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California Essentials for Childhood Initiative (CA)

The California Essentials for Childhood Initiative uses a public health and collective impact approach to align and enhance collaborative efforts to promote safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children, youth and families through systems, policy and social norms change.

Tagged With "California Department of Public Health"

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RSVP now for two lunchtime webinars! April 14th & April 28th!

Karen Clemmer ·
Washington State Essentials for Childhood is launching a series of lunchtime webinar series. Series three and four webinars are: 3 Guiding Truths for Building Regulation and Resilience in Children with Significant Trauma Related Needs Time and Date: April 14, 2020; 12:00 – 1:00pm Presented by: Tiffany Sudela-Junker Mother by adoption, Tiffany Sudela-Junker shares stories from her own personal and parenting transformation along with the science & insight that led her to uncover Three...
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Sacrifices Californians Make Together to Slow Spread of Coronavirus are Worth It [chcf.org]

By Sandra R. Hernandez, California Health Care Foundation, March 16, 2020 We have entered an important new chapter in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic: After a week filled with school closures and the cancellation of major public events of all kinds, Congress and President Donald Trump are hopefully close to a deal to address the spread of the dangerous coronavirus. This clear-headed collaboration by our political leaders is welcome for the immediate relief it will bring and because it...
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Save the Date: July 11, 4CA Policymaker Education Day in Sacramento

Benita Tsao ·
Save the Date: Tuesday, July 11 4CA Policymaker Education Day on Childhood Adversity, Sacramento The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) invites you to Sacramento for Policymaker Education Day. Our lawmakers need to hear from you about how adverse childhood experiences and childhood trauma affect your community and what they can do to help. Join with allies from across California to engage your elected officials on this important issue. Who: 4CA Policymaker Education Day...
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School Discipline Practices: An Issue Brief on a Public Health Crisis and Opportunities for Reform [changelabsolutions.org]

Alicia Doktor ·
Early childhood education sets the foundation for a student’s future well-being and success. However, the widespread use of exclusionary school discipline (ESD) aggravates pre-existing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and deprives students of essential opportunities for learning and growth. Examples of harmful and counterproductive ESD practices include suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, and corporal punishment. These practices can compound feelings of isolation and...
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Secondary Traumatic Stress Affects Child Abuse Prevention Champions

Elena Costa ·
Each year, millions of children in California endure the trauma of abuse, violence, natural disasters, and other adverse events. These experiences can give rise to significant emotional and behavioral problems that can profoundly disrupt the children’s lives and bring them in contact with child-serving professionals. For therapists, child welfare workers, case managers, and other helping professionals involved in the care of traumatized children and their families, the essential act of...
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Sesame Workshop and BTC Team Up to Help with Big Scary Feelings during the COVID-19 Crisis

Caring for Each Other: How to Use Sesame Street in Communities Resources for Health Emergencies with Families Now Wednesday, April 1, 2020 @ 3 PM ET We're all in this together, and that's why we're all coming together. Sesame Workshop and the Brazelton Touchpoints Center are partnering on a webinar series, beginning April 1st, to share online resources that can help us handle the sudden changes in our lives when we face health emergencies like the one that confronts us today. As a result of...
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Showing UP for Sophia: Dear John,

Marcella Maggio ·
Dear John, Watching Marriage Story on New Year’s Eve was the ending I needed to witness in order to understand our own. Like Charlie and Nicole, we have history, we share a child, and we both want our child to be raised in an environment where she can thrive. While our similarities don’t stop there, the difference in how their ending started inspired me to follow suit. A mediator encouraged them to write a note of positivity to remember why they got married (together) in the first place.
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Small Ohio Town Passes Progressive Parental Leave Policy Listen· 2:54 [NPR.org]

Samantha Sangenito ·
[Photo by Evan-Amos ] The Village of Newburgh Heights, outside Cleveland, is a working class community of about 2,500 residents. It's also home to the most progressive parental leave policy of any municipality in the nation. As of last week, full-time public employees will be eligible for six months of paid parental leave after the birth of a child. [For more of this story go to http://www.npr.org/2016/05/24/479349640/small-ohio-town-passes-progressive-parental-leave-policy]
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Social-Emotional Development in the First Three Years [rwjf.org]

