Tagged With "public health"
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'A hidden health crisis': Toxic stress driving up Kern death rates [The Bakersfield Californian]
An invisible disease has been killing middle-aged white people throughout the southern San Joaquin Valley at higher rates than ever before. The disease can’t be detected by a blood test or remedied with a prescription. It’s been referred to as one of the country’s greatest unaddressed public health crises and a rising “epidemic of white death.” The disease is toxic stress, a result of childhood trauma and other environmental stressors like poverty, food insecurity and basic living needs not...
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'An invisible crisis': Toxic stress is helping to shorten life spans in many Kern County communities [
People who live in Oildale, Kern River Valley and Taft — three impoverished, majority-white communities — have the highest premature death rates across Kern County, dying four to 17 years sooner than those in other parts of Bakersfield. Residents in those three communities have an average life expectancy of between 68 and 72 years old — roughly eight to 10 years less than the national average, according to data analyzed by the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Human Needs. It’s...
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Building Resilience Through Understanding Substance Use Disorders and Their Impacts on Others
The reach of substance use disorders in America is far more significant than people think. 21+ million Americans struggle with substance use disorders. Their substance use and addiction-related behaviors impact 100 million more Americans. These are the moms, dads, husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, grandchildren.... Together, these two groups represents more than one-third of the American population!
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CA 3rd Annual API Mental Health Empowerment Conference in Fresno County
The purpose of the annual Asian & Pacific Islander Mental Health Empowerment Conference (APIMHEC) is to increase awareness of mental health concerns and to promote improvement of mental health services for Asian & Pacific Islander (API) communities. The 2019 APIMHEC Conference will be hosted by Fresno County's Department of Behavioral Health at Clovis Veteran's Memorial District. This conference will convene mental health service providers, consumers, family members, students,...
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California 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for California. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input,...
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California gets its first ever surgeon general (ktvu.com)
California's first-ever Surgeon General has launched a listening tour that will take her around the state to hear about people's hopes for the new position and the state's new commitment to improving Californians' health. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is a pediatrician with degrees from U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Davis Medical School, and Harvard University. She says, as the daughter of a biochemist and a nurse, she knew what her dream job was at an early age. "My immediate priorities as Surgeon General...
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California Launches New Comprehensive, Consumer-Friendly Website and Public Service Announcements to Boost COVID-19 Awareness [gov.ca.gov]
From Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, March 18, 2020 New, one-stop state website: www.covid19.ca.gov New PSAs feature California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sonia Angell and California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris SACRAMENTO – California Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the launch of a new Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) public awareness campaign to provide useful information to Californians and inform them of actions they can take to further prevent the spread of...
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Childhood trauma affects more than 60 percent of adults in Kern, California [BakersfieldCalifornian.com]
Between 60 percent and 62 percent of Kern County adults surveyed have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience traumatic enough to affect their lives years later. That's according to the report, "A Hidden Crisis: Findings on...
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CSAC (CA State Assoc. for Counties) Seeks County Best Practices for Annual Challenge Awards
The Call for Entries is now open for the 2018 CSAC Challenge Awards, which spotlight California Counties’ most innovative programs. These unique awards recognize the creative and committed spirit of our California Counties as they find new, cost-effective ways to provide programs and services to residents. Program Categories Administration of Justice & Public Safety – Includes programs associated with local law enforcement and public safety, adult and juvenile detention, and probation.
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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
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Do you or a loved one need mental health help amid the coronavirus crisis? Here's who to call [sacbee.com]
By Andrew Sheeler, The Sacramento Bee, April 7, 2020 With unemployment soaring, a statewide stay-at-home order and no end in sight for the coronavirus pandemic, this is a trying time for the mental health of all Californians. To that end, the state maintains a resource at covid19.ca.gov that includes advice and multiple hotlines to call. The site also offers some advice to people struggling at home. That advice includes limiting social media and news intake, and being mindful of your sources...
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Echo Conference Feature: Neuroscience & The Havening Techniques
At the Echo conference in Los Angeles on March 18 & 19, 2019 we will be showcasing many new and traditional ways to use the body to reverse the impact of trauma. One of these ways is Havening. During her workshop, Dr. Kate Truitt will explain how stressful events impact brain functioning and how the Havening Techniques harness the power of neuroplasticity to create sustainable healing. Her workshop will cover: Fundamentals of the Havening Techniques Key areas for fast and effective...
