LAC-CAPCs: Spring 2023 Events/Activities

The Children's Advocate

Spring 2023 Newsletter

Los Angeles County Child Abuse Prevention Councils' Website

It is with great pleasure that the Los Angeles County Child Abuse Prevention Councils (LAC-CAPCs) release our

Spring 2023 Newsletter! We want to take a moment to say "THANK YOU" to all of our readers and those who work tirelessly to support children and families in LA County! We hope our newsletter provides you helpful information regarding the work of the LAC-CAPCs, including community-based trainings and activities as well as resources on primary prevention and capacity-building in the field.

For more information and to get involved, please contact Catherine Rose Grimes or your Council of interest.

Warmest Regards,

Sara La Croix, MSW/MPA

LAC-Child Abuse Prevention Council Director with Children’s Bureau

www.all4kids.org

Catherine Rose Grimes, MSW

Project Manager, Prevention Services, Children's Bureau

(catherinerosegrimes@all4kids.org)

Welcome Readers & Fellow Child Advocates!

ACTION for KIDS AV (Formerly AFFIRM AV - Council for Prevention of Child Abuse representing the Antelope Valley)

Action for Kids AV Council has continued hosting their Stand for Kids event in Palmdale (April 3rd) and in Lancaster (April 10th) with signs and pinwheels for a free and fun way to spread child abuse prevention awareness and send our commuters home to their families in a good mood.

Come make a sign with positive, affirming words and join us. Royal blue is the color of the day but not mandatory. If you can't stand, bring a chair and sit a while with your sign and wave hello. It is our greatest hope that we will have many supporters who cherish children and their wellbeing.
Remember you were once a child, so wear royal blue on Fridays and your ribbon daily to start that conversation. When someone asks you what your ribbon means, you can say: "I protect children." We wish our community to see there are many, many, people who will protect children and perhaps before the person hurts a child they will seek help.

Also in April, Action for Kids AV is partnering with AV Hospital Foresnsic Unit to provide a community training workshop. The Council is participating in the Darion Wheat Walk (April 22nd), focused on child abuse awareness and honoring those who we lost.

In May and June, the Council will be leading Parent to Parent support groups and healthy cooking workshops, hosted at McKinley in Palmdale by volunteers of Action for Kids AV Volunteers. Also in May, there will be a Reading In The Park event, as a Mandated Reporter Training. In June, the Council will host their Kids Comedy Show for another year.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Rosie Mainella at affirm1av@gmail.com; (661) 208-1425

Valerie Mainella at valmainella@gmail.com

Maria Teresa at touchoflove44@gmail.com

End Abuse Long Beach Council

End Abuse Long Beach Council has been focusing on the development and implementation of virtual educational trainings (2nd Thursday of the month from 9-10am), which offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

All of the meetings/trainings are open to everyone in the community and are free for those not requiring CE Units. Our audience includes parents, new and retired professionals, interns, students, case managers, shelter workers, DCFS, police, etc.
To attend our upcoming trainings, click this link for access to the calendar.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Kathryn Miles - president@endabuselb.org

Eastside Child Abuse Prevention Council

The Eastside Child Abuse Prevention Council and SPIRITT Family Services will be hosting two virtual events on

“Internet Crimes Against Children - What Parents Need to Know” on April 13th (English) and April 27th (Spanish) from 5-7pm.

During May, Mental Health month, the Council will organize and present a virtual 2 hour activity & workshop event for Spanish speaking parents around the topic of “Mental Health.” The presenter will be from the DMH Promotoras program.

The goal of these events is to normalize seeking help, provide additional education regarding the topics, be a forum to ask questions, and provide resources.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Cristal Divas - cristald@spiritt.org

Celina Pacheco- pacheca@dcfs.lacounty.gov

SPA 2 Council for Family Well-Being (San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valley):

Utilizing the evidence supported community engagement model, Parent Cafe, which is founded on the Protective Factors framework, this Council will present a series of three community gatherings for parents and residents of SPA 2 experiencing continued isolation in post-pandemic Los Angeles.

Cafes are physically and emotionally safe spaces where people talk and listen to each other on topics that matter to them, such as the challenges and victories of raising a family, navigating landscapes or inequality, enhancing well-being, [creating safe, connected communities],..."
Through individual deep self-reflection and peer-to-peer learning, participants explore their strengths, learn about the Protective Factors, and create strategies from their own wisdom and experiences to strengthen their families. Participants leave Cafes feeling inspired, energized, and excited to put into practice what they’ve learned.

From April-May, the Council will provide these three in-person sessions either within the North Hollywood community or the Canoga Park community.

The project will target 50 parents, and will provide a Conversation Catalyst familiar with the Cafe model to lead the discussions.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Deborah Davies - ddavies@elnidofamilycenters.org

Advocacy Council for Abused Deaf Children (ACADC)

The ACADC Council will host an in-person workshop event on April 29th (10am-12pm) where presenters will educate participants on the importance of communication in raising/working with Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children.