Alicia Doktor ·
The Issue In the first three years of life, children achieve remarkable advances in social and emotional development (SED) that establish a foundation for later competencies. Yet even in the first three years, these achievements can be threatened by exposure to elevated stresses of many kinds. Family poverty, marital conflict, parental emotional problems, experiences of trauma, neglect, or abuse and other adversities cause some infants and toddlers to experience anxious fearfulness,...
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Spotlight on Kidsdata.org

Elena Costa ·
Kidsdata.org provides a tool for assessing community needs, setting priorities, tracking progress, preparing grant proposals, and making program and policy decisions. Users easily can find and customize more than 500 data measures of child health and well-being, sorted by topic, region, or demographic group. Data are available for every county, city, school district, and legislative district in California, and many measures include national comparisons. Kidsdata.org has compiled a...
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State and Federal Support of Trauma-Informed Care: Sustaining the Momentum

Mariel Gingrich ·
Policymakers increasingly recognize the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on lifelong physical, emotional, and social health and are beginning to support efforts for incorporating trauma-informed care into the health and social service sectors. This new CHCS blog post looks at how proposed state and federal legislative, regulatory, and contracting policies aim to reduce trauma and toxic stress and promote resiliency and trauma-informed practices. It also explores how federal...
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State Dropping Ball in Dealing With Childhood Trauma, New Report Says [California Healthline]

Julia Wei ·
The lowest of 31 grades issued in the  2016 California Children's Report Card released on Wednesday was for dealing with the effects of childhood trauma. In Children Now's biennial assessment of the status of California kids, researchers gave the state a "D-" for how it deals with childhood trauma. The report contends that children who experience traumatic problems such as abuse, neglect and witnessing violence at home can suffer serious long-term consequences, including health...
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Stress Health Virtual Focus Group and iPad Giveaway

Diana Hembree ·
Your thoughts on toxic stress are needed: Please join our virtual focus group this Wednesday at 5 pm PST.
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Studying How Poverty Keeps Hurting Young Minds, and What to Do About It [NYTimes.com]

Samantha Sangenito ·
[Photo by Bryan Jones ] The human brain begins as a neural tube that develops five weeks after conception. Years later, it is fully formed. On Tuesday, experts in neuroscience, genetics and social work met in Manhattan to talk about what can happen to it along the way, and what emerging research tells us about how children who seem broken can be made whole. Officially, the meeting was called Poverty, the Brain and Mental Health. It could have been called This Is Your Brain on Poverty. Or:...
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Supporting Brain Development in Traumatized Children and Youth

Gail Kennedy ·
This Administration on Children and Families (ACF) bulletin summarizes the effects of early trauma on brain development and looks at steps child welfare professionals can take to screen for developmental delays and identify the trauma-affected children and youth in their care. It also looks at ways to access cross-sector, therapeutic, and evidence-based treatment to encourage healthy recovery for trauma-affected children and youth. HERE TO ACCESS MATERIALS. Document attached.
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Supporting Evidence Building in Child Welfare Project Evaluation Opportunity Announcement

Elena Costa ·
The Supporting Evidence Building in Child Welfare Project , a five-year project of the Urban Institute, to support the Administration for Children and Families, is increasing the number of evidence-supported interventions for the child welfare population by conducting rigorous evaluations and supporting the field in moving toward rigorous evaluation. The project focuses on evaluating interventions that already have some evidence of effectiveness and are currently operating or those that will...
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Supporting Safety and Well-being of Children and Families during COVID-19

Elena Costa ·
The following information is from a tip sheet created by Sacramento County. To access the tip sheet for the full copy, please access it at the link below: The outbreak of COVID‐19 is a concern on everyone’s mind. While we may be comforted to know that the risk to our children’s physical health from the outbreak itself appears to be low, child and family serving agencies are worried about the increased risk for child abuse and neglect during this time of crisis and economic insecurity .
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Survey: Kids say schools are getting safer, but bullying more common [DailyBulletin.com]

Samantha Sangenito ·
Fewer students are using drugs and alcohol, but more feel harassed and bullied, a new health survey found. The California Healthy Kids Survey, done every two years since 1985, asked more than 36,000 middle and high school students across the state about campus safety, substance use, mental health and other issues. The California Department of Education and the California Department of Health Care Services coordinated the report, which takes a random sample of seventh-, ninth- and 11th-grade...
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Suspension, expulsion rates fall sharply in California, but racial and ethnic disparities remain [edsource.org]