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Farmworkers Face Daunting Health Risks In California's Wildfires [californiahealthline.org]
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester, California Healthline, October 28, 2019 Farm laborers in yellow safety vests walked through neatly arranged rows of grapes Friday, harvesting the last of the deep purple bundles that hung from the vines, even as the sky behind them was dark with soot. Over the hill just behind them, firetrucks and first responders raced back and forth from a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection staging area, working to contain a wildfire raging through the rugged...
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'I'm Not OK': First Responders Learn to Embrace Help for Mental Health During Symposium [bakersfield.com]
By Ema Sasic, Bakersfield.com, October 22, 2019 When a medical call came in on June 24, 2015, to assist an intoxicated man at a trolley station, San Diego firefighter Ben Vernon thought it would be a routine situation. He had been on this type of call several times in the past, so he was not too worried. Arriving on the scene, however, tensions started to rise between a bystander and several security guards, and a fight broke out. [ Please click here to read more .]
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In California’s Kern River Valley, a reporter finds lives upended by generations of trauma (centerforhealthjournalism.org)
Walk around the Kern River Valley, Oildale and parts of Bakersfield any day and you’ll see hopelessness. There’s the homeless wandering the streets, junkies searching for a fix and punishing poverty that lurks in almost every neighborhood. For years, we’ve known there’s something cyclical about poverty, chronic drug abuse and intergenerational despair. When I learned about a study performed by the California Department of Public Health that found Kern County mothers experienced more...
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Interactive Map: Where are Californians Dying of Opioids? We Chart the Path. (bakersfield.com)
Almost 2,000 people died in California last year of opioid overdoses as a sprawling epidemic made its way to the west coast. Where is the death toll the worst? The California mapped out where the state's opioid death rates were the highest in 2016 - and all are in locations that lack Medication Assisted Treatment facilities, which are also mapped here. To read more of Harold Pierce's article, please click here. Harold Pierce covers education and health for The Californian.
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Kern County Child Support Services hosts back to school event (kget.com)
A majority of Kern County students head back to class in less than a week and Thursday the county's Child Support Services hosted their ninth annual Ready-Set Back 2 School fair to help families and students prepare. Kern County Child Support Services fundraise all year to put on this growing event. Organizers said the amount of donations has grown from the 400 backpacks they offered on their first year to the 4,000 they do now. They hope this annual event continues to get even bigger. The...
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Kern County Data Dashboard: Child Adversity and Well-Being
A product of the Essentials for Childhood Initiative (EfC), the Child Adversity and Well-Being Dashboards contain indicators of child adversity, health and well-being utilizing data available on kidsdata.org . For more information about the dashboards, please refer to the California Data Dashboards page. The Kern County Data Dashboard contains select indicators of child adversity and well-being. The dashboard is a product of the Shared Data and Outcomes Workgroup of the California Essentials...
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Latina Mothers Experienced Jump in Preterm Births After 2016 Election [publichealth.berkeley.edu]
By Public Affairs UC Berkeley, July 23, 2019 Latina mothers living in the United States experienced a significant jump in preterm births in the nine months following the Nov. 8, 2016, election, according to a study by researchers at UC Berkeley and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The analysis, based on U.S. government data on more than 33 million live births in the country, found an excess of 2,337 preterm births to U.S. Latina mothers, compared to projections about...
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New Kaiser Permanente Partnership Aims to End Chronic Homelessness in 15 Communities
Press Release March 11, 2019 AUSTIN, Texas — At the annual South by Southwest Conference, Kaiser Permanente today announced a partnership with Community Solutions to help accelerate efforts to end chronic homelessness in 15 communities (scroll down for list) within Kaiser Permanente’s national footprint. As part of the new partnership, Kaiser Permanente will provide $3 million over a three-year period to Community Solutions’ Built for Zero initiative, which uses real-time data to help local...
