Tagged With "Human Rights"
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Advancing a Plan for Addressing Trauma and Building Resilience within L.A. County Systems (prnewswire.com)
Center for Collective Wisdom Releases Extensive Report Outlining Research and Recommendations First 5 LA, the California Community Foundation, The California Endowment, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation along with other local, state and nationally-recognized expert organizations today released a report to advance a comprehensive trauma and resiliency-informed approach in Los Angeles County . "Trauma is a serious health concern affecting many children and...
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At "Healing our Communities” conference in LA, youth, parents work with social service providers to impact change!
More than 300 people gathered for the 4th Annual Public Safety/Re-Entry, “Healing our Communities” conference in Los Angeles. The first three conferences were for USC students in the School of Social Work and people who provide social services in the LA area. This year the conference included youth and parents served by those providers. The community safety conference highlighted re-entry initiatives and programs in Los Angeles County organized by agencies such as Homeboy Industries, Project...
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Biggest Jailer in the World: Los Angeles (citywatchla.org)
JUSTICE THROUGH UNITY-The people of the County of Los Angeles and beyond need to understand that spending $3.5 billion on new jails instead of focusing on local services that could prevent mostly black and brown people from ending up behind bars in the first place is in the best interest of all of us—and not just black and brown people. According to historian and UCLA Professor Kelly Lytle Hernandez, LA County isn’t just the biggest jailer in the United States—it is the biggest jailer in the...
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Broadening Your Network and Identifying Partners for More Resilient, Healthier Communities
Who should you partner with to create lasting change through resilience in your community? The Building Community Resilience (BCR) initiative aims to address, prevent, and reduce the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (ACEs) on children’s health and wellbeing ( The “Pair of ACEs” ). An essential element of the successes of BCR’s five test sites around the country has been strategic collaborations. In your work to build resilience, identifying...
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California 2018 State Profile on ACEs Initiatives and Action
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 is failing our kids [SactoBee.com]
California’s economy is the seventh-largest in the world, and home to global industries that have revolutionized our way of life. Yet when it comes to caring for our children, we are failing to provide the essential services they need to thrive and succeed. The facts are disturbing and unacceptable. California ranks 49th among the states for standard of living for kids; roughly half of children are in families in or near poverty; nearly three-fourths of our youngest kids don’t receive health...
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Changing Minds and Creating Trauma-Informed Communities Convenings - South and North
Last week, on two separate days in Los Angeles and in San Francisco, about 150 people (total) convened to listen and brainstorm about creating trauma-informed communities. Futures Without Violence, which is rolling out its Changing Minds campaign later this year, hosted both events. Some very interesting and important themes emerged from the two days: Residents with lived experiences should participate in the decision-making bodies of service providers and vested...
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Closing the Empathy Gap in Education
In the Hechinger Report, Amanda Wahlstedt wrote about the empathy gap she experienced as a poor student with a disconnected privileged teacher. She wrote: As a young girl in rural southeastern Kentucky, I remember distinctly hearing my teacher talk about “first of the month-ers,” or people who were out and in the grocery stores at the first of the month, typically with shopping “buggies” overloaded with preserved food. When I looked around the classroom I noticed many of my friends either...
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Leadership Commitment to Creating a Trauma Informed Los Angeles County
The California Community Foundation , First 5 LA , The California Endowment and The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation sponsored a convening of leaders from county departments, philanthropic foundations and community organizations to discuss and learn how Los Angeles County could become a model for identifying and addressing trauma in children and families in a systematic way. The event was held at the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles. A full summary is available here:...
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How a Group of Female Inmates Won the Right to Live with Their Children [Vice.com]
The springtime sun blazes over East Arrow Highway in Pomona, California, and the glare off the whitish-gray concrete walkways forces everyone to squint. Regina Dotson moves busily in and out of her office on the second floor of a residential...
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L.A. County steps up efforts to eradicate homelessness (lasentinel.net)
Ethnically diverse advocates detailed their efforts to eradicate homelessness during New America Media’s forum at Skid Row Housing Trust’s Apartments on Feb. 3. Panelists hailed from African-American, Chinese, Latino and Korean backgrounds. The briefing focused on how L.A. County is working to raise awareness among our audiences about the diversity of its homeless population and how all ethnic groups have a stake in working to end it. “Who we hire is important, and how they’re trained is...
