Blog

We face both a generational opportunity and a challenging conversation, as the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative moves forward with the important step of DHCS seeking federal approval of the 1115 demonstration amendment and 1915(b) waiver . The welcome improvements realized by the CalAIM process appear to have been eroded in DHCS’ current 1915(b) waiver proposal by a set of contradictory requirements, new screening obligations, lack of clarity, and a...

Although mental health and wellness is our primary focus EVERY DAY at Western Youth Services (WYS). May is Mental Health Awareness month

A recent video , shared on the national news, shows a 16-year-old Florida student being slammed to the ground by a police officer working at her school. It’s one of many such incidents of school-based police violence against students captured in videos around the country. Some of the victims are as young as five years old. About 47% of U.S. schools employ armed police officers , known as school resource officers, who are there to keep students safe. But students who attend these schools...

By David Finkelhor and Lucy Berliner, JAMA Internal Medicine, May 3, 2021 The heartfelt essay by Dr Austin captures well the experience of many survivors of childhood sexual abuse and other traumatic and adverse experiences. Faced with medical history questionnaires, they may feel ambivalent about disclosing and disappointed with the follow-up when they do. As she points out, screening for the variety of adverse experiences has been rapidly increasing, in wake of the recognition of their...

By Nader Issa, Chicago Sun Times, April 22, 2021 Attention faded in recent months on the movement to remove uniformed police officers from Chicago Public Schools, particularly while high schools remained closed because of COVID-19. But when high schoolers returned to classrooms this week for the first time in 13 months, they also had to deal with fresh trauma from police violence. The city’s latest death at the hands of Chicago police, that of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month in Little...

Brandon Jones describes himself this way: “I’m a down-to-earth psychotherapist, professor, and family man dedicated to helping those who want to heal.” Jones grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, which has been averaging a police-involved death every year over the past five years . Gun violence in African American, Somali, Latin x and indigenous gangs “have all found a home here in the Twin Cities . ” “George Floyd was the tip of the iceberg,” says the PACEs advocate, psychotherapist, consultant...

During this year’s Resilience Week VA , the Greater Richmond Trauma-Informed Community Network (GR-TICN) is focusing on seven different themes that allow for a holistic understanding of resilience. One of my favorite themes of the week is Happiness & Play. As adults, it can be easy to forget the importance of playfulness, creativity, and our imagination. Our lives quickly become filled with numerous responsibilities and tasks, and it can feel nearly impossible to find a moment to...

By Levi van Dam, Jean Rhodes, and Renee Spencer, JAMA Psychiatry, April 28, 2021 A lthough adolescents have lower COVID-19 infection rates compared with adults, the pandemic is taking a toll on young people’s mental health. There have been multiple reports of increases in mental health challenges for adolescents during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including a rapid systematic review indicating that adolescents are now more likely to experience high rates of depression and anxiety. This...

By Rob Waters, California Health Care Foundation, March 30, 2021 The black-and-green bus pulls into a parking lot around the corner from the Oakland Coliseum complex, where the Oakland Athletics play baseball, and the Golden State Warriors used to play basketball. This bus carries health workers, not ballplayers, and the lot is now home for dozens of individuals and families living in recreational vehicles (RVs), not parking for sports fans. Under a light rain and gusty winds, members of the...

By Andrew Ross Sorkin and Edmund Lee, The New York Times, May 3, 2021 Some of the wealthiest and most influential Asian-American business leaders are mounting an ambitious plan to challenge anti-Asian discrimination, rewrite school curriculums to reflect the role of Asian-Americans in history and collect data to guide policymakers. The group has pledged $125 million to a new initiative, the Asian American Foundation. The foundation has raised another $125 million from organizations like...

By Nina Lakhani and Aliya Uteuova, The Guardian, April 28, 2021 A lyson Graham raised three children by juggling multiple jobs and making tough choices about what they should go without. For more than 20 years, she made weekly visits to a food pantry, before going to the store to supplement the free groceries using food stamps and whatever money she had left after paying rent and bills. It was a struggle to put nutritious food on the table. “I always had two jobs when my kids were growing...

By Cody Uhing, First Five Years Fund, April 26, 2021 ZERO TO THREE released the State of Babies Yearbook: 2021 , an in-depth report on how state and federal policies and the COVID-19 pandemic impact the lives of families and their young babies. Looking at every state and the District of Columbia, the report, supplemented by data from the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development Early Childhood (RAPID-EC) Household Survey , shows that even before the pandemic families with young...