By Cailin O'Connor, 6/10/20, positiveexperience.org/blog ...The Strengthening Families framework identifies five protective factors, but of course there are far more than five possible strengths in people’s lived experiences. These strengths, and the positive experiences they facilitate, profoundly influence a child’s experience of adversity – including by making those adverse experiences less likely, by buffering a child from the negative effects of adversity, by restoring a sense of safety...

The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities will be launching a monthly e-newsletter at the end of June. You can now subscribe online . Created for policymakers, practitioners, and advocates, this e-newsletter will delve into the public health approach to child welfare transformation. We’ll feature innovative efforts being led around the country to bend the arc of policy and practice toward prevention so that all families can thrive. We encourage you to sign up and share with your...

Golden State Opportunity has released a new report, Our Fair Share: The Earned Income Tax Credit’s Crucial Role During a Recession , with original economic analysis confirming that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a powerful economic driver. Analysis shows that in 2019 state and federal EITC refunds created or sustained 74,000 jobs in California, which is equivalent to nearly 25% of the total jobs created in California that year. Over the four years California has invested in its own...

By Michelle Cardell, Aaron S. Kelly, and Lindsay A. Thompson, JAMA Pediatrics, May 26, 2020 Parents, empower your adolescents so they can make choices that promote their healthiest self. Teens, getting older means making decisions about what matters to you most. Making healthy choices is a great place to start. Taking care of your physical, emotional, and mental health is what makes it possible for you to do all the things you want to do. Fuel Up You are in charge of what you eat and drink.

Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused everyone to grapple with uncertainty and manage new stressors at home, at work, and in our communities. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll indicated that 45% of Americans report that the current crisis is harming their mental health. We are facing unprecedented disruption in our daily lives and navigating a world of school and business closures, job losses, social distancing, food access and housing constraints, and other types...

The California Department of Social Services is supporting Parents Anonymous in the launch of the new California Parent and Youth Helpline, which provides support and resource referrals to parent and youth during the current COVID-19 pandemic. We are requesting your assistance in promoting the helpline by sharing the below information with your contacts and placing the logo on relevant websites: The California Parent and Youth Helpline provides support and resource referrals to parent and...

By Chloe Yang, 5/26/20, positiveexperience.org Last Monday, Dr. Robert Sege was invited by the Maine Resilience Building Network (MRBN) to speak about HOPE and Positive Childhood Experiences during an interactive webinar. Usually an in-person meeting, the gathering attracted nearly 300 virtual participants. Our Zoom screens were tiled with pages and pages of faces, front-line workers across Maine who continue to serve families during this time. Among the audience were teachers, social...

By David Willis, MD and Robert Sege | Kay Johnson, 5/21/20, cssp.org The following excerpt was written for the positiveexperience.org blog . Today, the HOPE team leader, Dr. Robert Sege, joined with HOPE National Advisory Board member David Willis and HOPE consultant Kay Johnson to call for a change in mindset for child-serving professionals and organizations. The collaborative post begins with the following excerpt: The three of us have been talking together for years – and have come to...

On May 13, 2020, the California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative held a webinar entitled, “Health Equity and COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Child Wellbeing through Policy” and heard from special guest speaker, Dr. Flojaune Cofer, Senior Director of Policy with the All Children Thrive (ACT) California project . This interactive webinar examined what success could look like to address COVID-19 by describing equity concerns arising for children and families that have been...

May 19, 2020 New and updated data describing childhood adversity and resilience are now available on kidsdata.org . The data cover more counties than previously offered and provide greater detail on childhood adversity. Also, in partnership with the Essentials for Childhood Initiative, you can now access data dashboards for every county in California. Adversity and Resilience Data See the latest parent reported data on childhood adversity and resilience in California. Based on the National...

From California Department of Social Services, May 2020 Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school will get extra food benefits. These food benefits are called Pandemic EBT or P-EBT benefits. P-EBT benefits help families in California buy food when schools are closed because of the coronavirus emergency. Families will get up to $365 per eligible child on their P-EBT card to use on food and groceries. Families with children who get...

On April 29, 2020, the California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative held a webinar entitled, “Trauma-Informed Care/Practices in Light of COVID-19: Applying Lessons Learned from Child-Serving Systems” and heard from special guest speaker, Dr. Melissa Bernstein, an Implementation Specialist with the Advancing California’s Trauma-Informed Systems (ACTS) Initiative . Dr. Bernstein shared considerations for practical application of key trauma-informed elements put into practice through...