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Products -- Safe from the Start Newsletter Archives
SFTS May 2002 News
"Recommendations for Action," a one-day workshop, was recently held for
25 community leaders in Contra Costa County. Attendees included the County Administrator, the Chief Deputy DA and a representative of the Sheriff's Department. Other child/family leaders who attended included the County Superintendent of Schools, City Manager of Antioch, Director of the Health Services Department and President of the 32nd District PTA. The purpose of the workshop was to develop recommendations incorporating
Safe from the Start concepts into existing county programs. The recommendations
will be submitted to the Children and Families Policy Forum Executive Committee.
After much discussion, the group decided on three recommendations. The recommendations
were: (1) intervene early with at-risk families; (2) support parent education;
and (3) support early conflict resolution. The group also previewed the
new Safe from the Start video, "Window of Opportunity."
Local SFTS forums were held in Solano, Mendocino/ Lake and Tuolumne
Counties in April and early May. Linda Chamberlain presented
information on the impact of violence on a child's developing brain to
over 150 participants at the Mendocino/Lake County event and to
approximately 100 service providers and parents at the Tuolumne County
forum. In Solano County, guest speaker, Ross Thompson presented on
"Neurons to Neighborhoods: Integrating the Science of Early Childhood
Development," to approximately 200 attendees. All participants received
the Dr. Bruce Perry video, the Promising Strategies and Programs
Resource Guide and the new Safe from the Start video, "Window of
Opportunity."
CURRENT RESEARCH
A recently published three-year study by Georgetown University Child
Development Center identifies and describes approaches for meeting the
health care needs of children in the foster care system. For purposes of
the study, the term "health care" encompassed physical, mental,
emotional, developmental and dental health.
The University of California, Santa Barbara recently completed a study
commissioned by the Casey Journalism Center, which examined the amount
of media coverage on child abuse and neglect, child care, child health
insurance, teen childbearing, and youth crime and violence. Study
results noted that more than 90 percent of newspaper and TV coverage of
children focused on two topics: youth crime and violence, and child
abuse and neglect. The study is available at:
www.casey.umd.edu/home.nsf.
RESOURCES
The Action Alliance for Children of Oakland supports the "Voices 4
Children" interactive Web site which creates a community for people
committed to the well-being of children and families in California. The
site includes discussion boards, news bulletins and training resources.
Check it out at: www.4children.org.
The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) has a Web page diagramming the
development of the brain from birth through adulthood. The site reveals
the fascinating processes involved in brain development across a
lifetime. For more information on the secret life of the brain, check
out: www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
and Scholastic, Inc. have collaborated to provide parents and teachers
with "Reach Out Now: Talk With Your Fifth Graders About Underage
Drinking," a four-page set of lessons, classroom activities and
materials for parents. The materials are based on research supported by
the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Center
for Substance Abuse Prevention. The materials are available online at:
www.health.org/govpubs/ms908/
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Two new grant opportunities were recently announced by SAMHSA. Both
have submittal deadlines of June 19, 2002. The first grant program is
approximately $2.8 million to fund 12 to 16 projects for $150,000 each
for a two-year duration to develop and enhance youth violence prevention
activities in communities and schools. There is specific emphasis on
"youth violence in vulnerable populations." The second program will
fund six to eight programs for $200,000 per year for two years for
specific school-based mental health services. The application is
available at www.samhsa.gov under program announcement number SM 02-007
or by telephone request at (800)789-2647.
Nonprofit agencies working in the areas of children's health, women's
health, or addressing disparities in health care among minorities, are
eligible to apply for the Aetna Foundation 2002 Regional Community
Grants. Aetna is establishing strategic partnerships with nonprofit
agencies that share the foundation's interest in health care issues.
Applications are due to Aetna by June 28, 2002 and can be downloaded
from their Web site at: www.aetna.com/foundation/communitygrants/rfp.htm.
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