The goal of the workshop is to prevent abuse of Deaf children due to a lack of communication in the home. The workshop will have two events simultaneously and participants will be divided up based on target population of both hearing and Deaf parents within Los Angeles. The topic of the webinar will seek to provide skills and resources to parents to help with addressing communication barriers commonly experienced by hearing parents of DHH children and DHH parents of hearing children. In addition to presenters, it is our goal that the workshop with hearing parents will have a panel of young adults with lived experiences of growing up without communication in the home to encourage empathetic parenting.

The ACADC also has a long-term project to continue to provide resource bags to the community as COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted our ability to distribute.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Sal Pineda - salatielpineda@5acres.org

SPA 7 Child Abuse Prevention Council

This year, the SPA 7 Council is planning to have 2 conferences. The Youth Males CHOICES Conference will take place at Rio Hondo on April 21st.

The Council plans to organize the conference with the following goals: (1) To have relevant speakers addressing topics that encourage youth to overcome challenges and obstacles to succeed, (2) To have youth challenged with activities that are constructive and positive and (3) To provide workshops that inform the youth about the positive and negative issues for their generation to make better choices and better control their lives. The vision is to expand and harvest collective wisdom and partnerships in preventing child abuse.

The second event is a Parent Conference that will take place in June. The conference is for Spanish-speaking parents to learn how to better support their LGBTQ+ youth.

Speakers will help parents to overcome challenges and to provide resources and workshops relevant to LGBTQ+ youth. The decision was made to host this event at the request of the community and in response to the needs of our families to learn how to better support their LGBTQ youth with a variety of issues that may impact their lives.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Maria Duarte - marial@spiritt.org

Norma Yoguez - nyoguez@spiritt.org

LGBT Child Abuse Prevention Council

In collaboration with Penny Lane, the LGBT Child Abuse Prevention Council will sponsor 15 scholarships to the 13th annual Embracing Diversity of GLBTQ Youth (E.D.G.Y.) Conference on May 10th at the Skirball Center.

E.D.G.Y. is a one-day conference designed to build awareness and cultural competency, learn current and emerging best practices as well as gather resources from leading experts and organizations to create a more supportive environment for LGBTQ+ youth and families. The scholarships will be given to social service providers, mental health professionals, educators, court advocates, probation, and law enforcement personnel who otherwise could not attend.

In May, the LGBT Council, in collaboration with the DCFS Office of Equity-LGBTQ+ Program, will sponsor a LGBTQ+ Affirming Caregiver Appreciation & Recruitment event to recognizing current, and recruit future resource homes who are ready, willing, and appropriately able to care for our youth and young adults who identify as LGBTQ+.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Mark Abelsson - abelsson@earthlink.net

LAC-Family, Children, Community Advisory Council (LAC-FCCAC)

During the month of April, LAC-FCCAC will distribute baby/toddler books to the Los Angeles County Black Infant Health Program.

The Black Infant Health Program (BIH) was created at the State level because of California Senate Bill 165 of the Budget Act of 1989 to address the high rate of infant mortality for African American families. Los Angeles County was among the first health jurisdictions to receive funding from the State to implement a culturally specific perinatal intervention aimed at reducing the African American infant mortality rate. Despite a gradual decline in African American infant mortality in Los Angeles County since 2007, African American infants continue to die at more than 3 times the rate observed for white and Asian infants, the two racial/ethnic groups with the lowest infant mortality rates.

*Please refer to the graph below: "Annual Infant Mortality Rate by Race/Ethnicity" in LAC, 2004-2014.

Within a culturally affirming environment and honoring the unique history of African American women, the BIH Program uses a group-based approach with complementary client-centered case management to help women develop life skills, learn strategies for reducing stress, and build social support.

The Council is also a part of a community partnership with Elevate Your Game that supports and mentors urban students in LA County, including the Watts community.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Sandra Guine - sjguine@gmail.com; sjguine@lacfccac.org

Foothill Child Abuse & Family Violence Prevention Council

The Foothill Child Abuse & Family Violence Prevention Council plans to distribute gift cards to families with financial need, child abuse prevention and educational materials, parent stress management materials, and resource libraries at several community agencies from the months of April-June.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Erica Villalpando - ekarlinev33@gmail.com

Asian Pacific Islander – Children, Youth, and Family Council (API-CYFC)

The API-CYFC is conducting three mini projects this year to support the following:

Opening Doors Parenting Workshop in Tagalog:

API-CYFC has supported Search to Involve Philipino Americans’ (SIPA) Opening Doors parenting workshops,

which is an evidence-based comprehensive training program created by and for parents with children ages 0-5. Although this

program is originally for Latinx families, this program has been provided to API families with positive results. Project funds will

support the cost of design, marketing, and translation of materials/curriculum in Tagalog; printing of promotional banners, and food

for parent workshop attendees.

Parenting workshops were conducted from January to March.

