Community Health Workers, Promotores and Representatives (CHW/P/Rs)
Community health workers, promotores and representatives (CHW/P/Rs) help people in their communities manage chronic diseases and get the health services they need by breaking down barriers to care related to social drivers of health, such as language, education, economic, housing, and so much more. CHW/P/Rs reflect the communities they serve and have a unique connection with the community. The resources on this page can support CHW/P/Rs as they serve communities, and guide health care providers, health systems, community organizations and others in working with CHW/P/Rs more effectively.
CHW/P/R COALITION POLICY AGENDA
The California Community Health Workers, Promotoras, and Representatives (CHW/P/R) Coalition are proud to announce the publication of the 2024 CHW/P/R Coalition Policy Agenda: The People’s Agenda: Planting the Seeds for a Healthy Tomorrow. This policy agenda is a result of the beautiful labor of love that CHW/P/Rs did together, with and for the community!
These policy recommendations ensure CHW/P/R perspectives guide state policies that impact the workforce. This policy agenda includes 15 priority recommendations, each linked to one of four policy priority areas: workforce development, economic equity, effective integration into care teams, and equitable access for Medi-Cal enrollees.
The CHW/P/R Coalition was formed in 2022 for CHW/P/Rs to play an active role in policy campaigns and conversations that impact their profession and advocate to transform health care to support all peoples.
The People’s Agenda: Planting the Seeds for a Healthy Tomorrow is available to read and share now!
CHW/P/R Coalition Steering Committee: California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Consortium for Urban Indian Health, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, Visión y Compromiso, The Children’s Partnership, Roots Community Health Center, and Transitions Clinic.
THE CHILDREN’S PARTNERSHIP RESEARCH
Community Health Workers Advancing Health Equity: Part II
The Children’s Partnership’s latest brief, in partnership with the First 5 Center for Children’s Policy, provides an update on Medi-Cal’s community health worker (CHW) benefit implementation, as well as uplifts programs and models across California that are utilizing CHW/P/Rs to benefit children and families across the state. We also share policy recommendations, including how we can continue to take successful models to scale, in line with the CHW/P/R Coalition.
Community Health Workers Advancing Health Equity: Part I
This TCP brief focuses on the community health workforce as a community-led, anti-racist solution in health care delivery for children by advancing child health equity and dismantling systemic racism.
RESOURCES
Equity Through Engagement Project
EQUITY THROUGH ENGAGEMENT
Advancing child health equity is about more than reducing health disparities. Equitable health care includes sharing power with and honoring the agency of those who are the real experts, namely families who know their children and their environment best, and the community which knows best their population needs and resources.
The Children’s Partnership, the California Children’s Trust, and the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality have partnered together through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the Equity Through Engagement (ETE) Project. As part of the ETE project, we examined challenges and opportunities for California to integrate community organizations, local cross-sector collaboratives and community social interventions into its Medi-Cal health care financing and delivery systems in order to advance child health equity.
Because three-fourths of Medi-Cal children are children of color, Medi-Cal plays a critical role in addressing child health inequities and preventing children from developing diseases later as adults. Addressing social drivers of health offers a unique opportunity to advance equity but only when we center the needs of those most impacted.
This project highlights the role that social drivers play in shaping a child’s health and well-being and thus the key role that Medi-Cal can play to address those health-related social needs for children. Recent reforms to Medi-Cal managed care offer promise for better serving the whole child’s health. Pivotal to Medi-Cal successfully advancing its goal of child health equity is authentic collaboration and power-sharing between managed care organizations and key community partners:
- Community collaboratives for health working cross-sector;
- Community-based organizations (CBOs) serving children/families; and
- Families and youth themselves
EQUITY THROUGH ENGAGEMENT PROJECT PRODUCTS
REIMAGINING MEDI-CAL: COLLABORATING WITH FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES TO ADVANCE CHILD HEALTH EQUITY
This report highlights the role that social drivers play in shaping a child’s health and well-being. Recent reforms to Medi-Cal managed care offer promise for better serving the whole child’s health. This report offers recommendations on how Medi-Cal managed care plans can incorporate multiple efforts to strengthen their commitment to community, based on interviews with families, health plan representatives and communities.
FAMILY VOICES MATTER: LISTENING TO THE REAL EXPERTS IN MEDI-CAL CHILDREN’S HEALTH
Bringing equity to children’s health starts with listening and sharing decision-making with the experts, namely the parents and families of children. This report provides parents’ perspectives about their experience with their children’s coverage and their suggestions for improving children’s health care and for how health plans can collaborate with families on systems change.
FROM FAMILIES TO FAMILIES: A SUMMARY OF THE FAMILY VOICES REPORT
These briefs are summaries of the important recommendations parents gave to address the systemic issues they face in accessing and navigating health care for their children laid out in the Family Voices Matter: Listening to the Experts in Medi-Cal Children’s Health report.
CHILD OPPORTUNITY WORKBOOK
This workbook uses Child Opportunity Index (COI) scores developed by Brandeis University and the Ohio State University to assess social drivers of health by race and county across California. It provides policymakers and advocates interested in improving child health care equity with a useful snapshot of disparities in opportunity across California.
CARING FOR KIDS THE RIGHT WAY: A WHOLE-CHILD APPROACH TO CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
This brief describes what a whole-child health approach entails–what are the preventive services, treatments, social supports and interventions children need to thrive and the child settings where children receive them. Families needs care coordination to navigate and connect this network of interventions, services and providers
CARING FOR KIDS THE RIGHT WAY: KEY COMPONENTS OF CHILDREN’S CARE COORDINATION
Navigating the right support among the fragmented systems of children’s medical care is difficult, and successful care coordination for children requires effective communication among providers, patients and families across the multiple systems that serve children.
