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Products -- Safe from the Start Newsletter Archives
SFTS April 2006 Newsletter
This month, events happening across the country help remind Americans that keeping children and families safe is a community
responsibility.
SFTS NEWS
The Orange County Safe from the Start Network has announced the May 2006 release of the Orange County Safe from the Start Toolkit.
Members of the Network have invited community leaders and officials to join in a special event in Irvine on May 11. The innovative
and newly developed kit includes both local and state resources for educating and assisting parents, providers, and caregivers about
children exposed to violence. Research shows that young children who are exposed to violence can suffer from profound cognitive
and psychological adversity. Orange County Safe from the Start Network leaders are investing in the community’s future by declaring
that, “Every Orange County Child Is My Concern.” Congratulations to Superintendent William M. Habermehl, SFTS Orange County Contact
Daria Waetjen and SFTS trainer Rosemarie Hedegard for leading the charge.
With funds from the U.S. DOJ, Safe from the Start is offering a P.O.S.T. certified course entitled, “Children and Domestic Violence:
8-hour Training for Criminal Justice Professionals.” The course will be offered in 18 locations over the next three years. The first
training was held on March 27 in Santa Barbara County. Fifty criminal justice professionals from the tri-county region, including
local law enforcement officers, probation officers, parole agents, CA Youth Authority personnel, and prosecutors, received information
on the impact exposure to domestic violence can have on a child’s developing brain. Trainers explored how the response, interaction,
and interviewing of these children can assist in prosecution and focus on trauma reduction to the child.
Future scheduled P.O.S.T. training sites are:
May 4 Fairfield, Solano County
June 20 Sacramento
July 20 Oroville, Butte County
For more information on the training, or to host a training in your region, contact Arlene.Greene@doj.ca.gov
In late March, Mayor Gavin Newsom released the publication, “San Francisco’s Response to Children Exposed to Violence,” a five-year
report from the San Francisco SafeStart. Begun in 2000, SafeStart is a joint effort of the City of San Francisco’s Department of
Children, Youth and Their Families and the U.S. DOJ. The federal government expanded SafeStart in 2005 to include Alameda and San
Mateo counties. Among its many accomplishments, SafeStart has coordinated the responses of 15 San Francisco city departments and
community-based organizations to help hundreds of families with children who have been exposed to violence. SafeStart Director Alan
Fox also serves as the San Francisco SFTS County Contact.
The report can be downloaded from the web site at http://www.dcyf.org/safestart.
SCHOOL READINESS INFORMATION
Here’s another study that demonstrates the cost-effectiveness of quality early learning programs. This one, from the Foundation
for Child Development, uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-99 and finds that kids who
attended programs with pre-kindergarten through grade 3 components do better in later school years than their peers who did not.
The study authors say there is now a critical mass of evidence in support of PK-3. The final section offers specific policy
recommendations.
For more information, check out http://www.fcd-us.org/PK3ResearchandProfiles.html.
RELATED RESEARCH
This is the tenth annual report showing state-by-state data on child abuse and neglect from the National Child Abuse and Neglect
Data Systems. It shows that an estimated 872,000 children across the country were victims of abuse or neglect in 2004, which is
34,000 fewer than the previous year.
For more information, check out http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm04/index.htm.
Recent developments in adolescent brain research confirm what we have always known: kids are different. According to scientists
who study adolescent brain development, children under the age of 18 are more likely to engage in risky behavior and are less able
to comprehend the long-term consequences of that behavior. Rethinking the “Juvenile” in Juvenile Justice, a report released
by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, suggests that it is time to apply new scientific knowledge about adolescents to
our treatment of kids in the Juvenile Justice System.
To view this report, check out http://www.wccf.org/pdf/rethinkingjuv_jjsrpt.pdf.
RELATED RESOURCES
All families strive to bring up their children to be safe, healthy, nonviolent, and productive members of their communities.
The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) publication Standing in the Gap defines and describes the ways in which many
different community and local government resources can contribute to family support and related crime prevention goals. Through
research and local experience, this publication emphasizes the many strong linkages between support for families and the prevention
of juvenile delinquency and crime in the community. Priced at $13.95 in NCPC’s Publications Catalog, it is now available for a
limited time at $8.00.
For more information, check out http://www.ncpc.org/publications/sale.php.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The National Crime Prevention Council will award 100 grants of up to $500 through its Teens, Crime, and the Community Initiative.
The grants will support service-learning projects planned and implemented by youth who identify the needs and create projects to
address or prevent crime, violence and drug abuse in their schools and communities. In order to be eligible to apply, the youth
must be participating in a Community Works or Youth Safety Corps program or be in a youth group or class of six or more members.
The application deadline is June 1, 2006.
For more information, check out http://www.ncpc.org/programs/tcc/.
UPCOMING TRAINING AND CONFERENCES
The Child Welfare League of America's 2006 Juvenile Justice National Symposium, Building Successful Alliances to Improve Outcomes,
will be held May 31 to June 2, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency Airport, San Francisco, CA. The symposium will focus on multi-system
alliances between juvenile justice and child welfare as a crucial piece of working better to serve our nation's children. This
national symposium will provide a unique opportunity for information sharing, networking, and collective learning.
For more information, check out http://www.cwla.org/conferences/2006jjsymposiumrfp.htm.
UPCOMING SFTS TRAINING AND CONFERENCES
California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC) Annual Training
Conference featuring keynote speaker, Dr. Bruce Perry, MD, PhD
Co-sponsored by Attorney General’s SFTS Initiative
Location: Anaheim, CA
Contact: Sharon Stone Smith, CAEYC Conference Manager @ ssmith@caeyc.org
6th Annual San Diego International Family Justice Center Conference
Conference featuring plenary speaker, Dr. Bruce Perry, MD, PhD
Co-sponsored by Attorney General’s SFTS Initiative
Location: Holiday Inn on the Bay, San Diego, CA
Contact: http://www.familyjusticecenter.org/conference/
CA School Resource Officers Association Conference
Conference featuring keynote speaker, Dr. Bruce Perry, MD, PhD
Co-sponsored by Attorney General’s SFTS Initiative
Location: Doubletree San Diego/Mission Valley
Contact: http://www.csroa.org/conference.html
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