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L.A.'s chronic challenge: What to do with the mentally ill homeless who refuse help? (latimes.com)
Last week, at a strategy session in the offices of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, the advocates passed around an outline calling for those who “refuse to accept the status quo” to stipulate, among other things, that “treatment is a right,” and that “to withhold treatment is cruel.” They’re aware, though, that they need to tread carefully. Celina Alvarez, executive director of the nonprofit Housing Works, said the group needs to make clear that it has no intention of abusing the rights of...
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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San Francisco Trauma Informed Systems Initiative 2014 Year In Review
The Department made the commitment to train all of its 9,000 staff to become trauma-informed. From the report: The Trauma Informed Systems Initiative Workgroup is led by Dr. Ken Epstein and currently staffed by a full time Coordinator, a team of 4...
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Should Los Angeles County Predict Which Children Will Become Criminals? (psmag.com)
Photo: thomashawk/Flickr One major difference separates the troubling Minority Report policing programs from what happened in L.A. County's Child Welfare system. One of the primary goals of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system is keeping kids out of lock-up. But in this pursuit, the county took a surprising step: It used a predictive analytics tool as part of a program to identify which specific kids might end up behind bars. The process wasn’t incredibly complicated: It...
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SPOTLIGHT ON: How to be Trauma Informed (repost from Echo Parenting)
Okay, we’ve got it: Not “what’s wrong with you?” but “What happened to you?” That explosive outburst? The child who cannot concentrate at school? The domestic violence survivor who is in a constant state of hyper-vigilance? Yes, most of us in family services are now able to recognize trauma-symptoms and respond with empathy… most of the time. But what does it mean to be truly trauma-informed? For a start, it means that we have patience with others and ourselves as we seek to acquire the...
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The Effects of Educational Disengagement
Introduction The need for a caring school culture that promotes a sense of connectedness and belonging is essential and must begin the day a child begins their educational experience. Yet, for those of us who work in alternative education environment, we often hear the all too common story of a school experience that didn't meet the students needs. Meeting the needs of a student is a broad connotation that can vary considerably depending on the school setting and the student describing the...
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They're sick, traumatized, malnourished and transient — what child poverty looks like in Los Angeles (latimes.com)
Many of the children who visit the St. John’s Well Child and Family Center at 58th and Hoover in South Los Angeles are anything but well. The dentists treat children who suffer excruciating pain from swollen gums and rotting teeth. The doctors routinely see chronic preventable diseases common in third-world countries, and developmental delays are standard. Dr. David Bolour said he sees children daily who suffer from trauma they’ve experienced in their high-crime neighborhoods or in the...
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Training law enforcement to deal with autistic people (scpr.org)
The quiz was really easy. Who was the first president of the United States? What’s 39 plus 16? What does UFO stand for? But test-taking conditions were less than ideal. A group of sheriff’s deputies would have to read the 10 questions through 3D glasses as a loudspeaker blared disjointed music, speech and static. Right-handed people would be required to write their answers legibly with their left, and vice versa. At the end of the 60 seconds allotted for the quiz, most people hadn’t...
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USC School of Social Work Hosts Paper Tigers Screening
Dulce Acosta, ACEs Connection Community Liaison, and Devika Shankar, Co-Chair of TIC Task Force of Greater Los Angeles Over two hundred individuals gathered last week at the University of Southern California's screening of the award-winning document film, Paper Tigers . Hosted by the USC School of Social Work, the screening was sponsored by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), USC Alumni, USC Career Development Department, and the Trauma Informed Care Task Force of Greater Los...
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Want to reinvent probation? Do it right (correctionsone.com)
Image: Wikipedia.org Today, probation is the linchpin of the criminal justice system The Los Angeles Times article states the present lens of the County of Los Angeles Probation Department. When Sacramento transferred responsibility for...
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What next for fire victims? Here’s where to go for answers (dailynews.com)
“It’s all a waiting game right now,” Sylvia Valenzuela said as she opened the front door to the couple’s Santiago Estates home, where the smell of smoke clung to the walls, to allow the insurance adjuster to assess the damage. Some help for residents like the Valenzuelas will be available the rest of this week at a local assistance center scheduled to open Tuesday at noon at the Lake View Terrace Recreation Center (11075 Foothill Blvd, Lake View Terrace). Hours are noon to 8 p.m. each day...
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LA Unified schools: hubs for education — and social services? [SCPR.com]
Los Angeles schools shouldn't only be places where students go to learn; they should also be community centers , after-school gathering spots and hubs for social services. That principle is better known nationally as the "community schools" model — and it's about to get the endorsement of a newly-formed, powerhouse coalition of labor unions, faith-based groups and social justice organizations who see it as a new organizing principle for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The coalition,...