This report presents successful children’s care coordination models and examples of care coordination in action that are necessary to achieve the state’s ambitious goal of reforming the nation’s largest Medicaid program and address managed care plans’ well-documented challenges in offering preventive care and addressing social drivers of health.
THE MEDI-CAL MANAGED CARE OBLIGATION FOR CARE COORDINATION COULDN’T BE CLEARER— IT’S TIME TO MAKE IT WORK!
This brief provides recommendations for care coordination improvement in Medi-Cal, including suggestions on strengthening MCP contract language and accountability to ensure California’s most vulnerable children are supported in navigating complex systems and multiple providers to receive the mental and behavioral health services they need.
Racism and Child Health
We must acknowledge that systemic racism is a root cause of child health inequities.
Systemic racism does not belong to one political party. No matter who holds the power of our nation’s highest office, we know what ideology holds the power in our nation’s systems: white supremacy.
Racism impacts every stage of child development, beginning in the womb, and continues to shape the conditions in which children live, learn, develop, and play.
During this critical time of reckoning, The Children’s Partnership is proud to share a series of briefs, uplifting the pervasive impacts of institutional racism on the health and wellbeing of our children. Our goal is to bring to light some of the ways that institutions, from policing to medicine to technology, each perpetuate grave harm to the healthy development of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) children, and therefore all children, in this country.
Through the series and our work with partners, The Children’s Partnership will explore opportunities to disrupt oppressive systems, defer to community leadership and demand bold innovations that put the wellbeing of our children first. By placing a child lens on issues of police violence, we hope to contribute to the incredible work led by BIPOC organizers and racial justice advocates for years.
DIGITAL EQUITY: A KEY TO CHILDREN’S HEALTH & RACIAL JUSTICE
Digital equity is a core social driver of health. The systems crucial to the well-being of our families are increasingly dependent upon digital infrastructure: education, health care, economic development, housing and access to public benefits, among others.
As a result of persistent structural racism, BIPOC communities have been disproportionately impacted by digital inequities, contributing to worse health outcomes compared to their white peers. Low income BIPOC communities are least likely to have reliable and affordable internet service, least likely to have adequate devices, and have been disproportionately affected by digital literacy gaps.
There is much to celebrate in recent policy actions, but implementation of policy and deployment of new resources are in the early stages. It is essential that advocates, residents, committed policymakers and community leaders are actively engaged to ensure that BIPOC children and families have a voice and are centered in decision-making.
Our newest brief, Digital Equity: A Key to Children’s Health & Racial Justice, aims to serve as a resource for advocacy to advance digital equity in order to address the disparate impact of the digital divide on BIPOC children. The brief explains the pillars of digital equity, gives examples of the opportunities that are enabled by digital equity, describes the current policy landscape, and through a child health lens, lays out an actionable policy agenda that we have the power to move in the next two years.
COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ADVANCING CHILD HEALTH EQUITY
Racism impacts every state of a child’s development and continues to harm children by shaping the conditions in which they live, learn and play.
Health care in the United States is marked by centuries of racial injustice and myriad forms of violence against BIPOC communities. BIPOC communities have challenged and actively subverted racist structures in medicine to care for their own health by utilizing community-defined practices and care.
Our brief, Community Health Workers Advancing Child Health Equity, focuses on the community health workforce as a community-led, anti-racist solution in health care delivery for children. This brief explores the power of a community health workforce in advancing child health equity and dismantling systemic racism.
HARMFUL IMPACTS OF POLICING
Our first brief in the series, Policing and the Harmful Impacts on Child Wellbeing, offers a look at how the systemic racism that permeates U.S. law enforcement harms the health of BIPOC children. Whether direct or indirect, exposure to police violence triggers a stress response in children that leads to lasting adverse consequences from mental health and development to financial and academic success.
TCP aims to be a voice for marginalized communities and advocate for equity in health for all children. This brief highlights how systemic racism in policing leads to inequities in health for BIPOC children and offers opportunities to address the harms and prevent future negative impacts.
COVID-19 VACCINE & RESOURCE HUB
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COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS AND CHILDREN
Check out some family friendly resources below in Spanish that include everything you need to know about COVID-19 vaccines. These resources cover topics such as talking with a local doctor, nurse, or community health worker about questions you may have as you prepare to vaccinate your children, vaccine safety, effectiveness, side effects, variants, costs, availability, where to make vaccine appointments, as well as getting the flu shot. click
Consulte los recursos para familias a continuación en español que incluyen lo que necesita saber sobre las vacunas contra el COVID-19. Estos recursos cubren temas como hablar con un médico, una enfermera o un trabajador de salud de la comunidad local sobre las preguntas que pueda tener mientras se prepara para vacunar a su(s) hijo(s), la seguridad de las vacunas, la efectividad, los efectos secundarios, las variantes, no costo, la disponibilidad, dónde hacer las citas de vacunas, además de vacunarse contra la gripe. clic
COVID-19 Variants, Vaccines & Protecting CA’s Children Frequently Asked Questions
- California’s Vaccination Plan: Vaccination is one of the most important tools to end the COVID-19 pandemic and is free. For more information on available vaccines, when you can get vaccinated, statewide vaccination data, and more, click here.
- MyTurnCA: Sign up for vaccination appointments at myturn.ca.gov or call (833) 422-4255 to find out if it’s your turn. If you’re eligible, you can schedule an appointment, or register to be notified when one is available.
