Opinion: The Pandemic Is Exposing How Fragile My Patients’ Lives Are
The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on millions of Californians. This is especially true among low-income families, including my patients at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Most of our families...
View ArticleFor Seniors, Another COVID-19 Hazard: Scammers
Advocates who work with seniors are bracing for a new wave of scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Already, California Senior Medicare Patrol, which helps Medicare beneficiaries avoid fraud, has...
View ArticleLetter From the Editor: How Racism Affects Californians
The pandemic and protests have laid bare the depths of our nation’s disparities. Your race should not determine whether you live or die. It should not influence whether your doctor listens to you, or...
View ArticleHow Grocery Shopping Online Could Help Close Equity Gaps
Low-income families can't easily shop for groceries online, contributing to COVID-19 disparities—but allowing them to use food stamps online could help. Food policy advocates are asking the state to...
View ArticleOpinion: We Need a Safety Net for Children Experiencing Toxic Stress
COVID-19 is decimating our outdated safety net, and the vital links between families and their local economic, health and social supports. The pandemic has made “underlying conditions” the new code...
View ArticleOpinion: How Systemic Racism Shows Up in California—And Why We Must End It
Growing up in Oakland, I quickly saw first-hand how racism resigns people of color, and Black Americans in particular, to shorter, sicker lives. Data shows that African Americans in Alameda County live...
View ArticleCalifornia Considers Extending Foster Care for Young Adults Until Pandemic...
More than 7,000 young people ages 18 to 21 are in California's foster care system. These young people, and others who recently aged out of foster care, are struggling under the weight of the pandemic...
View ArticleOpinion: COVID-19 is Affecting Doctors’ Relationships
In normal times, medical training is challenging and stressful. The amount of time away from loved ones can bring giants to their knees. Add in the fears and uncertainties of a pandemic, I’m amazed...
View ArticleFor Survivors of Violence and Their Kids, a Push to Prioritize Housing
Domestic violence, the leading cause of homelessness among women and children, is increasing during the pandemic, but a way for survivors to get "housing first" is a bright light. While people from all...
View ArticleCalifornia’s Home Visiting Program Aims to Help the Next Generation Rise from...
Home visitors provide one-on-one outreach to parents who may be struggling to care for their children, often because of stressors such as poverty, or who simply want guidance. Home visiting can help...
View ArticleOpinion: Cannabis Tax Revenues Are Going to Police Budgets, Not Communities
As cries to “defund the police” reverberate across the country, cities are looking at ways to shift funds from policing into communities. In California, tax revenues from marijuana should be a clear...
View ArticleHow Colleges Are Supporting Students Leaving Abusive Relationships
Relationship violence threatens not only students’ physical safety and emotional well-being, but also their academic prospects. Some campuses are finding solutions to help keep survivors in school....
View ArticleOpinion: One Thing We All Agree On
If there is one issue most Americans would agree on right now, it’s that we should protect our youngest children from hunger during the Covid-19 crisis. And yet the closure of child care facilities in...
View ArticleAmid Pandemic, Young Kids With Special Needs Missing Out On Services
As COVID-19 disrupts the transition from early intervention to school, children are going without occupational, physical and speech therapies and other services they're entitled to. The danger,...
View ArticleOpinion: Methane Leaks in the Central Valley May Be Worsening COVID-19 Cases
COVID-19 is now on track to become one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States in 2020. And people with underlying conditions like respiratory diseases are at increased risk for severe...
View ArticlePandemic Pushes Parents Of Kids With Special Needs To Breaking Point
Thousands of parents across California are caring for children with physical, behavioral and developmental conditions. They typically rely on a small army of teachers, therapists, nurses and other...
View ArticlePainful Questions: What Happens When Doctors Uncover Adverse Childhood...
As California launches widespread screening for adverse childhood experiences, critics question the science, and the consequences. While few doubt that severe stress in childhood can lead to ailments...
View ArticleCommunity Gatherings Offer Healing for Emotional Wounds After Disasters
Disasters are stressful, and these events are worsening as the climate warms. But therapy isn’t an option for everyone. ‘Convivencias’ are an alternative in a fire-prone region. Convivencia means...
View ArticleDisasters Are Driving a Mental Health Crisis
From climate-fueled wildfires to COVID-19, mounting catastrophes are sowing stress and trauma. The country’s one program to help reaches only a fraction of survivors. California counties are required...
View ArticleHow to Heal Emotional Wounds After Disaster
Disasters are stressful. Our warming world keeps adding fuel to the fires — and floods and hurricanes, among other calamities. What can be done about the trauma that follows? The Center for Public...
View Article