May 2019

As of May 2019, the California Evidence-Based Clearing House (CEBC) has reviewed and rated over 450 programs. These programs are organized across 47 unique topic area s and each topic area varies in the number of programs with published peer-reviewed research evidence. The topic areas with the smallest number of research-supported programs are listed in the first table below in order to illustrate where gaps in effective services exist for child welfare-involved populations. The second table...

The reach of substance use disorders in America is far more significant than people think. 21+ million Americans struggle with substance use disorders. Their substance use and addiction-related behaviors impact 100 million more Americans. These are the moms, dads, husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, grandchildren.... Together, these two groups represents more than one-third of the American population!

Sacramento Bee and Propublica, May 28, 2019. A decade ago, so many inmates were crammed into California’s prisons that the sprawling system had reached a breaking point. Prisoners were sleeping in gyms, hallways and dayrooms. Mentally ill prisoners were jammed into tiny holding cells. There were dozens of riots and hundreds of attacks on guards every year. Suicide rates were 80% higher than in the rest of the nation’s prisons. The California prison population peaked at more than 165,000 in...

In a house called “Johanna’s House” on a tree-lined side street in Vallejo, Calif., four women are filling out the adverse childhood experiences (ACE) survey given to them by Maria Guevara, the founder of Vallejo Together, an organization that serves homeless residents in Vallejo. The house was named for Johanna Dilag, a homeless woman who was found dead along with her dog.

CWA was proud to again be a part of the California Breastfeeding Coalition's Mother-Baby Friendly Workplace Awards , recognizing businesses throughout California for their efforts to support lactating employees by creating lactation accommodation policies and working to come up with comfortable, appropriate solutions to meet the breastfeeding needs of staff when they return to work. We were encouraged that several California legislators were on hand this year to personally congratulate...

Are you ready to lead transformative change for children and families in California? Strategies 2.0, at the Child Abuse Prevention Center in Sacramento CA, is looking for a Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist who will help grow knowledge and networks for professionals working with families--through impactful consulting to collaborations and organizations, training to direct-service teams, and regional movement-building among family-building and community-building leaders.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on May 22 on the challenges that states face in their efforts to support children affected by trauma. The findings were based in part on interviewing state and local officials in six states (Colorado, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin) along with questionnaires to 16 states. The request for the report was made by two Illinois members of Congress, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Danny Davis, and...

A physician, an advocate, a public health specialist, a suicide-attempt survivor and a California state lawmaker gathered in downtown Sacramento today to offer their diagnosis of the state’s mental health system. The consensus was summed up by Sen. Jim Beall: “We need to start from scratch.” The panel discussion, hosted by CALmatters and the California Health Care Foundation, builds off an ongoing CALmatters reporting project by Jocelyn Wiener and Byrhonda Lyons on the state’s fragmented,...

At-risk youth in Southwest Fresno can expect access to a new boxing ring, fitness equipment, meditation room and mentoring programs with help from Kaiser Permanente Fresno. With the ribbon cutting at the Cecil C. Hinton Community Center on Tuesday morning, Police Chief Jerry Dyer was in attendance, along with elected officials including Fresno Mayor Lee Brand, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, and Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp. Inside, they displayed some of the new...

Buprenorphine, a relative newcomer in the treatment of opioid addiction, is growing in popularity among California doctors as regulatory changes, physician training and other initiatives make the medication more widely accessible. The rate of Medi-Cal enrollees who received buprenorphine nearly quadrupled from the end of 2014 to the third quarter of 2018, according to data released by Medi-Cal , the state’s Medicaid program. The rate for methadone — an older and more commonly used drug — was...

our special education students and their parents or guardians filed a lawsuit last week against the state of California claiming they were emotionally and physically harmed when they were illegally put in restraint holds and secluded during behavioral interventions at their Concord school. The four students attended Floyd I. Marchus School , operated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education. The public school offers special education services and integrated counseling to 85 children...

In Los Angeles County, as in many other areas of the U.S., African American children are disproportionately overrepresented in foster care when compared with their representation in the general population. Research also shows that lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are overrepresented in foster care. An August 2014 report by UCLA Law School’s Williams Institute found that LA County has 13.4% LGBQ-identified youth in foster care (compared to 7.2% in the...