- Contact my local public health department: Some local health jurisdictions provide vaccination appointments separately from My Turn.
- You can always use the CDC VaccineFinder tool to find vaccination locations near you: https://vaccinefinder.org/
- The COVID-19 vaccine is available to kids 5 years old and up. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 through 11.
- School Health: FAQs from Parents: American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) California Chapter 2 answers some questions you may have about school health and safety of your children
- Parents and Caregivers – What Is Your School Doing to Protect Your Child from COVID-19?: CDC answers some of your questions about vaccines, mask wearing, testing and contact tracing, how to ask schools about their COVID-19 precautions, among others
- Are We There Yet?: Talk with a pediatrician about questions you may have about vaccinating your children
- San Mateo county has put together recommendations on COVID-19 safe fall activities for children and families
- Vaccinating your children is one of the most important tools of protecting your family and community from COVID-19. You can get yourself and your children vaccinated free of cost! For more information on statewide vaccination data, when to get your child vaccinated, and more, click here.
- Visit myturn.ca.gov or call (833) 422-4255 to sign up for vaccination appointments for yourself and your children. You can also use the CDC VaccineFinder tool to find vaccination locations near you: https://www.vaccines.gov/. Some local health organizations may provide vaccination appointments separately from My Turn
- With school back in session, COVID still at play, and flu season in full swing, don’t forget to get your children the flu shot! AAP has put together some immunization resources for you and your child that includes up-to-date immunization schedules, information to counter vaccine hesitancy, and COVID-19 vaccination for children.
- Get your flu shot today!
- US FDA’s factsheet for parents and caregivers as they prepare to vaccinate their children 5 to 11 years of age
- Click here to watch videos by FDA and CDC on all things COVID-19 vaccination!
- Make your COVID-19 vaccine appointment through CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Publix, and GoodRx today!
- Check out Planifica Tu Vacuna to get all the information you need about getting the COVID-19 vaccine.Resources in Spanish:
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services answers some of the most commonly asked questions about vaccine safety, effectiveness, side effects, variants, costs, and availability.
PRECAUCIONES COVID-19 Y NIÑOS
La vacuna del COVID-19 está disponible para niños de 5 años en adelante. La Administración de Drogas y Alimentos de los EE. UU. (FDA) ha otorgado una Autorización de uso de emergencia (EUA) de la vacuna Pfizer BioNTech de una dosis menor para uso en niños de 5 a 11.
- Variantes de COVID-19 , Vacunas, y Protegiendo los Niños de California
- Departamento de Servicios de Salud responde algunas de las preguntas más frecuentes sobre la seguridad, la eficacia, los efectos secundarios, las variantes, los costos y la disponibilidad de las vacunas
- ¡Haga clic aquí para ver videos de la FDA y los CDC sobre todo lo relacionado con la vacuna contra el COVID-19!
- Hoja informativa de la FDA de los Estados Unidos para padres y cuidadores mientras se prepara para vacunar a niños de 5 a 11.
- ¿Ya llegamos?: Hable con un pediatra sobre las preguntas que pueda tener sobre la vacunación de su hijo.
- ¡Haga su cita para la vacuna contra el COVID-19 a través de una clínica comunitaria, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Publix y GoodRx hoy!
- Consulte Planifica Tu Vacuna para obtener toda la información que necesita sobre cómo recibir la vacuna contra el COVID-19
HOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT COVID-19
- Sesame Street: Sesame Street has filled their site with content you can use all day long to spark playful learning, offer children comfort, and focus a bit on yourself, too during the COVID-19 health crisis.
- Talking to Children About COVID-19: Sesame Street has tips for answering young children’s questions regarding COVID-19 without overloading them with scary information, while still providing comfort.
- Caring For a Family Member with COVID-19 & Dealing with Childcare and School Closings: Healthy Children has information on how to protect your family and others during the COVID-19 health crisis, while also offering advice for reassuring children.
- Working and Learning from Home During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Healthy Children has written a guide with insights on caring for children while working and schooling from home.
- Parenting in a Pandemic: Tips to Keep the Calm at Home: Health Children has organized tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics on helping children feel safe, keep healthy routines, manage their behavior and build resilience.
- Supporting Families During COVID-19: The Child Mind Institute is open and available for you and your child during this crisis with resources to help balance work, child care and self care. Telehealth appointments for ADHD, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders and learning disorders are also available.
- Talking to Children About COVID-19: A Parent Resource.
- Free Kids Educational Resources: There’s 200 free videos, lessons, apps, books, websites and more.
- Scholastic Learn at Home: Day-by-day projects to keep children reading, thinking, and learning.
- Daily Lunch Doodles: Daily virtual videos where kids can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing.
- Free Online Dance Classes: Designed for kids in pre-k through 5th grade, kids can learn more dance moves such as the Irish step. There are even some dances for grown-ups too!
- Does your family have a self-care activity you want to share with others? Check out or My Green is Lime Green Self-Care Contest!
ECONOMIC SECURITY
- American Rescue Plan Act Resources for Families
- Employment Development Department guide applying for unemployment benefits in California
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
- EDD Information for people who are laid off, sick or caring for family members
- Know Your Rights During COVID-19: The Medical-Legal Community Partnership Los Angeles has put together a resource describing COVID-19 rights and protections around housing, employment, health care, and stimulus payments.
- The California Parent and Youth Helpline: Provides support and resource referrals to parent and youth during the current COVID-19 pandemic, 7-days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Call or text 1-855-4APARENT (855-427-2736) for services in English, Spanish and other languages.