Alicia Doktor ·
School suspensions and expulsions in California public schools have dropped dramatically among all racial and ethnic groups over the past five years but a significant gap remains for African-American students, according to new state data released Wednesday. In the 2016-17 school year, the suspension rate of African-American students in California public schools was 9.8 percent. Still, that rate was significantly lower than it was in 2011-12, when the rate for African-American students was...
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Teen and Young Adult Engagement during Covid-19 [positiveexperience.org]

Bob Sege ·
By Dr. Robert Sege, 5/13/20, from positiveexperience.org/blog It’s easy to focus on the negative now that we are two months into the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, we turn our attention to some of the Positive Childhood Experiences that form the basis of HOPE. This blog focuses on how adolescents and young adults across the country have demonstrated their engagement (engagement is one of the 4 Building Blocks of HOPE and has been discussed in a previous blog ). First of all, to state the obvious:...
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Tell State Leaders: Do More for California's Babies

Gail Yen ·
Check out this exciting opportunity to support babies and strengthen families! Please join hundreds of other organizations in signing on to this letter urging our state leaders to fund critical home visiting supports for babies and families living in poverty. Children’s earliest brain development is the foundation for their lifelong health and success. Yet too often families, especially those who are struggling to make ends meet, don’t have the support they need during the stressful time of...
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The 2015 KIDS COUNT Data Book [AECF.org]

Gail Kennedy ·
The KIDS COUNT Data B ook is an annual publication that assesses child well-being nationally and across the 50 states, as well as in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Using an index of 16 indicators, the report ranks states on overall child...
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The Advancing California’s Trauma-Informed Systems (ACTS) Project

Elena Costa ·
The California Department of Social Services (CDSS), Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) has partnered with the Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego to launch the Advancing California’s Trauma-Informed Systems (ACTS) project. Designed for child welfare systems, the ACTS Project includes opportunities for: Collaborative planning and thoughtful identification of individualized areas for trauma-informed care (TIC) advancement In-depth resource...
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The Burden of a Late Rent Check Can Harm the Health of Both Parents and Kids [psmag.com]

Alicia Doktor ·
There's been quite a bit of research linking financial insecurity to poor health outcomes. The connection is, on its face, an obvious one, as a depleted checking account can cause stress, which can manifest in our bodies and minds. A new study by researchers at Boston Medical Center furthers that unfortunate connection: It finds housing instability, including chronically late rent payment, can affect the mental and physical health of family members of all ages. "People talk a lot about...
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The Children's Advocates Roundtable - Screening of Resilience

Gail Kennedy ·
RESILIENCE is a one-hour documentary on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent Toxic Stress. Extremely stressful experiences in childhood can alter brain development and have lifelong effects on health and behavior. However, as experts and practitioners profiled in this documentary are proving, what’s predictable is preventable . Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, CEO and founder of the Center for Youth and Wellness in San Francisco is featured in...
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The Children's Advocates Roundtable - Screening of Resilience

Gail Kennedy ·
RESILIENCE is a one-hour documentary on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent Toxic Stress. Extremely stressful experiences in childhood can alter brain development and have lifelong effects on health and behavior. However, as experts and practitioners profiled in this documentary are proving, what’s predictable is preventable . Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, CEO and founder of the Center for Youth and Wellness in San Francisco is featured in...
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The Combined 2017-2018 National Survey of Children’s Health Downloadable Data Sets and Codebooks Are Now Available through the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health [childhealthdata.org]

From Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, January 2020 The Data Resource Center (DRC), under a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is excited to announce the release of the combined 2017-2018 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) data sets and codebooks through childhealthdata.org ! The combined 2017-2018 NSCH is the second multi-year data set since the redesign of the NSCH in...
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The Economics of Child Abuse: A Study of California

Jenny Pearlman ·
While the impact of maltreatment on a child and their family is devastating, child maltreatment also has serious effects far beyond those for the victim. Maltreatment results in ongoing costs to taxpayers, institutions, businesses, and society at large. Local communities bear the brunt of these costs in the form of medical, educational, and judicial costs, though more tragic signs are seen in homelessness, addiction, and teen pregnancy. To create a concrete understanding of the widespread...
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The Raising of America Evaluation Report [RaisingOfAmerica.org]

