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(A written version of a presentation given at the February Sonoma County ACEs Connection meeting.) Sonoma County ACEs Connection is trying out a new meeting topic focusing on personal stories. There are three reasons why personal stories are useful and powerful. The first is that people like and learn from stories. People learn in different ways, and Powerpoint presentations aren’t for everyone. The second reason is that we’re hoping to involve more members by encouraging them to share their...

The recent fires have had a profound and lasting impact on the entire Sonoma County community, including its youngest residents. Parents and providers may be unsure about how to best respond to questions, emotions, and behavior following the fires. Please join us for a presentation and discussion for providers on how we can best support parents and their children. The training will cover: How to manage children’s emotions and behavior after a fire. Answering children’s questions. Why some...

Cope Family Center and the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Napa County are partnering with Napa County Probation Department to screen "Resilience: The Biology of Stress & Science of Hope" next Wednesday, March 7 from 9-11 am as part of a community wide initiative, Resilient Napa, to raise awareness of adverse childhood experiences and the power of resilience. Please register here . The screening will be followed by a conversation between attendees and panelists present to answer...

More than 65 people showed up in person in Placerville or via teleconferencing from South Lake Tahoe on Feb. 21 to learn about the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC), a program of the San Francisco-based Center for Youth Wellness . Among the discussion points made by NPPC Program Manager Leena Singh were the connection between ACEs and health outcomes, the need for doing universal ACEs screening, and the necessary infrastructure to implement ACEs screening, according to...

At the General Meeting for the Sonoma County ACEs Connection that took place on January 24, 2018, people came together to reflect on their experience in the coalition and to brainstorm about the future of the group. The questions included: What do you enjoy about the General Meetings? What could we use more of/what doesn't serve us? In a post-fire Sonoma County, where and how could we better serve our community? Does our name truly reflect what we are and where we are going? Who are some...

Hi everyone, Attached you will find the agenda for the upcoming Sonoma County ACEs Connection meeting. I hope to see you all there! This is a special meeting that will be held at Sonoma County Office of Education with Laura Porter as our guest. Holly Wolf-White will give us a summary of all of our accomplishments to this date and we will talk about the future of our coalition. Sonoma County Office of Education 5340 Skylane Blvd Santa Rosa, CA 95403

The resulting $8.5 million budget shortfall within the county’s behavioral health division is expected to result in the layoff of up to 40 employees who deal with substance abuse disorders, mental health counseling and treatment. Because the county is not mandated to provide drug testing, the Orenda Center program that handles random screening for drug- and drunken-driving court as well as other programs for drug-addicted mothers are slated for closure, said Barbie Robinson, health services...

More than five months after the North Bay wildfires, those most affected by the disaster continue to struggle with stress, anxiety and depression with many overburdened by the task of rebuilding their homes and dealing with the devastating loss of community. The ongoing emotional and psychological plight of local residents who lost friends, loved ones, pets, homes and businesses was at the heart of a mental health forum held at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa Thursday night. Dubbed the...

Roseland University Prep teacher Anna Solano said she had just three minutes to escape her home in the early morning of Oct. 9 when the Tubbs fire roared through her Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. In all, eight teachers and 25 families in the Roseland School District lost homes in October’s wildfires, part of the wider toll that claimed hundreds of homes of Santa Rosa students and teachers and more than 5,100 homes altogether across Sonoma County. Solano teaches the Roseland Prep...

Personal Reflections on the Impacts of the Santa Rosa CA Wildfires Found Here: http://awakeningtruth.org/ blog/grace-amidst-heart-break Grace Amidst Heart Break Thursday, 04 January 2018 Inner landscape These last two months have seen a cascade of change. I write from a pause – a time of calm from my warm room looking out at the treetops. The clouds are low. It is raining today. From this vantage point, I share some of what has been going on. October Fires The first week of October, Northern...

Developed by NeighborWorks America's Success Measures program, a suite of 65 user-friendly measurement tools is now available to help organizations evaluate and document how their work improves the health of people and communities. You can download the tools at no cost, thanks to funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Kresge Foundation. Attend a free webinar to learn how to benefit from the tools and hear how organizations are using them today. Download the measurement tools

March 8 @ 7:30 am - 9:00 am Speaker: Nadine Burke Harris, MD, MPH, FAAP A pioneer in the field of medicine, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has earned international attention for her innovative approach to addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, as a risk factor for adult disease such as heart disease and cancer. Her work has demonstrated that it’s time to reassess the relationship between early childhood adversity, child development and health, and how the practical applications of the...