IMMIGRANT FAMILIES
- American Rescue Plan Act Resources for Families
- Medi-Cal COVID-19 PE program: Presumptive Eligibility for Medi-Cal is available so that all individuals may seek access to all medically necessary care related to COVID-19 at no cost to the individual.
- Disaster Relief Fund and CA Immigrant Resilience Fund: The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is providing one-time disaster relief assistance to undocumented adult immigrants impacted by COVID-19, who are ineligible for most other forms of pandemic assistance, including direct assistance under the CARES Act and unemployment insurance.1
- Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Public Programs: The Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign has compiled a general overview of some of the federal public programs available to support individuals and families during the COVID-19 crisis under existing law, as well as the recently passed federal aid packages.
- Understanding the Impact of Key Provisions of COVID-19 Federal Relief Bills on Immigrant Communities: The National Immigration Law Center has written a policy brief to provide information on the COVID-19 relief package’s impact on low-income immigrants and suggestions for urgently needed improvements in any future relief bills, with a focus on health, public benefits, economic support, and employment protections.
- Undocumented Workers’ Employment Rights: Legal Aid At Work provides an overview of frequently asked questions regarding Undocumented Workers’ Employment Rights.
- CIPC resource guide: The California Immigrant Policy Center has organized a guide of COVID-19 resources for immigrants in California.
INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY ACCESS
- CA Department of Education, Getting Internet Access: CDE has listed a table containing special offers extended by various providers throughout the state.
- Internet for All Now: Several Internet Service Providers offer low-cost, affordable Home Internet for qualifying low-income households.
- 14 Tips for Helping Students with Limited Internet Have Distance Learning: The MindShift community shares strategies, tips or activities to do distance learning with students who only have access to cellphones and limited data or internet.
- Tech Against Coronavirus. This collection of resources includes online learning platforms and video conferencing tools for educators to connect with students.
- Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books & More: is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
- Learning Heroes (bilingual): a “roadmap” to help parents keep their children on track with math, reading, life skills and more while school is closed.
- The Help Group – Virtual Parenting Classes: These classes will provide you with strategies and knowledge to help you create your own parenting style. We will focus on empathy training, setting limits, brain development and expanding your emotional vocabulary.
- EveryoneOn is a nonprofit dedicated to creating social and economic opportunity by connecting low-income families to affordable internet service and computers, and delivering digital skills trainings.
- Microsoft Digital Literacy
- Grow with Google
- Oasis Connections
- Goodwill Community Foundation
- Microsoft Digital Literacy
- Common Sense Media
- Common Sense Latino
NUTRITION & FOOD ACCESS
- CA Meals for Kids Mobile Application: The CA Meals for Kids mobile application helps you find nearby California Afterschool and Summer Meal Programs Sites through your iOS, Android, or Microsoft devices.
- LAUSD Resource Guide: The County of Los Angeles has listed food resources available through COVID-19 response efforts.
- The California Parent and Youth Helpline: provides support and resource referrals to parent and youth during the current COVID-19 pandemic, 7-days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Call or text 1-855-4APARENT (855-427-2736) for services in English, Spanish and other languages.
- CalFresh & Medi-Cal Eligibility Screener: Alluma has launched an online Quick Screener tool for public use, to help millions of Californians check if they are likely eligible for California’s food and health insurance assistance programs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal.
HEALTH
- CA Department of Public Health, COVID-19 Resources: The California Department of Public Health has listed resources and information for various frequently asked questions regarding COVID-19.
- Supporting Children’s Health During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: The National Institute for Children’s Health equity has listed potential solutions and relevant resources to address the potential far reaching overall impact COVID-19 will have on children’s health outcomes.
- Tips for Physical Distancing in a Multigenerational Home
- Harm Reduction Tips: Safer Drug Use During the COVID-19 Outbreak
- Staying Safe During COVID-19: Resources and Support for Those Coping with Abuse During COVID-19 “Stay at Home” Directive
- Interactive guide to safety planning: If you have safe access to a computer, you can use this Interactive Safety Planning Guide to help keep yourself safe, created by Loveisrespect a project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: call 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-799-7233 for TTY, or if you’re unable to speak safely, text LOVEIS to 22522. Anyone facing abuse of any kind can call this hotline.
- RAINN (National Sexual Assault Hotline): call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
- The National Child Abuse Hotline
- Adult Abuse Hotline: call 1-800-222-8000
- The California Parent and Youth Helpline provides support and resource referrals to parent and youth during the current COVID-19 pandemic, 7-days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Call or text 1-855-4APARENT (855-427-2736) for services in English, Spanish and other languages.
- CalFresh & Medi-Cal Eligibility Screener: Alluma has launched an online Quick Screener tool for public use, to help millions of Californians check if they are likely eligible for California’s food and health insurance assistance programs, CalFresh and Medi-Cal.
- Talking about COVID breakthrough infections: Recommendations for public health practitioners. Media coverage on breakthrough infections in people who are vaccinated make talking about COVID more complicated. We hope these initial talking points will be helpful. As this issue evolves, the talking points may evolve as well.
