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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”

Struggling to make an organizational decision that could adversely impact employees, or feeling unable to provide your children with care and attention while balancing the demands of work and your own need for rest, represent situations where moral suffering could arise. Whatever the exact nature of the decisions and dilemmas we face, the feeling of being too pressured or undersupported to act in alignment with our values has real effects on our mental health, and on whether we reach a point...

A doctor explains why he prescribes time outside to his patients. I have been giving out old-school paper prescriptions for about two years now, where I prescribe non-pharmaceutical steps that have been proven to make people healthier. I had heard that nature can make people happier and healthier, but, embarrassingly, I envisioned it for more “outdoorsy” people like me, whatever that means. Also, I assumed it would offer just a slight bump in the happiness quotient. It took almost 150 years,...

A new resource looks at the preva­lence of trau­ma among youth in the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem and out­lines ways to pro­tect their men­tal and emo­tion­al well-being. The fact sheet , pro­duced by the Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pedi­atrics (AAP), is part of a grow­ing call from child and ado­les­cent health experts to reform long­stand­ing juve­nile jus­tice poli­cies and practices. “Efforts aimed at improv­ing our juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem must extend beyond issues relat­ed to youth arrest...

Growing up, the kinds of toys you play with can make all the difference. When I was a child, I always felt like the way I looked was wrong because there were no dolls, cartoon characters, or actresses that looked like me. Thankfully, things are changing. Bigger companies like Mattel are now producing dolls in different shapes, genders, and skin tones. But gaps in the market still exist, especially for kids with special needs, physical disabilities, and skin disorders. That's where Amy...

Addressing ACEs and Toxic Stress: Understanding CUES to Support Families and Patients This pre-recorded webinar is the first in a three-part series developed by Futures Without Violence as part of the California ACEs Aware Core Training initiative ( www.ACEsAware.org ). It is an opportunity for health providers and support staff to learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), toxic stress, screening, risk assessment, and evidence-based care to effectively intervene on toxic stress. It...

According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, 34.8 million children across the United States are impacted by ACEs. ACEs are exposures in childhood to abuse, neglect, parental incarceration, divorce, or domestic violence that have been shown to affect virtually every domain in which a child functions. ACEs are associated with health impairment across the life course and are strongly related to the prevalence of numerous health problems (Felitti, et. al, 1998). The Trauma-informed...

Of all the sad statistics the U.S. has dealt with this past year and a half, here is a particularly difficult one: A new study estimates that more than 140,000 children in the U.S. have lost a parent or a grandparent caregiver to COVID-19. The majority of these children come from racial and ethnic minority groups. "This means that for every four COVID-19 deaths, one child was left behind without a mother, father and/or a grandparent who provided for that child's home needs and nurture —...

Hi there! Please join us for an ACEs Aware Ventura County lecture series session with Dr. Sarah Hemmer, MD & Dr. Melissa Ruiz, MD, MPH. REGISTER HERE to attend this LIVE free session or view on-demand. REGISTER HERE to attend this LIVE free session or view on-demand. Unit 2 Session 3 : Decoding the ACE Screening Tools and Scores Dr. Melissa Ruiz is a pediatrician at Pediatric Diagnostic Center in Ventura, CA., serves on the board of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) District 9 as...

Child psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey have known each other for more than 30 years. Both are deeply interested in childhood trauma and healing. But it was following a 60 Minutes segment Winfrey did in 2018 on childhood trauma, for which she interviewed Perry, that the two decided to take their work together to the next level. They tapped Oprah’s star power and worldwide reach and Perry’s deep expertise in brain science to collaborate on a book project, the recently released,...

In a recent nightmare, 8-year-old Jovina dreamt that her father got COVID-19. He was getting sicker, but she and her mother weren’t able to get there in time. “There,” in her father’s case, is a cell at the California Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville, California, nearly 300 miles from where she lives in San Jose. In Jovina’s mind are a swarm of worries about her father’s welfare, her mother Benee Vejar reports. If an earthquake shakes the Bay Area, Jovina says, “What if the building...

By Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC News, September 18, 2021 When the Caldor Fire swooped down toward South Lake Tahoe in California, Melissa Benavidez and her family knew it was time to go. Her husband, a municipal firefighter, urged Benavidez to pack up their three children and head to safety while he stayed behind to work 12-hour shifts. Benavidez, a teacher, tried to make the experience fun for her family. They headed south to the Santa Cruz boardwalk and visited relatives in the San Joaquin...