Blog

The City of Sacramento, California (City) is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) for experienced community organizers, leaders, and/or non-profit organizations to help coordinate existing resources, bridge gaps, and implement the continued work of the Mayor’s call to action for mental health professionals to help address community trauma needs. PRE BID MEETING IS FRIDAY JULY 6, 3:00 at City Hall, Rm 1119 (Nonmandatory informational session).

On AB 1808: "Emphasized under that umbrella will be restorative justice, social emotional learning and other alternatives that focus on mediation and building healthy relationships over traditional punishments."

The Trauma of Separated Families A recent op-ed in the Sacramento Bee written by UC Davis Human Ecology Professor Leah Hibbel and human development graduate student Andrea Buhler-Wassmann discusses the recent executive order to end the separation of immigrant children from their families, and calls attention to the trauma already experienced by separated families. The authors state that "The U.S. government is responsible for traumatizing these families and has a moral obligation to fix the...

Here is a roundup of a few articles by experts in various fields that provide context and detail to the understanding that child separations are more than a saddening inconvenience- they are detrimental to the emotional and physical well-being of young people.

Sacramento City Unified School District has made headlines as one of the nation's most discriminatory in disciplining African American students. Board President Jessie Ryan responded in an Op-Ed, writing movingly from her experience both as a mom and as a leader of this school district.

By Jazmine Justice-Young/Access Sacramento The term “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as a disorder that can develop in people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous, and overall “traumatic” event. PTSD is most commonly associated with symptoms seen in returning war veterans, but an action brief released on the California Endowment’s homepage redefines the term in a way many services providers seem to overlook. The report...

Last year Hope and Heal Fund made its inaugural grant to Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) to begin the process to change the current narrative on gun violence in California to one that is hopeful and solution-based. Today we are excited to announce that the issue brief, More than mass shootings: Gun violence narratives in California news , is live now on BMSG’s website here: http://www.bmsg.org/resources/publications/gun-suicide-community-domestic-violence-news-narratives-california . The...

According to researchers from San Diego State University and University of California, Los Angeles, Sacramento schools disproportionately suspend black boys. The researchers’ new study, “The Capitol of Suspensions: Examining the Racial Exclusion of Black Males in Sacramento County,” revealed that the schools with the worst record are right here in the state capital: The Sacramento City Unified School District has suspended more black boys than any other district in the state—including Los...

As Megan Hendrickson finishes her graduation remarks, her already-shaky voice gives way to a flood of tears. Before she can cross the stage and return to her chair, a classmate folds her into a warm hug. Within seconds, 12 students are huddled in a clump, arms wrapped around one another, as they say farewell to a place they’ve come to call home. The ceremony took place at Meristem school, in the Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks, where adults with autism and other intellectual disabilities...

Berkeley Media Studies Group analyzed and reported on the social media conversation about trauma, with a focus on the degree to which this conversation includes intersections between trauma and race. The analysis demonstrated that very few online conversations make these connections

Our June meeting focused on best practices in broadening the trauma lens to include structural oppression. Key resources attached.

Journalist Howard Bryant discusses the history of social protest among African-American athletes. His new book, The Heritage, traces the tradition back to Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and others. [To listen to this podcast by TERRY GROSS, go to https://www.npr.org/2018/06/13/619515355/how-taking-a-stand-for-justice-can-threaten-the-careers-of-black-athletes ] For another story on this topic, see To Play, Protest Or Both? Book Traces 'The Heritage' Of Black Athlete Activists .