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Movement-Making in Buncombe County (NC): Opportunity-Based Narrative and Creation Spaces
Mobilizing action can be intimidating. Creating a movement even more so. John Hagel provides the following definition of a movement: “an organized effort mobilizing a large number of independent participants in a grassroots effort to pursue a broad agenda for change.” He indicates that there are two key ingredients in movement making: 1) compelling narratives and 2) fostering creation spaces. In Buncombe County, we are experimenting with both of these notions. Opportunity-based Narrative A...
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Oakland Unified to fund Restorative Justice with "at least" $2.3 million!
I'm not sure if this has already made the rounds, but it's such good news, it's definitely worth a repost! "Oakland Unified school board voted unanimously Wednesday night to eliminate willful defiance as a reason to suspend any student and to invest at least $2.3 million to expand restorative justice practices in its schools". What a beautiful commitment to the child, to meeting their actual needs rather than just sending them away with their needs unmet. The funding of RJ practices is huge,...
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ACEs Connection launches Cooperative of Communities
The ACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities launches today. We want to continue to contribute to the ACEs movement for as long as it takes to create a worldwide healing-centered culture based on ACEs science. We want that to take hold in this world in the same way electricity has — we only notice it if it isn’t there.
First, a clarification: Nothing on ACEsConnection.com changes! Membership remains free! Everything our current 300+ communities use stays free, and remains free for new ones.
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Trauma-informed policing: Learn how three highly experienced community leaders strengthen ties between police and community
ACEs initiative participants in communities where there is tension between the community and law enforcement will want to join Becky Haas in a compelling conversation on law enforcement, ACEs science, COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement and protests. Haas is a nationally recognized adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) science initiative builder and trainer. She and colleagues Renee Wilson-Simmons, the head of the ACE Awareness Foundation of Memphis, Tennessee, and Maggi Duncan,...
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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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Guidance for Distance Learning Released by CA Dept. of Social Services (CDSS) and Education (CDE)
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and California Department of Education (CDE) have jointly released a guidance document for educators conducting distance learning on recognizing the signs and symptoms of abuse. To read more, please see the attached document.
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The Time is Now for Healing Justice Leadership
Social justice and human rights leaders are then told to practice self-care to cope with the impact of the trauma and stress they experience only to return to the work, organizations, and movements where trauma and oppression are often re-enacted.
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Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager (English & Spanish!)
English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance co-created “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe economic consequences resulting from...
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Houseless People In Los Angeles Are Using Mobile Memorials To Humanize And Grieve The Deaths Of Their Community Members [buzzfeednews.com]
By isabellazavarise, Photo: Randy Vazquez/BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, April 16, 2022 Theo Henderson was in a hurry. He was walking through Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and recognized a fellow person experiencing homelessness whom he knew, but in his haste, he didn’t say hi. The next day, Henderson watched the man’s body be zipped into a bag. But it wasn’t the death that most disturbed Henderson; it was the reaction from people who continued to go about their day, ignoring what was happening...
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Former LA gang members teach journalists and doctors about the value of second chances (centerforhealthjournalism.org)
Image: (Photo by ChrisAnna Mink) That same morning Maria was shot, I heard Father Greg Boyle tell a group of reporters that gang violence is “really a public health issue,” and society needs to use the right words for the problems to find solutions. He was talking to a group of journalists with USC Center for Health Journalism National Fellowship on a sunny morning in the bustling, noisy courtyard of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries , a gang...
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Abigail Disney’s Dream: Living Wages for Workers (capitalandmain.com)
Abigail Disney, right, during 2019 testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Courtesy Fork Films Author: To read Peter Hong's article, please click here. The granddaughter of Disney’s co-founder imagines a more equitable America, starting with better pay for Disney park workers. When Abigail Disney was growing up in Los Angeles, she was told never to publicly disparage her family business. Her grandfather, Roy O. Disney, founded the company with his brother Walt. She followed...
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World Mental Health Day: Mobilizing the Human Family Through the CRC & the PACEs Movement
Awareness about health outcomes are as much about the long-term impact caused by adverse childhood experiences as they are by positive childhood experiences. By providing education on trauma-informed awareness and resilience building frameworks, the CRC Accelerator certification is a tool for both.