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Program aims to make finding healthy food options at restaurants easier (bakersfield.com)
The Kern County Public Health Services Department announced Thursday its new Certified Healthy program, through which participating restaurants that meet a stringent set of criteria will receive a special logo for their grading card and menu, indicating which items are considered healthy. “Kern County restaurants have, for years, required health certification in an operational sense,” Coughlin said. “This groundbreaking program takes public service a step further. It tells customers that the...
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Public Health unveils mobile clinic to serve rural communities (bakersfield.com)
The gleaming, $330,000, 40-foot-long behemoth, which came by way of Ohio, boasts two exam rooms, an ADA-compliant bathroom and a sleek, contemporary design. “This is an exciting new venture for public health,” Constantine said Tuesday while unveiling the new mobile clinic. “What is behind me this afternoon is more than a medical mobile clinic. This represents a significant shift in how Public Health responds to the community.” The bus will serve as a mobile clinic for public health staff to...
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Sesame Street's Traumatic Experiences Website / First 5 CA Care, Cope Connect Resource
Thanks to Alejandra Labrado from First 5 Sacramento for providing the links to these resources! Sesame Street's Traumatic Experiences: https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/topics/traumatic-experiences/ When a child endures a traumatic experience, the whole family feels the impact. But adults hold the power to help lessen its effects. Several factors can change the course of kids’ lives: feeling seen and heard by a caring adult, being patiently taught coping strategies and...
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Shared Use in the Summer: Opening school spaces to the public when classes are out [changelabsolutions.org]
By ChangeLab Solutions and Merced County Public Health Department (CA), November 20, 2019 How can communities use school spaces during vacation times? Schools are more than just places of learning for children. They serve as centers of connection for families from surrounding neighborhoods and have many facilities and resources that can benefit the wider community. Opening school spaces during times when students are not on campus can significantly improve health and equity for those who...
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State of Our Health 2020 Breakfast - Sponsorship Opportunities
This year's coming State of Our Health Breakfast on February 7th, 2020, will feature Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. Dr. Burke Harris is the 1st and current Surgeon General of California since 2019. She is a pioneer in linking adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress with harmful effects on health later on in life. We are excited to have her share with us! You won't want to miss it! You can listen to an interview with her here . We are currently only taking in Sponsorships and Table sales.
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The 14th Annual Cynthia Lockhart-Mummery Conference: Building Violence-Free Schools and Communities
The 14th Annual Cynthia Lockhart-Mummery Conference hosted by Tulare County Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC) began with a 2 hour presentation by Alissa Parker, co-founder of Safe and Sound Schools and the mother of a young child lost during the Sandy Hook school mass shooting. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven...
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The Brain Architects Podcast: Toxic Stress: Protecting the Foundation (Episode 2) from Harvard Center on the Developing Child
Excessive or prolonged activation of stress response systems in early childhood can have damaging effects on learning, behavior, and health across the lifespan. Such toxic stress can occur when a child experiences strong, frequent, and/or prolonged adversity without adequate adult support. But that's not the whole story. With the right supports, toxic stress doesn't have to lead to bad outcomes. The second episode of the Center's new podcast, The Brain Architects, explores what toxic stress...
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The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development's (GO-Biz) Community Reinvestment Grant Program (CRGP)
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) has $10 million in its budget this year for its Community Reinvestment Grant Program (CRGP) and plans to make these grants to community-based non-profits and local health departments by June 2019 . The goal of this grant is to support communities disproportionately affected by past federal and state drug policies. This week, GO-Biz kicked off by leading the first 15 local workshops in California which will run through the...
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Trauma and Resilience Learning Mini Conference #1 & #2
Trauma and Resilience Learning Mini-Conference #1 Sat, February 22, 2020 / 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM https://traumaresiliencefresno.eventbrite.com Join us as we look at the impact of trauma and toxic stress in our kids, families and neighborhoods. This mini-conference will provide a summary of the ACE’s study and will include breakouts that will highlight some of the content in the Community Resilience Initiative Courses 1 and 2. This gathering will be a great primer for our March 14th...
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Trauma Informed Care Coordination Conference at Cal State Bakersfield California
The Kern County Medically Vulnerable Care Coordination Project was formed in 2008 and has over 50 partner organizations. Our Vision – Use coordinated services to measurably improve outcomes for Kern County infants and children, prenatal through 5 years of age, who are at risk of costly, lifelong medical and developmental issues. Among the greatest challenges faced by our collaborative case management partners are the long-term effects of childhood trauma on Kern County mothers, fathers and...
