, April 13, 2020 Being in nurturing, supportive relationships are critical for children to develop into healthy, resilient adults. This concept forms the first of the 4 Building Blocks of HOPE . The first of these positive childhood experiences is having parents/caregivers who are responsive and interact warmly. Today’s blog is based on an interview with Dr. Heather Forkey and Dr. Moira Szilagyi , who will be discussing vulnerable children, the...
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2017 Kids Count Data Book [aecf.org]

Alissa Copeland ·
Wednesday June 14th the Annie E. Casey Foundation released the 2017 Kids Count Data Book - State Trends in Child Well-Being. This comprehensive report is " a premier source of data on children and families." You can download the report from this post, as well as on the Kids Count website , where you can also access an interactive data map in their Data Center . This is an invaluable amount of data available to the public, relevant to anyone working with children and families - with the...
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2019 Economics of Child Abuse in Mendocino County

Karen Clemmer ·
Mendocino recently shared 2019 data related to the economic impacts of child abuse. The attached documents are in a printable format.
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A Trauma-Informed Approach to Supporting Families Impacted by Addiction

Melissa Santos ·
RFQ ANNOUNCEMENT: Celebrating Families! California Expansion Project Update: Due to the expanding ACEs response in California, and subsequent interest in Celebrating Families! we are extending the due date for proposals to May 24 th. Invitation to Expand Celebrating Families!™ Statewide The California State Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) recognizing the effectiveness of Celebrating Families! (CF!), has awarded Prevention Partnership International (PPI) a $100,000, 2-year challenge...
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Adversity and resiliency: The case for integrating ACEs and Strengthening Families approaches

Jane Stevens ·
Attached is the PowerPoint that was presented by Diane Kellegrew, Jane Stevens and Katie Albright in a webinar April 16. And below is the slide that ID's the presenters.  
Blog Post

Briefs on ACEs in children in selected CA communities

Gail Kennedy ·
Attached are  briefs on ACEs in children in selected California cities, with comparison with state and county  data from data  gathered in 2011/2012.  The briefs were prepared by the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent...
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Building Children’s Resilience

Rajni Dronamraju ·
Genentech is excited to launch a new philanthropic initiative, The Resilience Effect , to address childhood adversity and its long-term effects on health. For more than 40 years, our company has pursued groundbreaking science to improve the lives of people facing serious and life-threatening diseases. That’s why, when we learned about the emerging science behind the effects of toxic stress and the connection between early adverse childhood experiences and diseases later in life, we knew we...
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CA Essentials April 2017 Newsletter

Marissa Abbott ·
California Essentials for Childhood released its seventh newsletter in April 2017. The full newsletter, focused on Child Abuse Prevention Month, can be found attached. Check it out and #unite4kids!
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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

Elena Costa ·
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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CDC: Childhood Trauma Is A Public Health Issue And We Can Do More To Prevent It

Charisse Feldman ·
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...
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Center for Youth Wellness Data Report: A Hidden Crisis

Julia Wei ·
If you haven't already seen this, please take a look! Attached is the Center for Youth Wellness' Data Report: A Hidden Crisis - Findings on Adverse Childhood Experiences in California
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Central Valley Moms of Infants Show High Rates of Childhood Trauma [Kidsdata.org]

Gail Kennedy ·
For the first time, Kidsdata now has data that paint a unique picture of childhood trauma experienced by mothers of infants across California. 2011-2012 data from the California Department of Public Health's Maternal and Infant Health Assessment show two counties (among counties with data), Kern and Stanislaus, where more than 10 percent of postpartum mothers say they experienced four or more childhood hardships, from not having their basic needs met, to parental legal trouble or...
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Re: A community-based approach to supporting substance exposed newborns and their families

Karen Clemmer ·
Such a complex conversation... This is an area of passion for me - having worked with high-risk perinatal population for many years, conducted focus group interviews with women who were "clean" and in a treatment program - and heard first hand how and why they became pregnant while using - I was always surprised what they shared, and came to realize my assumptions were not accurate. I would urge the group to seek opportunities to work further upstream focusing on "preconception" or...
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The important role of policy in addressing childhood trauma during COVID-19 and beyond

Renee Gross ·
Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused everyone to grapple with uncertainty and manage new stressors at home, at work, and in our communities. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll indicated that 45% of Americans report that the current crisis is harming their mental health. We are facing unprecedented disruption in our daily lives and navigating a world of school and business closures, job losses, social distancing, food access and housing constraints, and other types...
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Family Therapy is now a Medi-Cal Benefit

Elena Costa ·
Medi-Cal has just published new policy making family therapy a covered benefit for children and adults with mental health disorders and for children who are at risk for mental health disorders. This will be especially relevant for children with ACEs. Under the guidance of the California Department of Health Care Services, the Medi-Cal fee-for-service program aims to provide health care services to about 13 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The Medi-Cal fee-for-service program adjudicates both...
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Webinar Recap: Office of Child Abuse Prevention 2020-2025 Strategic Plan with Angela Ponivas

Elena Costa ·
On July 15, 2020, the California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative held a webinar entitled, “Essentials for Childhood Initiative Webinar: OCAP 2020-2025 Strategic Plan” and heard from Angela Ponivas, Bureau Chief at the Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) at the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). The OCAP, a backbone agency in the Essentials for Childhood Initiative, works collaboratively with partners at the federal, state, and county- level with communities,...
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Re: Association of Childhood Maltreatment With Suicide Behaviors Among Young People [jamanetwork.com]

Jeoffry Gordon ·
This comprehensive and significant presentation of this large data set dramatically documents the potentially tragic effects of child maltreatment. It also inherently and forcefully criticizes other narrow minded studies - still accepted in the professional literature - which are blinded by the fact that psychiatry in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) does not recognize "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Due to Child Abuse or Neglect" as a diagnosis. See the attached study of youth...
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Prevention is Essential: Collective Impact Coalition Promotes Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments for All Maryland’s Children

Anndee Hochman ·
When members of Maryland’s State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (SCCAN) began in 2006 to examine what their state was doing in the realm of prevention, they discovered a gaping hole. Many participants in the 23-member Council—people working in child welfare, mental health, law enforcement and advocacy groups—knew about ACEs and about the corrosive effects of early childhood maltreatment. But they discovered, through informational interviews across different sectors and an environmental...
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Back to the Basics of HOPE [positiveexperience.org/blog]

Chloe Yang ·
By Dr. Bob Sege, 10/22/20, positiveexperience.org/blog [...] The spirit of HOPE is simple: children are not products to be graded, sorted, and labeled, and parents are complex human beings who love their children and do everything in their power to care for them. This sounds simple. However, we live in an age where accountability has been translated into systematic evaluation–including children’s physical and developmental progress, parents’ and caretakers’ mental health education and...
Blog Post

New Report: ACEs BRFSS Data Report- An Overview of Adverse Childhood Experiences in California

Elena Costa ·
A newly developed document titled “Adverse Childhood Experiences Data Report: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2011-2017: An Overview of Adverse Childhood Experiences in California” has just been released and can be found following link and attached to this blog post. The purpose of this resource is to report state and county prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in California; describe ACEs-related geographic and demographic disparities; and to offer details...
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Register for the "Creating Compelling Messaging with California ACEs Data" 1/20/21 Webinar

Elena Costa ·
The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (CDSS/OCAP)’s, Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative invites your participation in a webinar entitled, “Creating Compelling Messaging with California ACEs Data” on Wednesday, January 20 th from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM. This webinar will feature presentations from Shaddai Martinez Cuestas, MPH, Strategic Communications...
 
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