- Comunicación acerca de la vacuna contra el COVID-19: Guía y mensajes de muestra para trabajadores de salud pública.Conforme nos acercamos a la fecha de distribución de las vacunas contra el COVID-19, los legisladores y el público en general buscan información y tienen preguntas acerca de su eficacia y seguridad. Los trabajadores de salud pública en los departamentos de salud y en otras partes pueden jugar un rol muy importante en resolver estas dudas y fomentar la confianza necesaria para distribuir las vacunas equitativamente. Este documento contiene recomendaciones para ayudar a los líderes de salud pública a comunicarse más clara y efectivamente cuando hablen sobre las vacunas. (This is the Spanish version of BMSG’s Communicating about the COVID-19 vaccines: Guidance and sample messages for public health practitioners)
MENTAL HEALTH
- CA Peer-Run Warm Line: The Peer-Run Warm Line (1-855-845-7415) is a non-emergency resource for anyone in California seeking emotional support. They provide assistance via phone and webchat on a nondiscriminatory basis to anyone in need.
- CA Youth Crisis Line: The California Youth Crisis Line (CYCL) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week as the statewide emergency response system for youth (ages 12-24) and families in crisis.
- Steinberg Institute MH Youth Services: The Steinberg Institute has compiled a list of resources to support youth’s mental wellness throughout California.
- How teenagers can protect their mental health during coronavirus (COVID-19): UNICEF organized six strategies for teens facing a new (temporary) normal.
- Child Trends provides recommendations and resources to support children’s emotional well-being
- Tips for Self-Care During COVID-19
- SAMHSA’s Disaster Distress Line: 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.
- Teen Line: Text “TEEN” to 839863 between 6:00pm-9:00pm PST for teen-to-teen education and support or send an email using their website.
- Older Californians can stay connected with their communities during isolation, and receive help accessing food or medical supplies by calling 833-544-2374.
- The California Parent and Youth Helpline: provides support and resource referrals to parent and youth during the current COVID-19 pandemic, 7-days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Call or text 1-855-4APARENT (855-427-2736) for services in English, Spanish and other languages.
- CDC: Stigma and Resilience During COVID-19
- CDC: Helping Children Cope with Emergencies
- SAMHSA: Coping with Stress During Infectious Disease Outbreaks
- SAMHSA: Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health During an Infectious Disease
- CDPH and ACEs Connection created this flyer to provide families with tips and resources to cope with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- CDPH y ACEs Connection crearon este folleto para ofrecerles a las familias consejos y recursos para enfrentar el estrés durante la pandemia de COVID-19.
TELEHEALTH
- Telehealth Mental Health Services for Children & Teens: The Child Mind Institute’s gold-standard, evidence-based care for children, teens, young adults and families is now being provided via telehealth.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
(enrichment and learning)
- CA Dept of Ed Frequently Asked Questions for Early Learning and Care Programs
- Reading Tips for Parents in 13 languages: Colorín Colorado has one-page Reading Tip Sheets available in thirteen languages that offer ideas for parents to help kids become successful readers.
- Ideas for Baby’s Development While at Home: Healthy Children offers ideas for caretakers looking for new ways to entertain and play with your young child during social distancing.
EDUCATION
(learning)
- KQED At-Home Learning Resources During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Supporting English Learners during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Resources for Learning at Home When Schools Close: Shares virtual resources by subject area, along with instructional planning and family communication tips.
- Distance Learning Classroom Resources for Students: PBS NewsHour is updating this collection of teacher-produced resources and lesson plans on current events, government and civics, and more.
- Distance Learning for Immigrant families and English Learner students: Privacy Considerations
ESPAÑOL
- American Rescue Plan Act Resources for Families
- FDA:
- Guía sobre COVID-19 (Departamento de Salud Pública de California, CDPH):
- Recursos del gobierno de California
- Video educacional de Abriendo Puertas sobre COVID-19
- Actividades sin pantalla para hacer en casa con niños: Estos recursos, recomendados por Abriendo Puertas y Early Edge, enfatizan la importancia del tiempo de pantalla consciente y alientan las actividades que no requieren un dispositivo.
- Sección Amarilla: 10 actividades en casa para niños y niñas
- HealthyChildren.org: 10 actividades sin costo y lejos de una pantalla
- Conmishijos: 20-entretenidas-actividades-para-hacer-con-los-niños-en-casa
- La Diversiva: 70 ideas fáciles para jugar con los peques dentro de casa
- Zero to Three: ¡Juega conmigo! Actividades que hacen divertido el aprendizaje desde el nacimiento hasta los doce meses. (0-12 months)
- La Guía de Estrategias del Asesor General de Salud Publica de California: Alivio del estrés durante la pandemia de la COVID-19 se ha traducido a los siguientes idiomas: árabe, chino, coreano, español, tagalo y vietnamita.
- Niveles de estrategia. Este documento describe el proceso de cuatro pasos de BMSG para planificar la acción política a través de los medios de comunicación, a este proceso lo llamamos los niveles estratégicos. El proceso se apega a la idea de que el mensaje nunca debe ser lo primero en lo que nos enfocamos. En lugar de eso el primer paso, y el más importante, es el desarrollar una estrategia general que apoye una campaña de acción política para cambiar políticas públicas. De ahí parte la estrategia de los medios, de mensaje y de acceso a los medios. (This is the Spanish version of our Layers of Strategy)
- Hoja de ejercicios: Desarrollo de mensajes. Para cambiar políticas de salud pública, es importante para quienes buscamos estos cambios saber cómo comunicarnos de manera estratégica acerca del asunto que queremos abordar, explicar por qué es importante y que es lo que se tiene que hacer para resolver el problema. Usa esta hoja de ejercicios para practicar el desarrollo de mensaje con tu audiencia objetivo en mente. (This is the Spanish version of our Message Development Worksheet)
- Estrategia general para planificación de acción política. Antes de ir a los medios para traer atención al asunto en el que quieres trabajar, o antes de decidir cual va a ser tu mensaje, es necesario que tengas claro cuales son tus metas de abogacía tanto como los pasos que vas a dar para lograrlo. Las preguntas en esta hoja de trabajo te pueden ayudar a identificar la información que necesitas para ir avanzando y cuales son los siguientes pasos por tomar. Piensa en esta hoja como tu guía principal: tu estrategia mediática y tu estrategia de mensaje se derivan de esta estrategia general, de manera que todas tus acciones estén alineadas con tus metas de abogacía. (This is the Spanish version of our Overall Strategy Worksheet).
