California is already one of the best spots in the United States to have a child, but legislation before the Board of Supervisors could make San Francisco the only place in America where new parents don't take a pay cut, at least for a portion of their time off. When it comes to maternity and paternity leave, the United States has little to boast about. It is the only industrialized country in the world that does not guarantee paid maternity leave. Some states, including California, do give...

Green Streets not only keeps recyclable and compostable materials from ending up in landfills, but it also saves its employees from living a life of crime and incarceration. At the age of 13, Tyrone Mullins had his first contact with the justice system in 1998, handcuffed for starting a small tussle at school. He could’ve been hit with serving a few weeks of detention or even a suspension, but instead, he was formally charged with a crime — setting Mullins on a path of near-permanent...

With policy failing to hold police accountable, cities across the nation are beginning to realize the long lasting trauma caused by police misconduct as well as its drain on tax payer dollars.

It's normal for millennials to still live at home these days. But what if you're a millennial who doesn't have a home to go back to? Growing up, Alkeisha Porter says, she didn't like her mom's husband, and her dad had a drug problem. So at 16, she moved out and became homeless. "I was basically just house-hopping from friends to some family members. Hey, it was comfortable to me. It wasn't cold. I wasn't sleeping outside," says Porter, now 23. Young people — 18- to 24-year-olds — make up one...

This report highlights how housing insecurity can have tremendous impact on the mental health and well being of children and families. Are there ACE's to prevent in addressing this huge issue? Read the 2016 Displacement Brief for yourself here: http://files.ctctcdn.com/c5679d79501/8b862fbe-6570-4a29-bc8e-29e7fbeef38e.pdf Mental Health Impacts: The emotional toll of displacement and living with the threat of displacement is significant, affecting mental wellbeing, sense of belonging and...

In San Francisco this Saturday (March 26), there is a fundraiser for a Sundance A3 Foundation finalist screenplay titled Russian Red #7. It's a fictional account about a Chinese model who believes she's unworthy of love from contracting HIV as a teenager in Beijing, until the man of her life comes along in Paris and confronts her needless self-destruction. The film will become a resource for the many organizations in San Francisco dealing with HIV treatment, mental health, family trauma, and...

It’s almost April! April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and we are hoping you will join us in supporting San Francisco’s children. If we all do our part, we can keep all of San Francisco’s children safe. With the efforts of partners like you, San Francisco has made great strides in supporting children + families, preventing child maltreatment, and responding to child abuse. Despite the amazing work and collaboration of the city’s community agencies, schools, and city departments,...

On the evening of March 2, 2016, the SF Child Abuse Prevention Center hosted a private screening of Paper Tigers with an accompanying panel of SF county systems leaders for about 80 community members. Paper Tigers is an intimate look into the lives of selected students at Lincoln High School, an alternative school that specializes in educating traumatized youth. Set amidst the rural community of Walla Walla, WA, the film examines the inspiring promise of Trauma Informed Communities — a...

Lena Miller Executive Director, Hunters Point Family Vice President, SF District 10 African American Health Alliance Member, SFPD African American Advisory Board Student, USF Clinical Psychology PsyD program In the news Hope for survival in Bayview-Hunters Point grows with aquaponics Innovative program teaches Bay Area jail inmates farming skills Why so jails are embracing aquaponics African American Health Alliance AAHA recently gained non-profit status Currently includes every African...

From Tugg.com, March 17, 2016 Tugg Edu is proud to present the highly anticipated ACEs documentary PAPER TIGERS to the educational marketplace. Directed by James Redford ( THE BIG PICTURE: RETHINKING DYSLEXIA, RESILIENCE ), PAPER TIGERS follows a year in the life of an alternative high school that has radically changed its approach to disciplining its students, becoming a promising model for how to break the cycles of poverty, violence and disease that affect families. With over 450...

One of a handful of youth clinics serving the Mission, Bayview, Excelsior, and Visitacion Valley communities will be shut down by the end of April, a move decried by school nurses who say it leaves young women and men of color without easy access to birth control, testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and reproductive health education. “There’s going to be a lot of schools in this area that are going to be severely impacted by not having them in this area,” said...

Findings of the ACE Study have had a swift and substantial impact on MCH policy, practice and research. This issue of the journal is intended to provide a forum to enhance knowledge of the Study and its implications across the field. Topics of interest include: The aims and findings of the ACE Study, The implications of the Study and use of Study findings to shape MCH practice in clinical, program and policy settings, The import of the Study in relation to life course theory and the social...