April 2018

To read the online magazine, click here . Enjoy our Spring 2018 Mental Health California Magazine with articles on student mental health, the Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School, tips on how to meditate, spring cleaning for your life, and a special feature on the new, spectacular Compton High School. We hope you enjoy this issue. Thanks for reading and sharing!

By Brandon Miller , CNN April 23, 2018 (CNN) California is known for its Mediterranean climate. Dry summers and wet winters providing the perfect conditions for a robust agricultural economy, world-renowned wineries and idyllic weather make it the top tourist state in the country. But these same factors leave California vulnerable to shifts in climate, and the weather patterns that traverse the region are conducive to dramatic swings between drought and flood, a sort of "weather whiplash."...

AB 2528, a measure that incorporates four state watersheds into the triennial California’s Climate Adaptation Strategy report, has passed out Assembly Natural Resources on a 7-3 vote. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), will help the state create more climate resilient habitats and protect the state’s largest estuaries and most pristine river systems. AB 2528 identifies climate resilient habitat areas that offer the best opportunity to remain ecologically...

Data on homeless children and youth in California are now available on Kidsdata. Over a quarter million , or 4.4% of public school students, were recorded as homeless at some point during the 2015-2016 school year. Most homeless students stayed with friends or relatives because of loss of housing ( 85% ), and the remainder were in a temporary shelter, motel, or were unsheltered. Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (Point-in-Time Count), Ages 0-17: 2017 Recording homeless students during the school...

Every evening, I try to engage my daughter in reflection, gratitude, and hope. I try to practice the same, but tonight, I felt the need to share with you all. Today I had the opportunity to attend the Toward a Trauma-Informed Northern California Summit 2018 – it was an incredible experience. We were welcomed with a moving, informative, and engaging keynote speaker, Dr. Isaiah B. Pickens , who laid the foundation for what would be a day of growth, reflection, connection, and peer support. He...

California lawmakers will consider a proposal to allow parents to bring their newborns to work at state offices. Assembly Bill 2481 was introduced by Assemblyman Randy Voepel, the former mayor of Santee, with bipartisan support. The program is for babies between 6 weeks and 6 months when they still sleep a lot and before they can crawl away. The infant-to-work program would initially be an option only at state offices, and if passed, would be tested out for a year. "This is a voluntary...

The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) invites you to participate in our 2018 Policymaker Education Day on Childhood Adversity. Last year, we had over 100 4CA representatives who participated in the day-long event. Policymaker Education Day is an opportunity to come together as advocates to educate policymakers about childhood adversity, the long-term consequences of childhood adversity on communities, and garner support for 4CA endorsed legislation. Please register...

If you are on this site. you are probably familiar with ACES, the triune brain, and the resiliency zone. Are you ready to learn more? Come to Echo's one-day training Working with Childhood Trauma II to gain a more advanced understanding of the biology and psychology of childhood trauma - everything from how trauma impacts brain waves to microbiology, from a newly discovered stress hormone to the factors that lead to post-traumatic growth. Don't let your knowledge stagnate. In this...

Federal and state laws mandating parity in coverage of mental and physical illness, together with expansion under the ACA of both Medi-Cal eligibility and scope of mental health services, have made more services available to more Californians. Public and private actors have devoted significant resources to expand access to care, better integrate physical and mental health care, and reduce stigma. Despite these efforts, the incidence of some mental illnesses continues to rise, many...

Trauma is the theme of the 2018 SAMHSA-sponsored (U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day on May 10 th (7-9:00 pm ET) . The virtual town hall, “Partnering for Health and Hope Following Trauma,” will focus on taking an integrated health approach to support children, youth, and young adults who have experienced trauma. The goal of Awareness Days in general is “to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health and...

A California lawmaker is calling for $22.7 million in state funding to help prevent unwarranted arrests of abused and neglected children in the state’s residential foster-care facilities — a disturbing practice exposed in a Chronicle investigation last year. The three-year budget proposal, to be introduced next week by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson (Los Angeles County), comes as arrests continue across the state at county children’s shelters, despite pledges of reform. While the total...

Director of UC Berkeley’s Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society and Author of Racing to Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society Tuesday, May 22 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sierra Health Foundation 1321 Garden Highway, Sacramento john a. powell is an internationally recognized author and expert in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties and a wide range of issues including race, structural racialization, ethnicity, housing, poverty and...