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Today's Press Democrat featured this promising article: "Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday created a new government office to help the region bounce back from this year’s devastating wildfires and assist with charting a formal vision for the long-term recovery of the local housing supply, the economy and other key areas. The new Office of Recovery and Resiliency will have its own budget and seven staff members, three of whom will come from the ranks of current county employees. Housed within...

A food recovery model now being eyed by neighboring counties was refined through the work of a lifelong Orange resident – whose experience as a restaurateur opened the door to turning millions of pounds of excess food into meals for the hungry. This year, nearly 11.5 million pounds of excess food in Orange County, normally headed toward the garbage bin, went instead to help those struggling with food insecurity, thanks to a model developed by the Waste Not OC Coalition and refined by its...

Orange County officials are moving forward with plans to create a center for mental health and drug treatment services next to the Santa Ana River, with county supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approving the nearly $8 million purchase of a large office building to house it. The center, if it comes to fruition, is seen by advocates and officials as a major step toward addressing a severe shortage of mental health service options in Orange County that health experts have said contributes to...

When I was 16, I was incarcerated in juvenile hall. Whenever I was moved within the facility, I was shackled. They would chain my ankles and handcuff my wrists to a belly-chain. I was bound like this anytime I went to see the nurse, the psychiatrist and whenever I went outside. Twenty years later, I still have scars where the cuffs carved into my ankles. Policies in California’s youth prisons, including the use of shackles, cause serious harm to our children. The vast majority of...

Orange County civil rights and homeless advocates will meet with a United Nations investigator on Monday, Dec. 4, to present evidence that local governments’ treatment of homeless people constitutes a violation of international human rights. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, is touring the United States for two weeks to research his upcoming report on extreme poverty in America. It will be partially based on his visits to Los Angeles, Washington,...

They, the homeless, were Tim Houchen’s friends and neighbors during his destitute years. As he watched years ago from his humble dwelling in the sprawling homeless encampment at the foot of the Santa Ana Civic Center, he thought about the loneliness and futility of that particular brand of dying. “You start to get the sense that the flesh and the spirit don’t die at the same time,” Houchen said. “A lot of times, these people’s spirits are gone months before their bodies pass. It’s really sad...

Mental illness cases have risen in California, while treatment and funding have not kept up. Every Southern California county has experienced an upward trend in the rate at which children under 18 years are hospitalized for a mental health issue. “The mental health system has been plagued by gaps in services, access and funding,” says Dr.Clayton with St. Joseph Hoag Health. “People with severe mental health and substance abuse conditions struggle to receive needed care in their communities...

To see the conference agenda, list of all-star speakers, and to register go to: http://www.theresourceinnovationgroup.org/california-2018-conference/

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...

Origins offers a number of training and consulting services. We developed The Basics as a half-day session to provide the foundation to support trauma-informed and resilience practices across sectors and industries. The session includes an overview of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, the neurobiology of toxic stress, the impact of social and historical trauma, and the science of resilience. We have tested The Basics with two cross-sector audiences, in Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Emergency room visits resulting from opioid use have increased 141 percent over 10 years in Orange County, according to a report released Tuesday, Aug. 15, by the Health Care Agency. Between 2005 and 2015, 7,457 residents went to hospital ERs for reasons such as opioid addiction or heroin poisoning. The report is a follow-up to an April publication on drug and alcohol deaths, which have risen 82 percent since 2000. The new report makes note of a number of local trends: the most commonly...

"It's so rare to receive a personalized letter, something that you can hold, as opposed to something you just read on a screen," said Ian Gee, general manager of the Sheraton Park Hotel. "There was a lot of detail and passion in the letter. He presented his family and the challenges his family faces and how they overcame them. But what I liked about it was it wasn't a complaint; he offered suggestions." A behavioral therapist was brought in to train the staff. The hotel's restaurant menu...