LGBTQ+
- COVID-19 LGBTQ+ Help Center: Equality California has launched a help center website and hotline for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
- Includes full lists of service providers in all 53 counties and will feature free webinars for people out of work.
REGION SPECIFIC
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
- LA Care Teladoc: Talk to a doctor by calling Teladoc or by scheduling a video chat on the Teladoc app to treat non-emergency medical issues. Teledoc doctors can prescribe medication if necessary, which you can pick up at your local pharmacy.
- California Connected Contact Tracing: Under this program, health workers will talk to those who have tested positive. They’ll alert anyone they may have exposed, keeping names confidential. Contact tracing is an anonymous way to do your part. The more people answer the call, the more lives and jobs California saves. Your information is always kept confidential. Available in multiple languages: English | Spanish | Traditional Chinese | Simplified Chinese | Korean | Armenian | Tagalog | Arabic | Farsi | Cambodian | Russian | Japanese | Vietnamese
ORANGE COUNTY
- Senior Center Lunch Cafe Locations: Meals on Wheels Orange County delivers nutritious meals at community centers in the following cities providing a hot, nutritious lunch to older adults.
- Anaheim Union High School District and Brea Olinda Unified School District are offering meals to children ages 18 and under.
- The Buena Park School District will provide drive-thru meals to community members with children 18 and under at two of its campuses.
- *Children must be present to receive meals*
- Centralia School District will provide free meals to children 18 and under.
- *Children must be present to receive meals*
- Fullerton School District will be offering free breakfast and lunch to children under the age of 18 via curb-side pickup at all school locations.
- *Children must be present to receive meals*
- La Habra City School District will offer grab-and-go curbside lunches for children ages 18 and under at three of its campuses from 9 am to 12 pm.
- *Children must be present to receive lunch*
- Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District will provide free breakfast and lunch to all children ages 18 and under from 9 am to 11 am at four of its campuses.
- *Children must be present to receive lunch*
- Savanna School District will provide free lunches for children ages 18 and under at various times and campuses.
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS/EDUCATORS & PARENTS
- California Safe Schools for All: California’s School Reopening Plan
- BEAM Tool Kits & Resources: Mental health resources for Black students.
- Behavioral Health Impacts During & After COVID-19: What to Expect and Ways to Prepare for the Return to In-Person Learning
- Check out the #virtualschool hashtag on your social media feeds. During Education Week, teachers shared examples of how they are collaborating during school closures, including through virtual professional learning communities and resource-sharing.
- Sample Daily Schedules by Khan Academy.
- These schedules are meant to be templates that you could adopt as is or copy and modify to better suit the needs of your children, classroom or district.
- Resources, Strategies, Considerations, and Articles for Educators Teaching at Home Due to COVID-19.
- Members of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) are curating this list of resources and strategies for teachers, along with tips for implementation.
- Resource Hub for Online Learning.
- Instruction Partners shares resources, tools, and guidance to support school and system leaders in planning for school closures and supporting continued learning for students.
- Free, Emergency Virtual-Learning Resources for Every School:
- Resources intended for students in K-12 including articles, images, videos and primary sources of information, presented in an “engaging interface,” optimized for smart devices. The resources are translated into multiple languages.
- Children’s Data Privacy During COVID-19 Closures: 10 Questions to Ask
- US Department of Education: Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services: Requirements and Best Practices
Immigration
PUBLIC CHARGE
The final public charge regulation, which went into effect Dec. 23, 2022, confirms that eligible immigrant families can use safety net programs without immigration concerns, including programs for health care, housing, food and tax credits, and that past, current and future receipt of these benefits will not be considered public charge. It will also protect their future by making it harder for future U.S. presidents to radically change public charge policy, and it clarifies that a child’s or other family member’s use of federal safety net programs never affects the applicant’s immigration application.
Our nation has long welcomed those seeking to achieve their dreams, because we know that our worth – and our potential – is about more than what’s in our pockets. The Children’s Partnership urges elected officials in California, across the country and at the federal level to support the dignity of immigrants, recognize their contributions to this country and pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Join Us and Help Protect AND Prepare Our Communities
As multiple reports indicate that the Trump Administration is planning raids across the country, It is important to be prepared and ensure immigrant families know their rights.
Everybody has rights under the U.S. constitution that may be exercise in a situation like a raid.
TCP SUBMITTED COMMENT TO HUD TO PROTECT HOUSING FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES
The Children’s Partnership (TCP) opposes the eviction of mixed-status families. Mixed-status families are households that include both documented and undocumented members. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a proposed rule that would prohibit “mixed-status” families from living in public and other subsidized housing. If the rule goes through, more than 55,000 children face eviction.
ALL IN FOR SAFE SCHOOLS
AB 699, also referred to as Safe Havens, or Sanctuary Schools is a new law in CA that provides important protections for students in immigrant families. The Children’s Partnership is working with The CA Endowment, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Californians Together, the CA Association for Bilingual Educators, and others as ALL IN for Safe Schools Coalition with the purpose of fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment in California’s PreK-12 schools.