Clare Reidy ·
We're beginning to see a shift in the way Americans think and talk about early childhood. More than 730,000 people as of this writing have screened and discussed one or more episodes of The Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of Our Nation in structured settings since the series’ 2015 release and its broadcast on public television. Events have been convened by more than 3,200 organizations in all 50 states as part of this public engagement initiative. Some of these events have...
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Thinking About Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Impacts Through a Science-Informed, Early Childhood Lens [developingchild.harvard.edu]

By Jack P. Shonkoff and David R. Williams, Center on the Developing Child, April 27, 2020 The COVID-19 virus is ruthlessly contagious and, at the same time, highly selective. Its capacity to infect is universal, but the consequences of becoming infected are not. While there are exceptions, children are less likely to show symptoms, older adults and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the most susceptible, and communities of color in the United States are experiencing dramatically...
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This Week's CDC MMWR Lead Article - Health Care, Family, and Community Factors Associated with Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders in Early Childhood — United States, 2011–2012

Julia Wei ·
Summary What is already known about this topic? Sociodemographic factors and environmental influences in early childhood have been demonstrated to have significant impact on development, mental health, and overall health throughout the lifespan. What is added by this report? This report provides recent national data documenting significant associations of early childhood mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs) with sociodemographic, health care, family, and community factors.
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Toxic Stress, Behavioral Health, and the Next Major Era in Public Health
 by Mental Health America

To view the document, click on the following link:  http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/toxic-stress-behavioral-health-and-next-major-era-public-health      
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Translating Child Adversity Data into Actionable Information [NACCHO] Sept 2018

Karen Clemmer ·
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative launched a new set of child adversity and resilience data indicators on Kidsdata.org Furthermore, the initiative created state and local dashboards to bring together sources of data that represent a broader set of life experiences than originally reflected in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, such as living in poverty or dangerous neighborhoods. The goal was to make these data widely available and provide training on how...
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Trauma in childhood linked to drug use in adolescence [EurekAlert.org]

Samantha Sangenito ·
Latest research from a national sample of almost 10,000 U.S. adolescents found psychological trauma, especially abuse and domestic violence before age 11, can increase the likelihood of experimentation with drugs in adolescence, independent of a history of mental illness. Results of the study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health are published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. This is the first study to document...
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Traumatic Experiences Widespread Among U.S. Youth, New Data Show

Jane Stevens ·
[This is a media release from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.] New national data show that at least 38 percent of children in every state have had at least one Adverse Childhood Experience or ACE, such as the death or incarceration of a parent, witnessing or being a victim of violence, or living with someone who has been suicidal or had a drug or alcohol problem. In 16 states, at least 25 percent of children have had two or more ACEs. Findings come from data in the 2016 National Survey...
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Two studies shed light on state legislators’ views on ACEs science and trauma policy

New and returning lawmakers take the oath of office on day one of Washington state's 2017 legislative session. — Jeanie Lindsay/Northwest News Network As advocates prepare to see how ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) science, trauma, and resilience play out in the 2020 state legislative sessions — many beginning in January — they are undoubtedly asking: “What does a legislator want?" It may be a stretch to play on Freud’s question: “What does a women want?", but the query captures how...
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UMass Medical School Creates First Division of Mindfulness (mindful.org)

As the bar for research on mindfulness raises dramatically, a big change at the University of Massachusetts unites top-tier minds with increased resources to study meditation’s therapeutic potential. Marking unprecedented support for the role of mindfulness in health care, the University of Massachusetts Medical School announced in December the creation of a new division dedicated to its academic study. The Division of Mindfulness, the first of its kind, encompasses the university’s existing...
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Unprecedented childhood trauma hearing in U.S. Congress on July 11 to feature data from new state fact sheets on ACEs prevalence, impacts

A hearing of unprecedented scope and depth on ACEs science and childhood trauma — " Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Childhood Trauma: A Pervasive Public Health Issue that Needs Greater Federal Attention " — will be held this Thursday in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. You can watch the live stream at 10:00 am ET through a link from the committee site. Along with testimony from trauma survivors, the hearing will include testimony on the prevalence and impact of adverse...
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Updates on the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA)'s Endorsed Bills

