By Rosemary Tisch, Psychology Today, January 1, 2021 We should be very worried”, states Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Director of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child : · Risk for child abuse increases during economic crises. · Parental job loss due to the pandemic can have negative consequences on young children, including increased risk for psychological and physical abuse at the hands of their parents. · Emergency Room doctors are reporting more severe abuse cases, although child...

On January 20, 2021 the California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the C alifornia Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (CDSS/OCAP)’s , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative hosted a webinar entitled, “Creating Compelling Messaging with ACEs Data”. This webinar featured presentations from Shaddai Martinez Cuestas, MPH, Strategic Communications Specialist at Berkeley Media Studies Group ; Donielle Prince, Ph.D,...

On behalf of the CDSS FURS Implementation Team The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is proud to announce the launch of: Family Urgent Response System (FURS) MARCH 1, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. FURS includes a 24/7 Statewide Hotline and a 24/7 County-based Mobile Response and Stabilization !! FURS will provide current and former foster youth (up to age 21) and their caregivers with immediate, trauma-informed support by caring and trained professionals when they need it. FURS is intended...

The California Essentials for Childhood Initiative is excited to share a newly developed attached, “Strategies for Trauma-Informed School Communities: Practices to Improve Resiliency in School-Aged Children and Address Adverse Childhood Experiences”. This new resource is intended to assist state and local public health programs, child-serving systems, non-profits, and philanthropic organizations in their efforts to educate about the need for trauma-informed school policies and practices that...

Children's Safety Network (CSN) is hosting a new webinar titled, "Protecting Children from Heatstroke in Vehicles" on Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET. In this webinar, Jan Null, Adjunct Professor of Meteorology at San Jose State University and founder of NoHeatstroke.org, will discuss the scope of the problem and related trends. He will also explain the dynamics of vehicle heating and the impact they have upon a child’s heath. Amy Artuso of the National Safety Council will...

When presented strategically, data can help tell an important story about childhood trauma. Here are a few tips for presenting numbers in ways that advance efforts to reduce adversity, promote resilience, and improve health outcomes.

A newly developed document titled “Utilizing Data to Improve Child Wellbeing Through Community Action” has just been released and can be found attached to this blog post. The purpose of this document is to identify best practices in utilizing data to monitor and evaluate child adversity, health, development, and wellbeing in order to build community support and create policy, systems, and environmental change. This resource was created in partnership by All Children Thrive - California and...

Join Strategies TA and best-selling author of Upstream: the Quest to Solve Problems before they Happen , Dan Heath for learning and inspiration around the critical need for prevention approaches to all types of social issues, including child abuse and neglect. In Upstream , Dan Heath examines how to prevent problems before they happen, drawing on insights from hundreds of interviews with unconventional problem solvers. In this webinar, he will share insights and interactive discussion around...

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) highlights shared risk and protective factors for suicide and overdose in the infographic titled "Creating a Shared Approach to Suicide and Overdose Prevention." Childhood trauma and adversity, economic hardship, access to lethal means, discrimination, social isolation, and other risk factors can contribute to risk of suicide and/or overdose, while stable employment and housing, safe, supportive, and inclusive environments,...

The CDPH Injury and Violence Prevention Branch ’s California Violent Death Reporting System (CalVDRS) Project has released four new injury data briefs and an infographic on suicide, homicide, firearm-related deaths, and violent deaths involving multiple victims using data from 2018. These briefs summarize vital statistics data as well as supplemental data from coroner/medical examiner and law enforcement reports to identify trends and circumstances in violent deaths in California. These...

The Essentials for Childhood Initiative is pleased to share the “ Building Partnerships to Strengthen California’s Families” Convening Summary and Presentation Slides that supported the event that took place on November 3, 2021. The Convening Summary contains a detailed overview of the information shared and the feedback provided by the participants during the convening. You will find these documents attached below. To view the recording, please access the video at this link and use...

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB) is proud to release a new resource titled, “ Opportunities to Empower and Support Girls and Women in California: An Environmental Scan of Leadership Opportunities and Economic Supports to Prevent Sexual Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Teen Dating Violence .” The IVPB addresses root causes of violence and applies an upstream approach to violence prevention. There is a strategic interest in...

The EfC Initiative would like to share two resources developed by Safe & Sound , an organization dedicated to strengthening families and ending child abuse, that may be of interest to you in your work. The Economics of Child Abuse Report has been updated to share the economic impact of child maltreatment and estimates that California's communities incurred $22.6 billion in economic impacts due to child maltreatment in 2021. Explore this interactive tool to learn the economic impact of...

PACEs Connection and the Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , a project of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) have developed two new resources, “ Community Strategies to Address California’s Digital Divide and Its Impact on Children and Families ” Report and the “ Digital Divide Brief: Community Strategies to Address California’s Digital Divide and Its Impact on Children and Families ” . “ Community Strategies to...

The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) ’s, Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative is excited to share the new report “Adverse Childhood Experiences Data Report: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 2013-2019: An Overview of Adverse Childhood Experiences in California”, developed by The purpose of this new report is to share about...

“Reimagining Child Wellbeing: Local Policy Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in California’s Communities” is a resource developed in collaboration with the All Children Thrive, California (ACT) project and the California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) ’s , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative . This resource was created...

Ask Governor Newsome to sign AB 2660 now

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB), is releasing the Domestic Violence Prevention Program (DVP) Request for Application (RFA) 23-10059 to award up to two (2) contracts that will focus on strengthening economic security and mobility for Black women and their families. Awarded Applicants will be expected to utilize the Close to Home (C2H) community mobilization approach to conduct primary prevention, community-level strategies as a...

The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative and the Active Transportation and Safety Program , a project of IVPB and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Active Transportation Program (ATP) have developed a new resource titled, “Trauma-Informed Approach to Active Transportation: Recognizing the...