KNOW YOUR FAMILY’S HEALTH CARE RIGHTS
Our new pamphlet includes information on existing options for undocumented and mixed-status families. It outlines health care rights and protections, and it provides information about accessing care locally. Download Here
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA Program)
The Trump Administration announced its decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides over 800,000 children and young adults with some sense of security and the ability to work legally. The Children’s Partnership is heartbroken and deeply disappointed in this cruel and irresponsible action by the Trump Administration. As advocates for children, we know firsthand this policy extends far beyond its intended recipients, and we strongly oppose the efforts of the Trump Administration to drive policies of hate that separate our families. Rescinding DACA, in addition to the harmful negative immigration rhetoric we hear from this Administration, is causing fear and panic in communities – putting children at higher risk of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, & withdrawal and harming their healthy development. We know that nearly 25% of DACA recipients are parents. If these parents are detained, deported, and/or unable to work legally, their children will also experience a loss of housing and food insecurity. The research is clear on this, when parents have the opportunity to improve, younger generations do better. That is truly the American dream. “The American values of hard work and fairness are part of every family who calls this country home. We urge our leaders to put our nation’s values into action and seek a permanent solution for the 800,000 DACA recipients and the thousands of children and other family members that depend on them.” – Mayra Alvarez, President of The Children’s Partnership
OUR LATEST LETTER IN SUPPORT OF THE DREAM ACT
Read our latest letter in support of the Dream Act, co-authored by our Kids Coalitions:
Over 320 Child Youth Organizations Call for Immediate Passage of Dream Act
DACA RESOURCES
Public Charge
THE LATEST
Final Public Charge Regulation Incorporates Child-Focused Recommendations
Sept 9, 2022: The final regulation confirms that eligible immigrant families can use safety net programs without immigration concerns, including health care, housing, food and tax credits — past, current, and future receipt of these benefits will not be considered public charge. It will also protect their future by making it harder for future U.S. presidents to radically change public charge policy, and it clarifies that a child’s or other family member’s use of federal safety net programs never affects the applicant’s immigration application.
The final rule, which will be effective on December 23, 2022, incorporated recommendations that mitigate unintended adverse impacts on children, including:
- Explicitly excluding adults who apply on behalf of their children but do not receive the benefit themselves from the public charge rule, and
- Excluding non-cash benefits that children need to grow healthy from the public charge rule, including health, housing and nutrition benefits.
Read our full statement on the final regulation.
Healthy Mind, Healthy Future Symposium
The Children’s Partnership and California Immigrant Policy Center have come together to host a symposium on the impact of anti-immigrant activities and rhetoric on the mental health and wellbeing of children in immigrant families. The event will also highlight the findings from Healthy Mind, Healthy Future, a joint research and policy project. The event will be held on March 8th at The California Endowment’s Oakland office.
This symposium will provide service providers, advocates, funders, legislators, teachers, and community stakeholders with the opportunity to learn about and engage in policy and programmatic recommendations that aim to protect and advance the health and wellbeing of children in immigrant families.
Already registered?
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To keep up to date with highlights from the event and other relevant updates on the work that we’re doing to help improve the wellbeing of children in immigrant families, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.
Thank you for registering for our Healthy Mind, Healthy Future Symposium
We look forward to seeing you on March 8th! This page contains additional programmatic information and logistical details that we hope will answer any questions you may have.
Sorry We’ll Miss You!
Throughout the day, we will be streaming video of the plenaries from our Healthy Mind, Healthy Future Symposium. Interested in watching? Check out our Facebook page to watch the Facebook Live!
We will be posting live updates during the Healthy Mind, Healthy Future Symposium on our social media channels. If we are not friends already on social, feel free to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or follow the #HealthyMindHealthyFuture hashtag throughout the day to get the latest information.
And don’t forget to read our report findings and recommendations on what you can do to protect and advance the health of our children.
If you’re interested in joining the waitlist for Healthy Mind, Healthy Future Symposium, please email Nancy Olivares at nolivares@childrenspartnership.org and we will respond if any seats become available.
Oral Health
PARTNERSHIPS & COMMUNITY
We are implementing on-the-ground solutions—using telehealth, new technologies, and a broad and diverse team of community providers—to bring dental care to children where they are, such as in schools, Head Start sites, and even at home. Working with our community partners, we educate families about their children’s dental benefits and how to get care.
POLICY
We are raising awareness of the importance of good oral health and early preventive dental care for children, by working with local and state coalitions and partners to identify and promote policy solutions with decision-makers.
BRIGHT SMILE FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE: ORAL HEALTH FOR CALIFORNIA’S CHILDREN
Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in children, with the greatest burden of oral health issues falling on historically marginalized communities of color and immigrant families.
We partnered with the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California to create a two-page fact sheet that includes information to parents and families on why protecting the oral health of their children is important for their well-being and their future. We also share critical resources around accessing dental coverage through Medi-Cal and Covered California. Our fact sheet gives parents quick and easy tools to prevent tooth decay in their kids. Click below to access the fact sheet in either English or Spanish.
Help us uplift the content of this fact sheet to reach more parents and families by using our social media toolkit! Click here to access the toolkit.
RACIAL JUSTICE IN CHILDREN’S ORAL HEALTH
In honor of National Children’s Oral Health Month, The Children’s Partnership (TCP) reaffirms our commitment to advancing race equity in all forms of health care, including oral health. Systemic racism is a root cause of children’s health inequities and must be centered in our health policy conversations. Our new blog explores the ways systemic racism shapes oral health inequities with recommendations and resources to help address it.
