Products -- Safe from the Start Newsletter Archives

SFTS NEWS

Spotlight on the Westminster Police Department SHIELD Program - Promising Strategies Site Visit
As part of the SFTS Promising Strategies project, Sacramento area law enforcement officers visited Orange County's Westminster Police Department in June. Officers learned about the SHIELD Program (Strategic Home Intervention and Early Leadership Development) developed by the Westminster Police Department in 1996 to combat rising domestic and gang violence in the community. Department leaders realized that many children in the community were unrecognized victims of violence, and without intervention and connection to important services in the community, they could become future victims or perpetrators of violence. SHIELD acknowledges that families in crisis often require repeated assistance from law enforcement and other community interventions. The strategy uses a problem-solving collaborative approach to provide services to children, teens and parents. The program is currently undergoing an extensive evaluation by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

The site visitors, led by SFTS staffer Arlene Shea, included Sgt. Dave Cropp of the Sacramento Police Department, Detective Toni King of the Sacramento Sheriff's Department, and Detective Fernando Ruotolo of the Elk Grove Police Department/Sacramento Sheriff's Department. Special thanks to Police Chief Andy Hall and his team at Westminster Police Department, including SHIELD officers Phuong Pham and Dave Bridgewaters, Detective Dave Ferronato, Lt. Philip Marshall, Captain Mitch Waller and Research and Planning Director Julia Jim. Thanks also to Community Education Director, Interval House Domestic Violence Shelter, Jeanine Limas.

For more information on the Westminster Police Department SHIELD Program and the SFTS Promising Strategies project, see http://www.safefromthestart.org.

SCHOOL READINESS INFORMATION

Reading Between The Lines
It's no secret that many adults with low literacy skills have difficulty getting and keeping a job. Growing scientific evidence supports the idea that learning and skill acquisition can persist well into maturity.

For more information, check out "Poor Reading Means Poor Prospects." http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/47_1.

SPECIAL NEEDS RESOURCE

Technical Assistance to Support Children with Disabilities
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center's (NECTAC) mission is to "strengthen service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through five) and their families receive and benefit from high quality, culturally appropriate, and family-centered supports and services." Its Web site offers a clearinghouse of resources for policy makers, practitioners, families, researchers, and advocates for young children with special needs.

For more information, check out http://www.nectas.unc.edu/default.asp.

RELATED RESEARCH

Alcohol on the Mind: The Effects of Drinking on the Adolescent Brain
Studies have shown that alcohol abuse during adolescence is associated with poor cognitive function, diminished social competence, and an increased risk of accident and injury. Research also suggests that alcohol-abusing adolescents do not leave these problems behind as they mature; instead, they may continue to suffer the consequences of their teenage behavior long into the future.

For more information, check out "Alcohol on the Mind: The Effects of Drinking on the Adolescent Brain." http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/alcohol.

Connectedness a Key to Youth Violence Prevention
After examining the data from a comprehensive national study on youth violence, researcher Michael D. Resnick concludes that reducing the likelihood of violence among youth is fairly simple: kids need to feel connected. He notes that recent declines in youth violence may reflect concerted efforts and policies to keep kids connected to caring adults, teachers, and parents.

For more information, check out http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/features/reader/0,2061,575036,00.html.

RELATED RESOURCES

Violence Against Women Act to Include Resources for Youth
Last month, members of Congress introduced legislation to improve the federal Violence Against Women Act, including provisions supporting services to girls and boys who experience or witness domestic and sexual violence. The bills -- S 1197 and HR 2876 -- are bipartisan efforts and would provide resources for prevention programs targeting young people.

For more information you can search the Thomas Web site for the full text of these bills, by entering the bill number at http://thomas.loc.gov/.

Learning to Talk
How do children acquire language? Talking to babies from the minute they are born helps spark this learning process. For several different perspectives on how the brain functions in learning to speak, check out "Finding a Voice: Perspectives on Language Acquisition" at http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/language-acquisition.

Resources For and About Parenting
The Connect for Kids’ parenting pages offer articles, tools and links about parents, parenthood, and how parents are serving as advocates for kids and communities everyday.

For more information, check out http://www.connectforkids.org/taxonomy/term/334.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Dept. of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families – August 5th Deadline
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to provide financial support to develop or replicate and test a model of policies and procedures that implement the new provisions of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) regarding substance exposed newborns. Applicants may choose to develop new models, replicate existing models or replicate key components of existing models of policies and Procedures for identifying and serving families with children prenatally exposed to illegal drugs, and to test the effectiveness of the model in other settings.

For more information, check out http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/HHS/ACF/OA/HHS-2005-ACF-ACYF-CB-0050/Grant.html.

UPCOMING TRAINING AND CONFERENCES

Strengthening Communities: One Block at a Time
The US Dept. of Justice’s Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) will hold its National Conference in Los Angeles on August 22-25, 2005. This conference, “Strengthening Communities: One Block at a Time,” will offer a national look at the CCDO initiatives, including the Weed and Seed and American Indian/Alaska Native programs. Workshops will focus on building community capacity through grant writing, evaluation, strategic planning development, and sustainability. Individuals interested in learning more about how to create or sustain local community-wide efforts to build safe, healthy, and drug-free communities should attend.

For more information, check out
http://www.tech-res-intl.com/ccdo/August2005_LosAngeles/default.htm.

Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disorders
The UC Davis M.I.N.D. (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) Institute will present its Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disorders August 4 and 5, 2005 at California State University, Sacramento, to address theoretical, research, educational and treatment issues for children with disorders such as autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, and fragile X syndrome. Educators, nurses, occupational therapists, parents, physical therapists, physicians, and psychologists are invited to learn about diagnosis and assessment, research, implications for the clinic and classroom, psychopharmacology, behavioral interventions, social skills promotion, language and communication issues, and more.

For more information, check out http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/education/summerinstitute.html.

UPCOMING SFTS TRAINING AND CONFERENCES

Sacramento County | October 17, 2005
Sacramento Domestic Violence Collaborative Second Annual Conference on Children, Families and Domestic Violence
Location: Radisson Hotel Sacramento
Contact: Sgt. Dave Cropp, Sacramento Police Department
DCROPP@pd.cityofsacramento.org