Scholarships for the Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening and Support Training:

The nationally-adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support are designed to be used by all stakeholders – public departments, foundations, networks, community based organizations, and families as a tool for planning, providing, and assessing quality practice. The Standards have created a common language across different kinds of Family Strengthening and Family Support programs such as Family Resource Centers, home visiting programs, and child development programs. The Standards uniquely integrate and operationalize the Principles of Family Support Practice and the Strengthening Families Framework and Approach with its research-based, evidence-informed 5 Protective Factors. The vision is that their implementation will help ensure that families are supported and strengthened through quality practice.
Upcoming trainings are April 27th, April 28th, June 22nd, and June 23rd.

Enhancement of the Interactive Provider/Service Map for API community members in Los Angeles County:

The aim of the interactive map is to provide an electronic platform tool for community members who are linguistically, physically, and/or socially isolated as well as those who have not accessed services before who are experiencing challenges finding information and resources. Last year’s project was focused on working with an IT Consultant to build the skeletal platform for the interactive service map and beta testing with Council member organizations. This year is focused on expanding and refining the resource/service categories (e.g., legal assistance, mental health services, youth programs, concrete supports, etc.), which is maintained in a Google Doc and cross-walking the information to the interactive map.
Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF), a member organization, is the project lead.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Nayon Kang - nkang@kyccla.org

Jackie Ango - jango@cscla.org

Westside Anti-Violence Alliance (WAVA)

WAVA kicked off 2023 with a brand new name that better reflects our efforts in anti-violence. The prior name used “Authority” which evokes a sense of hierarchy and power, while the new term, “Alliance,” invites collaboration and growth for all. WAVA is hopeful that this new name is only the beginning of a long series of changes to come our way.

With the new year also came our first big event, not to mention our first in-person event in almost three years!

On February 24th (9am-1pm), Jackson Katz, author of The Macho Paradox, designed a one-of-a-kind educational session for local professionals working in the anti-violence field. Please refer to their event flyer.

In the wake of their first in-person training, WAVA is excited to announce the launch of their new structure, which will be composed of WAVA Subcommittees.

The subcommittees will be defined by their responsibilities related to achieving WAVA's initiatives, and members will have the option to join the subcommittee that best fits their interest or expertise.
WAVA's Planning Subcommittee will determine and oversee the strategic plan of WAVA, ensure that long-term goals and objectives are met, and eventually provide guidance and support to other subcommittees. WAVA is currently seeking WAVA members, future members, and non-members alike to join the planning subcommittee
If you are interested in joining the planning subcommittee, please fill out this brief form.
If you are not interested in joining the planning subcommittee, but still wish to join WAVA, please fill out this brief form.

For more information and to get involved, please contact:

Tiernan Hebron - thebron@thepeopleconcern.org

Gabriela Tapia - gtapia@thepeopleconcern.org

Resources to Help Families & Community

CA T raining Institute (CalTrin) Trainings for Family Strengthening
The Child Abuse Mandated Reporter Training Project is a free virtual and self-paced training for professionals who are required by law to report suspected or known child abuse and neglect
Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Trainings
Protective Factors
Child Care
Employment Resources

Help Us Spread the Word!

The Los Angeles County Child Abuse Prevention Councils (LAC-CAPCs) are pleased to partner with local schools and district offices once again in the 2021-22 school year to request your help and participation with the Report Card Insert Project.

As you may know, occurrences of physical and emotional abuse increase when children bring home report cards that are viewed by caregivers as unsatisfactory. Now in our 23rd year of the insert project, we truly believe incidences of child abuse related to report card time have been diminished by providing strength-based educational information to parents and caregivers.

The Child Abuse Prevention Councils, funded through the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and supported by the Children’s Bureau of Southern California, have designed a brief and simple one-page communication insert to be sent home, emailed or given to parents with report cards. This insert presents several constructive and positive ways to respond to a child’s school performance without abuse. It is available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese, Armenian, Korean, Thai, and Khmer. It is up to your school or district to decide how and when to give it to parents, but some suggested times might be: Back to School Night, emailed one week prior to report cards going home, or even included in the envelope with the report card. Some schools and districts choose to include it in their newsletters or on their website.

We encourage you to use the report card inserts at subsequent report card times throughout the year. Each year, we hear from parents and teachers that the inserts are effective in raising awareness and helpful in promoting non-abusive coping behaviors.

No Hit Campaign

In April 2022, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved all LA County work sites and their contracted agencies to be declared No Hit Zones. This support is monumental in the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect’s (ICAN’s) leadership to ensure that hitting not be used as a method of discipline and that alternative resources to hitting be provided to the community. Further promoting the No Hit Zone Campaign, soon you will be seeing a No Hit Zone PSA featuring ICAN Associates Board Member / Actor, Justin Chambers, who played Dr. Alex Karev on Grey’s Anatomy on Public Broadcasting and in County Building Recordings.

Please view the 2022 No Hit Zone Poster and Brochure in English. Other languages are available.

To obtain a copy of No Hit Zone brochures or posters, please email ICAN Administrator Marianne Yamato at chavem@dcfs.lacounty.gov.