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Confronting Child Sex Trafficking on the Central Coast
A source from the FBI’s Los Angeles Division alerted the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office that the Central Coast had become a hub for commercial sexual exploitation of minors — a crime...
View ArticleLooking out for our most vulnerable children
By Alex Johnson A child’s health and chance to survive a serious medical condition should not be dependent on their family’s income. All children deserve access to high-quality health care services –...
View ArticleCalifornia’s Foster Children Are Improperly Prescribed Psychotropic Meds,...
By Hannah Guzik California foster children are frequently prescribed psychotropic medications, but oftentimes dosages exceed state guidelines and the children don’t receive follow-up services. And, too...
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Caregiver Blues? Be Here Now
By Matt Perry Imagine you’re swimming in a muddy river, trying desperately to peer through the muck. You face a swirl of confusing obstacles. They have names like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,...
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To Improve Student Health, Some California Schools Move to Educate Parents
Sandra Flores, a parent volunteer for the Bakersfield City School District, helps other parents who want to learn more about the school system or acquire more strategies for helping their children....
View ArticlePlunging teen birth numbers reason to celebrate
By Daniel Weintraub Although we live in a culture of negativity that leads many people to believe that things are worse than ever, the data often show otherwise. Crime, for example, has plummeted for a...
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Safe Parking Programs Offer a Respite for the Homeless
Irene Evers Elisabeth and her dog, Buster, in the RV they live in. Irene is a guest in the One Starfish Safe Parking and Supportive Services program in Monterey County. Photo: Lily Dayton. By Lily...
View ArticleNation’s First Firearm Violence Research Center Will Be At UC Davis
By Hannah Guzik The nation’s first firearm violence research center will be located at UC Davis’ Sacramento campus, University of California President Janet Napolitano announced Monday. Garen...
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Dignity Health Trains Providers to Recognize Trafficking Victims
California is considered one of the top four destinations in the country for human trafficking, a practice that uses men, women and children for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Photo: Thinkstock....
View ArticleMost Health Care Costs in California Are Paid With Public Funds
By Hannah Guzik The majority of health care expenses in California are paid for with public funds, a new study released Wednesday reports. The research counters the popular belief that corporations and...
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Why I’m fighting the state on behalf of my son
Yuki Baba and Nate Kyle. Photo from Yuki Baba. By Yuki Baba Nate Kyle is 8 years old and diagnosed with a brain malformation characterized by lack of proper wrinkles on the brain. Since he cannot sit...
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Touch Me In The Morning: Aging, Surrogate Partners and Erotic Healing
Linda Poelzl By Matt Perry Carol Finkelstein’s elderly father Ted was causing trouble. His sexual desires and encroaching dementia collided with restrictions at a long-term care facility, making him...
View ArticleWhen Experience is a Liability
By Matt Perry When the New York Times sought a powerful voice to illuminate the dark scourge of ageism in America, they asked Ashton Applewhite, author of March’s This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against...
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Low-Income Transgender Patients in Southern California Don’t Have Access to...
Kina D’Angelo is one of about 50 transgender patients in Los Angeles County who have been forced to wait for gender reassignment surgeries because there are not enough qualified surgeons who will...
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911 Delays Are A Statewide Problem
Photo: Jacqui Brown/Flickr. By Padma Nagappan Baby Sebastian Caban’s parents were watching television in bed with him in suburban San Diego when his mother coughed, touching off a tragic series of...
View ArticleGov. Brown Signs Bill Granting Farmworkers Overtime Pay
By Hannah Guzik Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Monday that will grant California farmworkers overtime pay, making them the first such agricultural workers in the nation to receive standard overtime...
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Action Against Merger Tied to Affordability, Quality of Health Care
Photo: Flickr. By Robin Urevich The biggest merger in the history of the health insurance industry is on shaky ground. In June, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit to block the $54 billion...
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GirlTrek Helps African-American Women Find Better Health
A GirlTrek member laces up before a walk in Oakland. Photo courtesy GirlTrek. By Linda Childers When Kendria McKnight of Elk Grove, Calif., first started walking for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, five...
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Training Police to Better Respond to Autism
Bobbie Hendrickson brought her 14-year-old daughter, Sydney, to a recent Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department seminar on interactions with the autistic. Sydney, who is autistic, sometimes relies on...
View ArticleState Seeking Innovative Ideas on How to Improve Social Determinants of Health
By Hannah Guzik California public health officials are asking residents to share their ideas on how to boost health statewide while both lowering costs and improving care. The California Health and...
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