Blog posts -- Legislation & policies

The third Sierra Learning Community for the 2019-20 fiscal year focused upon Building Family, Agency, and Community Resilience: Rural Policies to Improve Housing Affordability and Accessibility. The power point and other materials distributed to attendees are attached to this post. View the recording by clicking here: 2.13.20 Sierra Learning Community ANNOUNCEMENTS Make sure to visit the Strategies2.0 YouTube Channel to access recordings of all the Strategies2.0 sponsored webinars and...

On February 18, 2020, nationally recognized experts discussed policy and advocacy strategies on local, state, and national levels using evidence from studies they have conducted with legislators and the general public. Speakers shared advocacy and messaging "how to’s" including communicating the effects of structural racism as an ACE, fostering equity as an essential component of resilience, and leveraging the power of community-based ACE, trauma and resilience networks to inform policy.

By Amanda Merck, Salud America!, February 12, 2020 Early childhood adversity like abuse and divorce is a root cause of many of the greatest public health challenges we face today. But doctors don’t even screen children for exposure to adversity. That’s changing in California, thanks to Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and other child advocates. As of Jan. 1, 2020, almost 100,000 physicians in 8,800 clinics will be reimbursed for routinely screening Medi-Cal patients for adverse childhood experiences...

By Karen de Sa and John Kelly, The Chronicle of Social Change, February 5, 2020 A California senator introduced groundbreaking legislation this week to extend the state’s foster care system through age 25 – a bill that acknowledges the continued failure to prepare young people severed from families for life on their own. The early-stage Senate Bill 912 has few details yet available, and no price tag. But its lofty aim would make California the first state to expand such support and services...

Photo credit: Texasarchitects.org An updated map of laws and resolutions addressing ACEs science and trauma-informed policies is now available in the “Laws and Resolutions” section of Map the Movement (you can also find "Map the Movement" on the navigation bar on the ACEs Connection home page). The earliest law on the map was passed in the state of Washington in 2011, creating an ACEs science public-private partnership. The data base of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is...

Starting Jan. 1, police can legally use deadly force only when “necessary in defense of human life.” That’s a higher standard than prosecutors apply now, when officers are permitted to use such force when it is “reasonable.” An iteration of the change was first introduced in 2018 after unarmed Stephon Clark was killed by Sacramento police. The bill stalled until civil rights groups and police struck a compromise, securing passage in the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature . In this...

Medical providers in California and nationwide are increasingly recognizing that racism and discrimination affect children’s health, and they’re seeking to tackle the problem. Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued its first policy statement on how racism affects the health and development of children and teens. The academy called racism a “socially transmitted disease” with historical origins that continue to affect the circumstances children grow up in, how they’re treated...

Five of the bills that the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) was tracking this legislative session were signed or incorporated into law! They are: Assembly Bill 741 (Kalra), which requires the Department of Health Care Services to provide trainings for personnel who administer trauma screenings in a pediatric or primary care providing setting for children in Medi-Cal. The substance of this bill was included in the Governor’s May Revise budget, and funded at $50 million...

On October 2 nd , Family Resource Centers and the family strengthening field as a whole reached a critical victory, when Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 436 into law. SB436 built on the findings of the 2017 monograph Family Resource Centers: Vehicles for Change, Volume II, the Evolving Field, as well as a recent study commissioned by the David & Lucille Packard Foundation, to establish in statute an inclusive and clear definition for Family Resource Centers. SB436 represents...

By Nick Garber, Patch Staff, October 1, 2019 Three bills signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom set up new programs, including peer support groups, for firefighters and first responders. SACRAMENTO, CA — Firefighters and first responders will gain access to mental health support programs and become eligible for workers' compensation based on post-traumatic stress, under three bills signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. "The job of firefighters and first responders can be very rewarding,...

By Max Rivlin-Nadler, for KPBS, September 26, 2019 California could lose more than $500 million in federal funding if the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule goes into effect next month (Oct 15th). The “public charge” rule is meant to discourage immigrants from accessing social services. According to a study released last week by researchers at UCLA and the California Immigrant Policy Center, California could lose millions in federal funding that would have gone to hospitals, labs...

Staff reports, Sept 5, 2019 for The Sentinel " Under SB 436 , California would place into statute “family resources centers,” while formally recognizing their involvement in programmatic activities already underway within the Office of Child Abuse Prevention ." Senator Melissa Hurtado’s bill heads to Governor’s desk SACRAMENTO — Senator Melissa Hurtado’s (D-Sanger) legislation, Senate Bill 436, which would help prevent child abuse and neglect, is headed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. The...