Opinion: Federal Cuts May Have a Devastating Effect on Immigrant Children and...
As a pediatrician, I not only worry about the health of the children I care for, but also the health of their parents and caregivers. Unfortunately, disparities in the wellbeing of children in the...
View ArticlePower Blackouts Spark Medical, Financial Emergencies for California’s Most...
A state auditor's report released this week found that California is unprepared to protect its most vulnerable residents during natural disasters, including those who have disabilities or are medically...
View ArticleFracking Ban a Start, But Broader Actions Needed to Protect Communities,...
A halt on permit approvals for hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" in California has drawn widespread praise from environmental activists, but experts say much broader actions are needed to protect the...
View ArticleOpinion: Trump Is Traumatizing Children. California Must Protect Them
The federal administration’s attacks on immigrant families and children have been relentless. An entire generation of children is being traumatized. As the daughter of immigrants and the president of a...
View ArticleOpinion: Screenings Alone Won’t Prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences—We Must...
Addressing adverse community experiences, which disproportionately burden communities of color and people with low incomes, must be an essential part of our strategy. In California, adverse community...
View ArticleNew Screenings for Childhood Trauma Raise Hopes, Questions
California health officials are gearing up for the launch of a statewide screening effort that aims to help doctors measure children's exposure to trauma and their risk of related health problems....
View ArticleOpinion: California Must Do More to Ensure Domestic Violence Survivors Don’t...
In the 2018 Point In Time Count, an annual effort to count the number of people experiencing homelessness on one night in January, 10 percent of respondents reported that they were victims of domestic...
View ArticleOpinion: Let’s Listen to Survivors and Prevent Domestic Violence in Future...
Domestic violence is a learned behavior, and intergenerational trauma has real impacts on youth. To truly stand in solidarity with survivors, we must never lose sight of the hope in preventing violence...
View ArticleWildfires Expose Gaps in Disaster Relief for Undocumented Communities
Undocumented people are among the most vulnerable populations when it comes to the impact of wildfires. Should the state create its own disaster relief fund for undocumented residents, rather than...
View ArticleSome Counties Illegally Levy Juvenile Legal Fees—Low-Income Families of Color...
Under a state law that took effect in January 2018, counties are no longer supposed to charge fees to youth involved in the juvenile legal system, or their families. However, a recent study found that...
View ArticleOpinion: New Mammogram Guidelines Are Racially Unjust
The ‘start at 50’ U.S. Task Force mammogram approach particularly cheats Asian, Hispanic and black women, whose diagnoses peak in the 40s, potentially creating the greatest suffering for people of...
View ArticleTech Project Aims to Address Disparities in Who Can Access Health Records
Apple users are the only ones who can access their health records on their phones. CommonHealth, a new app for Android users, wants to change that and tackle health disparities in the process. “Android...
View ArticleOpinion: As Doctors on the Front Lines, We See that Ending Homelessness Takes...
As our cities have grown, California has made little effort to provide for those who are at, near, or below the poverty level. Many of these residents are also service workers, the backbone of the...
View ArticleOpinion: To Close California’s Achievement Gap, We Must Teach All Parents...
Adults who interact directly with babies—talking, reading and singing to them—have larger vocabularies at age three, better learning levels as they enter kindergarten, and a much higher likelihood of...
View ArticleChildren Who Need Wheelchairs and Other Medical Equipment Often Wait Months...
The complicated system creates a disparity where children from families without the means to pay for medical equipment out of pocket often must go without it for months or years, limiting their...
View ArticleOpinion: We Need a New Conversation About Health
Governor Newsom’s budget proposals could make real progress in ending inequities and boosting health in California. But national political leaders should also be asking: What forces shape health and...
View ArticleCalifornia Agencies Failing to Regulate Mental Health Care Funding and...
The California State Auditor condemned three government agencies in a recent report for failing to fix problems with health care programs that serve some of the state's most vulnerable residents. The...
View ArticleOpinion: Two Ways to Help Young Adults With Autism Succeed
Reaching adulthood can be like “falling off a cliff” of services for young adults with special needs. As parents and advocates, we still have a long way to go to ensure these students graduate at the...
View ArticleCalifornians Want Better Mental Health Care. Can the State Deliver?
California’s top health priority should be making sure that people who need mental health treatment can get it, over 90 percent of respondents said in a recent poll. People of color often feel the lack...
View ArticleOpinion: CalRx Is Not a Magic Bullet—and Must Include Communities of Color
Gov. Gavin Newsom has outlined innovative reforms to curb drug prices, including CalRx, a California-owned, generic drug label. But CalRx is not a magic bullet. Magic bullets and general solutions...
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