September News: Upcoming 30th Anniversary Decolonizing Health Speaker
We are excited to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month and honor the countless contributions of Latinx communities to our state and country!
As a Latina-led organization with a diverse staff, we are especially proud to celebrate our 30th anniversary – our doble-quinceañera – during this important month.
On October 10, we are gathering with friends at The Top of the Hub in Downtown Los Angeles to mark the occasion and launch the For Our Children’s Future 30th Anniversary Speaker Series with Edgar Villanueva, acclaimed activist and author of Decolonizing Wealth.
To learn more and get tickets, visit http://bit.ly/TCPcelebrates30.
ALL IN to #KeepKidsCovered
Community Outreach Toolkit and Outreach Videos
The Children’s Partnership and our ALL IN partners are proud to announce the release of the ALL IN to #KeepKidsCovered Community Outreach Toolkit. This toolkit is created for schools, child care providers, and other child and family champions to help share information about the Medi-Cal renewal process with families.
In partnership with community health workers, we developed short outreach videos that inform families it’s almost time to renew their Medi-Cal. They also tell families about available resources to help them through the process. These videos feature community health workers who serve diverse communities across California speaking to families in their native language – English, Spanish, Punjabi, Tagalog and Chinese.
Videos are available for you to download and share on social media, link to newsletters, or share on your website!
Help us spread the word!
Funding Opportunity:
DHCS Equity and Practice Transformation Grants
Serving diverse communities, families and their children requires new approaches, community leadership and strategic partnerships. DHCS has rolled out a program providing $650 million over 5 years for Equity and Practice Transformation grants or EPT payments to to invest in up-stream care models and partnerships to address health and wellness and to fund practice transformation.
This program can be a great opportunity for small health centers or primary care practices such as pediatric offices to build capacity and partner with CBOs or Community Health Workers/Promotores/Representatives. In addition, these payments could facilitate building partnerships and integration or social support services such as legal partnerships, immigration assistance or peer-to-peer programs.
The applications are forthcoming and are due October 23. Application instructions can be found here. For more information about EPT payments visit DHCS EPT webpage.
Working in Coalition to Make CA the Best State to Have, Raise and Be a Child
Listening to families and working in multi-racial and cross-sector solidarity is central to our work to support California’s babies, toddlers and their families. In Spring 2023, the Whole Child Equity Partnership (WCEP), a multi-racial, multi-sector coalition of organizations, advocates, community organizers, direct service providers and issue area experts we are proud to co-chair alongside Catalyst CA, engaged over 70 BIPOC families through five statewide listening sessions in the Bay Area, San Diego, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, and the Central Coast. The intent of the listening sessions was to learn directly from families with children from birth to age three about their experiences and gain a deeper understanding about how to ensure California is the best state to have, raise, and be a child. Supporting babies to thrive means supporting our families and communities to thrive.
Learn more in our joint blog with Catalyst CA
Standing Up To Digital Redlining
Last month, a state agency reneged on prior commitments and cut millions of dollars of promised investments in expanded broadband access to South LA, Southeast LA, Oakland and other predominantly low-income communities of color. These investments are core to the state’s effort to close the digital divide and ensure reliable internet for all – so important to families’ ability to access health care, education, housing, and workforce development for the well-being of their children. Governor Newsom has recently suggested that next year’s proposed budget will include additional funding to address the cuts.
With communities that have suffered decades of disinvestment forced to continue to wait, TCP is joining our allies and calling this delay what it is – digital redlining and racism in action. Please join us in calling on Governor Newsom to put the most disconnected communities of color at the *front* of the line, not force them to wait in the back. Please help us amplify this message and demand action by clicking here!
#SMWC7 Student Wellness Conference Recap
On September 8, TCP President Mayra E Alvarez delivered a keynote address during the 7th Annual Student Mental Wellness Conference in partnership with the California Department of Education. Organized by Wellness Together and attended by over 1,500 educators, mental health providers, school administrators and community leaders from across the country. The conference focused on opportunities to provide culturally responsive mental health supports for middle-and high-school students in California.
Mayra’s remarks focused on the importance of working across sectors to strengthen advocacy for student mental health. She discussed how our joint advocacy is strong when we acknowledge the negative and lasting impacts of racism, uplift community wisdom and the embrace the power of partnership. She also shared information about TCP’s new initiative to support youth peer-to-peer programs in high schools throughout California and the urgent need to reach families with information about renewing their coverage in Medi-Cal. These initiatives that will only be successful with strong partnership with education partners.
Given the important role of schools in reaching families, Liza Davis, TCP Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy, Raven Jones, Director of Peer-to-Peer Programs and Ebony Durham, Community Engagement Associate, tabled at the event and distributed family-friendly resources on coverage, mental health and public charge.
Somos Latinx Series
TCP is proud to join our partner, the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, in offering the Somos Latinx Familiesseries, a free five-episode virtual conversation series that offers a safe and welcoming space to hold conversations for and by Latinx families. Explore what it means to be a parent as part of the Latinx community and raising Latinx children while navigating the U.S. The conversations are moderated by our own Eva Rivera, Director of Early Childhood Development.
Join us for this FREE webinar series beginning Monday October 2, 2023
| All webinars will be presented in English, with live Spanish translation available. |
Let’s Talk Webinar
Let’s Talk: School Safety will be the second of our four part webinar series hosted by The Children’s Partnership. Join us on Wednesday, October 11 from 5-6:30 p.m. for “Let’s Talk: School Safety” where our partners will engage in a discussion with families on school safety as it relates to gun violence. We will discuss what gun violence is, its connection to school safety, and what families can do to stay safe.
Medi-Cal Renewal Feedback Loop
TCP and National Health Law Program have created a feedback loop for those local organizations and navigators helping families to renew. We provide updates and lift up issues raised by organizations as they share their experience with how the process is going on-the-ground for families.
Please share this monthly feedback loop opportunity with your partners and join us for next month’s meeting on October 18 at noon.
Medi-Cal Renewals Webinar
Tips for Keeping Coverage
Public education, outreach and advocacy is critical right now to protect Californians’ Medi-Cal coverage. Join NHeLP for its for Medi-Cal Unwinding Webinar on 10/25, 10 A.M (PT) to learn more.
The webinar will provide a brief refresher on the unwinding process (for a more complete overview, view Part 1 of the webinar), new renewal tips and flexibilities, current renewal activities and updates, and a call to action to improve the unwinding process so more Californians keep their Medi-Cal coverage.
Since California’s unwinding period began on April 1, 2023, counties across the state have started to process millions of Medi-Cal renewals. During the first few months of the unwinding, coverage cutoffs have revealed that more Californians are suffering paperwork (procedural) terminations, at higher rates than the national average.
If you have any accommodation requests please contact NHeLP’s Operations Team (webinars@healthlaw.org) at least 4 days prior to the start of the webinar.
Coming Soon:
A Snapshot of Latinx Children’s Health
The 4.6 million children in California who identify as Latinx are an essential part of California’s identity, prosperity and future. Together with the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, Abriendo Puertas, and Latino Health Access, we will be releasing updated data snapshot focusing on Latinx children’s health and well-being in October. Stay tuned!