Gail Yen ·
The 2018 legislative session officially wrapped up on September 30th with Governor Brown taking action on all pieces of legislation that made it to his desk. This year, the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) endorsed three bills that were aligned with 4CA's objectives. We're happy to share that SB 439 (Mitchell & Lara) is officially law! This means that children 11 years old and younger are excluded from prosecution in juvenile court, except when the child is...
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Vital Signs: Estimated Proportion of Adult Health Problems Attributable to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Implications for Prevention [cdc.gov]

By Melissa T. Merrick, Derek C. Ford, Katie A. Ports, et al., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 5, 2019 Summary What is already known about this topic? Adverse childhood experiences are common and are associated with many poor health and life outcomes in adulthood. What is added by this report? Nearly 16% of adults in the study population reported four or more types of adverse childhood experiences, which were significantly associated with poorer health outcomes, health...
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VPI Homicide Prevention Webinar on Sept. 19 from 1:00pm-2:30pm

Elena Costa ·
Community of Practice Webinar Series September’s Topic: Homicide Prevention – Part I Using Data to Drive Violence Prevention Program Planning Thursday, September 19, 2019 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (PST) Please join us for the next VPI Community of Practice webinar on Thursday, September 19, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. (PST) to learn more about available data sources on homicide rates and mechanism as well as a local level example of how data can be used to guide violence prevention program...
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VPI Homicide Prevention Webinar Part II on Oct. 17 from 1:00pm-2:00pm

Elena Costa ·
Community of Practice Webinar Series October's Topic: Homicide Prevention – Part II Primary Prevention Efforts to Decrease Homicide Rates in CA Thursday, October 17, 2019 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PST) Please join us for the next VPI Community of Practice webinar on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PST) to learn more about the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections, and the first public...
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WEBINAR: Amplify Impact from National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation on 8/29

Bonnie Berman ·
High-quality early childhood education (ECE) has an enormous positive impact on lifelong health, serving as a protective factor against adult disease and disability. Children who receive high-quality ECE stay in school longer and earn more income as adults, helping to close the income inequality gap. Yet parents sometimes struggle to access or pay for available programs, and only about 16% of children who were eligible for federal childcare subsidies in 2015 received them. Given the high...
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Webinar: Childhood Adversity – Data to Help Advocate for Change

Olivia Kirkland ·
Join panelists from kidsdata.org and the California Department of Public Health on March 29 to explore ways to engage and mobilize your community to address the roots and effects of childhood adversity.
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Webinar Learning Series: State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity, January 10, 10am PST (1:00 PM EST)

Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and Highlights from Oregon, Tennessee, and Wisconsin Date: January 10th, 10AM PST (1:00 PM EST) Speakers: Elizabeth Prewitt, Policy Analyst, ACEs...
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Webinar: Leveraging Advances in Science to Achieve Breakthrough Impacts at Scale for Young Children Facing Adversity

Bonnie Berman ·
DATE: Thursday, February 21, 2019 TIME: 11:00-11:45am Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, will address how new science is changing how we think about early childhood adversity and resilience – and how early experiences affect lifelong health and development. He will emphasize the need to address (and measure) individual differences in response to adversity and to intervention in very young children. He will also show how we can move...
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Webinar Oct. 17 — Integrating ACEs science in pediatrics: Early adopters share lessons from the field

Laurie Udesky ·
An ACEs Connection webinar co-sponsored with 4 CA In 2017, California became the first state in the country to pass a law supporting universal screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the 5.3 million children in the state’s Medicaid program. As clinicians around California await the state’s announcement of what this new policy will entail, many are wondering what it takes to integrate ACEs science in a pediatric practice. Meet Drs. Deirdre Bernard-Pearl, R.J. Gillespie and...
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Webinar Recap: Health Equity and COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Child Wellbeing through Policy with Dr. Flojaune Cofer

Elena Costa ·
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...
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Webinar Recap: Trauma-Informed Care/Practices in Light of COVID-19: Applying Lessons Learned from Child-Serving Systems with Dr. Melissa Bernstein

Elena Costa ·
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...
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Webinar Series – Putting Trauma-Informed Care into Practice: Lessons from the Field

Mariel Gingrich ·
Health policymakers and practitioners increasingly recognize trauma as an important factor that influences health throughout the lifespan. By incorporating trauma-informed approaches to care into their practice settings, provider organizations can more effectively care for patients and support efforts to improve health outcomes, reduce avoidable hospital utilization, and curb excess costs. This two-part CHCS webinar series will explore innovative strategies for implementing a trauma-informed...
 
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