By David Finkelhor, Child Abuse & Neglect, July 30, 2020 Abstract Background: It is important for those called upon to discuss major social determinants of health such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to have accurate knowledge about generational trends in their prevalence. Objective: To review available trend data on major forms of ACEs. Methods: A search of academic data bases was conducted by combining the term “trend” with a variety of terms referring to childhood adversities.

While this article is interesting, Finkelhor uses out of data data acquisition. Contemporary trends in family dysfunction, morbidity, and mortality have been teased apart on a much more detailed level by the economist Angus Deaton using techniques for which he won the Nobel prize. A more intimate understanding contemporary USA family stress will be found in the book he wrote with his wife Anne Case "Deaths of Despair." In brief they document the stresses of social alienation unemployment and...

The COVID-19 pandemic has called on us to find creative ways to connect and learn. In rural western Massachusetts I had scheduled a training for 20 practitioners who work with parents and infants to meet together for two days of learning on April 15 and 16th. Instead I rapidly adapted the training to the online setting. I have had the pleasure of meeting weekly with an extraordinary group that includes peer recovery coaches on the front lines supporting moms with opioid use disorders,...

By Dr. Bob Sege, 10/22/20, positiveexperience.org/blog [...] The spirit of HOPE is simple: children are not products to be graded, sorted, and labeled, and parents are complex human beings who love their children and do everything in their power to care for them. This sounds simple. However, we live in an age where accountability has been translated into systematic evaluation–including children’s physical and developmental progress, parents’ and caretakers’ mental health education and...

By Anita Chandra and Carolyn Miller, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, January 29, 2021 2020 was arguably one of the most difficult years in American history, challenging our resilience and surfacing enduring and systemic challenges to our collective health and well-being. As we continue to measure the pandemic’s impact on short- and long-term health, as well as other social and economic indicators, it is useful to note where we stood pre-pandemic. Understanding the conditions and trends that...

The Essentials for Childhood Initiative is pleased to share the Building Synergy and Connections Across the Essentials for Childhood Initiative Convening Summary and Presentation Slides. 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. The EfC Initiative team appreciates the speakers and coalition chairs that served as panelists and the attendees who...

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...

The California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (CDSS/OCAP) are hosting a webinar speaker series for Child Abuse Prevention month. Please see the attached for information on the webinars in the series, presenters, and the links to registration. Tomorrow, there will be a special presentation from Kevin Campbell on the topic of the “Power of Connection” at 11 AM. Kevin Campbell is an American Child Protection and Children’s Mental Health Innovator and the founder...

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...

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...

Health in All Policies and the Essentials for Childhood Initiative would like thank all attendees’ participation in the collaborative virtual meeting series entitled, “Envisioning a Trauma-Informed, Healing-Centered, and Resilient California: Supporting State Government Efforts to Move toward Recovery” that took place on Monday, December 13 , 2021 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM. The meeting minutes and slides from this event are attached below for your review. The purpose of this formative event was...

By Sarah Catherine Williams , Reva Dalela , and Sharon Vandivere Families that experience poverty-related stressors such as income insecurity or loss , material hardship , and housing hardship or instability —in other words, families with a financial inability to provide for their children—are also more likely to come into contact with the child welfare system. The intersection of poverty and economic insecurity with neglect poses a challenge to child welfare agencies when they respond to...

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...

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...

Great report, good detail, well done. Please note significant ACEs occur in families making more than 100,000 a year and with a college education.

“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, 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 pleased to share a new report titled “Statewide Child Abuse and Neglect Non-Fatal Injury Trends Observed in California Hospitals and Emergency Departments During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The purpose of this new report is to assess changes in the frequency, severity,...