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Two New Grant Opportunities for Youth Development and Diversion Services
In 2019, more than $40 million will become available to fund community-based, culturally rooted, trauma-informed services for youth in California as alternatives to arrest and incarceration. Thousands of California youth are arrested every year for low-level offenses. Youth who are arrested or incarcerated for low-level offenses are less likely to graduate high school, more likely to suffer negative health-outcomes, and more likely to have later contact with the justice system.
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Webinar Oct. 17 — Integrating ACEs science in pediatrics: Early adopters share lessons from the field
An ACEs Connection webinar co-sponsored with 4 CA In 2017, California became the first state in the country to pass a law supporting universal screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the 5.3 million children in the state’s Medicaid program. As clinicians around California await the state’s announcement of what this new policy will entail, many are wondering what it takes to integrate ACEs science in a pediatric practice. Meet Drs. Deirdre Bernard-Pearl, R.J. Gillespie and...
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Why become a Trauma-Informed County?
The effects of long lasting trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on children and adults has been documented in research for over 20 years. Since 2016, the Bakersfield Californian has highlighted the drastic impact of Toxic Stress on many of our Kern County citizens and communities that has substantially shortened people’s lives through diabetes, cancer, asthma, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. Many of these conditions and experiences are linked to early childhood trauma that...
Comment
Re: In California’s Kern River Valley, a reporter finds lives upended by generations of trauma (centerforhealthjournalism.org)
it is wonderful that Mr. Pierce is writing about these issues. I would also love to hear more details about the conferences he referred to in his article ("multiple conferences scheduled locally to teach health providers about trauma-informed care) and it would be wonderful to share all of the previous articles written in the series.
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Announcing the Connected Care Accelerator (Request for Applications) [Center for Care Innovations]
The Connected Care Accelerator, an initiative of the California Health Care Foundation , has been designed in partnership with the Center for Care Innovations to support safety net practices — including community health centers and independent physician practices that predominantly serve low-income communities — in different implementation phases of “virtual care,” also commonly known as “telehealth” or “telemedicine.” The accelerator has two separate tracks: For the Infrastructure and...
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ACEs Connection reaches 200 participants in the ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau!
ACEs Connection is proud to announce we have reached 200 Speakers & Trainers participants in the ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau! What is the ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau? The ACEs Connection Speakers & Trainers Bureau is a service that provides subscribers of ACEsConnection a Database of ACEs speakers and trainers for hire. The development of the Speakers & Trainers Bureau was in response to a great need expressed by our communities. ACEs...
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ACEs Aware Grantees By County
ACEs Connection will begin highlighting ACEs and Resilience initiatives by county. We're starting this effort off by listing the recent ACEs Aware grantees by county.
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Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: One-Pager
Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: One-Pager
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CALIFORNIA ACES ACADEMY: Parental ACEs and Pediatrics: Transforming Well Care [avahealth.org]
CALIFORNIA ACES ACADEMY (CAA) , funded by ACEs Aware, is providing free online training to Medi-Cal providers and others featuring: Practical strategies for integrating trauma-informed health care into your team’s practice that improves patients’ well being and the productivity of your practice. Meet colleagues with experience and success providing trauma-informed health care in their practices. Learn from national and local experts. Talk to other professionals from your region in small...
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CALIFORNIA ACES ACADEMY: Parental ACEs and Pediatrics: Transforming Well Care [avahealth.org]
CALIFORNIA ACES ACADEMY (CAA) , funded by ACEs Aware, is providing free online training to Medi-Cal providers and others featuring: Practical strategies for integrating trauma-informed health care into your team’s practice that improves patients’ well being and the productivity of your practice. Meet colleagues with experience and success providing trauma-informed health care in their practices. Learn from national and local experts. Talk to other professionals from your region in small...
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Free Resilience Training for MediCal Providers
Dovetail Learning is offering resilience training for MediCal providers to increase provider resilience to mitigate the affects of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue that comes with doing the ACEs screening itself. We Are Resilient™ is a research based set of skills for providers and patients to become their most resilient self. Here is the link to register for Part 1 of 2 for a 90 minute training: We Are Resilient™ Training (free to medical providers) in October (date TBD) For a little...