Good oral health is linked to long-term overall health and academic opportunity, however, caries–or tooth decay–remain the most common chronic disease among children in the United States, despite being preventable. In California, tooth decay is a significant public health problem, especially for young children. By the third grade, six in 10 children (61 percent) have experienced tooth decay and one in five children (22 percent) have untreated tooth decay.
ALL IN FOR HEALTH: GET CARE FLYER
Now that more families than ever have health coverage, help educate them about the importance of getting routine preventive care. Available in both English and Spanish. A customizable Get Care Flyer is available to add in local information.
Nutrition
CREATING HEALTHY HABITS
Forming healthy eating and drinking habits early on will help your child live a long, healthy life. This resource provides valuable information about the importance of nutrition and helpful tips for making healthy eating and drinking choices. It also contains useful information about programs that can help make it easier to access healthy food for your family. This brochure is available in both English and Spanish. Download below.
NUTRITION BROCHURE – ENGLISH
Let’s Talk: Healthy Eating for Kids
Forming healthy eating and drinking habits early on will help your child live a long, healthy life. This resource provides valuable information about the importance of nutrition and helpful tips for making healthy eating and drinking choices. It also contains useful information about programs that can help make it easier to access healthy food for your family. This brochure is available in both English and Spanish.
NUTRITION BROCHURE – SPANISH
Hay Que Platicar: Alimentacion Saludable Para Niños
Formar hábitos saludables de alimentación ayudará a su hijo a llevar una vida larga y saludable. Este recurso proporciona información valiosa sobre la importancia de la nutrición y consejos útiles para elegir alimentos y bebidas saludables. También contiene información útil sobre programas que pueden ayudar a que sea más fácil acceder a alimentos saludables para su familia. Este folleto está disponible en inglés y español.
Youth with Dual Status
CHILD WELFARE & JUVENILE JUSTICE
Self-contained, often unaligned operations of public health, behavioral health, child welfare, education, probation, and juvenile justice systems have hindered collaboration, coordination, and integration of care and services for youth involved in the child welfare system. These siloed structures only serve to increase the challenges faced by system-involved youth, who face escalating punitive treatment that can lead to entry into the juvenile justice system, having the unintended consequence of re-traumatizing the youth they seek to support. Children and youth who have contact with the child welfare system are at higher risk for involvement with the juvenile justice system. When this happens, these youth (often referred to as dual status or crossover youth) are more likely to experience not just the negative effects associated with either the child welfare or the juvenile system, but also the outcomes that result from being a part of both systems.
Dual status youth face additional issues as a result of complex trauma— exposure to multiple traumatic incidents that are often repeated, prolonged, and extreme, and can affect child physical, social, and emotional development. Up to 60 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental health disorder. To make matters worse, youth of color are overrepresented at every stage of the delinquency process—from arrest to secure detention, confinement, and transfer to the adult system. California and other states must break the cycle for dual status youth by increasing access to family supports and services that will help youth heal and develop resilience; creating safeguards that prevent multi-system contact; and investing in positive youth development to facilitate their transition into healthy and successful adults. The adoption of innovative strategies and policies that work toward these goals will not just improve health, developmental and learning outcomes for dual-status youth, but also help prepare them for a brighter future.
Building a Brighter Future For Youth with Dual Status
The Children’s Partnership, in partnership with The Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center, is excited to share with you our new roadmap, Building a Brighter Future For Youth with Dual Status: A Policy Roadmap Forward, which outlines useful policies, practices, tools, and frameworks supporting jurisdictions improve outcomes for youth with dual status. Our new report documents findings compiled at out April 2018 national convening, Developing a Trauma-Informed Roadmap to Prevent Juvenile Justice Involvement of Child Welfare Youth: A Moral and Fiscal Imperative, that brought together federal, state, and local leaders to identify solutions and opportunities to support the healthy development of youth in our child welfare system who have had contact with or are at-risk of entering the juvenile justice system.
Our recommendations not only highlight the challenges we are facing, as evidenced by the findings but also offer valuable insights for what more can be done to improve the experiences of youth with dual status. In promoting collaboration, innovation, and a culture shift, these recommendations seek to create a more responsive and equitable approach to support the healthy development of youth with dual status. Read our report to learn more on how to support the healthy social, emotional, and physical development of youth and visit The Children’s Partnership and The Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for updates on our work.
OUR WORK
- Hacking Child Welfare in California: Digital Innovation To Benefit Children And Youth In Foster Care
- Improving Care Coordination for California’s Children and Youth in Foster Care Using Integrated Personal Health Records: A Strategic Plan of Action
- Engaging Foster Youth and Foster Parents in Electronic Records Initiatives: Lessons Learned
IN THE NEWS – CALIFORNIA
Dual Status Youth Convening
April 30th, 2018 • Washington, DC
Developing a Trauma-Informed Roadmap to Prevent Juvenile Justice Involvement of Child Welfare Youth: A Moral and Fiscal Imperative
The goal of this national, invite-only convening is to bring together advocates, thought leaders, and other partners from across the country to lay the foundation for the development of an effective and implementable roadmap to improve outcomes for dual status youth — youth who come into contact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. This is an opportunity for a robust solutions-oriented dialogue, out of which we seek to create a roadmap for policymakers, local jurisdictions, youth-serving systems and other stakeholders seeking to enhance cross-sector coordination and collaboration; integrate coordinated trauma-informed systems-of-care; and leverage technology and innovation to ensure that youth are safe, healthy, and thriving.
April 30th, 2018 • Washington, DC