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A Better Normal Community Discussion - Reimagining Health Care
In a conversational style, join physician Drew Factor who will speak with Dr. Tracy Gaudet, Liza Guroff and An é Watts in a discussion entitled "Reimagining Health Care". Dr. Gaudet will speak about her experience engaging in transformational change at the Veterans Administration and how this has shaped the development of her own Functional Medicine Institute , while Ms. Guroff and Ms. Watts will speak about their knowledge of a Trauma-Informed Approach both at a systems (National Council...
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Apply Now: New ACEs Aware Grant Opportunity [acesaware.org]
New ACEs Aware Grant Opportunity to Support Trauma-Informed Networks of Care The Department of Health Care Services in partnership with Office of the California Surgeon General and the today released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a second round of ACEs Aware grants , with a submission deadline of December 21, 2020. The new grants will target California communities that want to build or execute a robust Network of Care to effectively respond to ACEs and toxic stress to meet the needs of...
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FIRST CALIFORNIA SURGEON GENERAL’S REPORT PROVIDES CLEAR CROSS-SECTOR ROADMAP TO ADDRESS HEALTH AND SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF ADVERSITY
SACRAMENTO – The Office of the California Surgeon General today released the first California Surgeon General’s Report - Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General's Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. The report serves as a blueprint for how communities, states, and nations can recognize and effectively address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress as a root cause to some of the most harmful, persistent, and expensive societal and...
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TOMORROW, 12/10: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Webinar on CA's First Surgeon General's Report [acesaware.org]
JOIN US TOMORROW FOR A SPECIAL WEBINAR DISCUSSING THE FIRST SURGEON GENERAL'S ANNUAL REPORT Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General's Report on Adverse Childhood Experience, Toxic Stress, and Health Thursday, December 10, 2020 Noon - 1:30 p.m. Register Now! California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris set a bold vision to cut ACEs and toxic stress in half in one generation through a strategically deployed, coordinated public health initiative designed to raise awareness,...
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Whole People Watch Weekend on ACEs Connection (Dec. 11th - 13th)
The Transform Trauma with ACEs Sciences FREE Film Festival continues this weekend. Please join us to watch parts 1, 2, and 3 of the PBS Whole People series at your convenience, on ACEs Connection, by clicking play on the videos below: Whole People | 101 | Childhood Trauma | Episode 1 (27 min) Preview: Whole People | 102 | Healing Communities | Preview | Episode 2 Whole People | 102 |Healing Communities Episode 2 (27 min) Whole People | 103 |A New Response | Episode 3 (27 min) This is one of...
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ACEs Aware in Action: December Newsletter [acesaware.org]
ACEs Aware in Action Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health The Office of the California Surgeon General released the first California Surgeon General’s Report - Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General's Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health . The report serves as a blueprint for how communities, states, and nations can recognize and effectively address Adverse...
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Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report Webinar [acesaware.org]
From ACEs Aware, December 15, 2020 California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris set a bold vision to cut ACEs and toxic stress in half in one generation through a strategically deployed, coordinated public health initiative designed to raise awareness, reduce transmission of ACEs and strengthen our response networks. As part of this work, the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) developed the Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General’s Report on Adverse...
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Looking for a supportive community? Join us! (Fee Free)
The Community of Practice (C of P) is an interdisciplinary, online platform for adults who are important to children. Among other topics, we explore how systems, environments, and documentation shape early childhood learning and wellness. We grow our ability to be curious about children's full-being, inherent wisdom by being curious about our own ways of knowing and inquiring. We are peer accompaniment with each other - support for the supporters of children, families, and communities. Join...
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Reminder: Help Inform the ACEs Aware Network of Care Roadmap [acesaware.org]
Draft ACEs Aware Trauma-Informed Network of Care Roadmap is Open for Public Comment until January 15, 2021 The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in partnership with the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG), recently released for public comment a draft ACEs Aware Trauma-Informed Network of Care Roadmap . This is an important part of a first-in-the-nation statewide effort to train providers on how to screen patients for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The Roadmap...