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| TeenNow California (formerly CACSAP) Newsletter |
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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
(and Let's Talk Month!) |
Greetings!
TeenNow California brings you a monthly newsletter with resources, news, opportunities, advocacy updates, and featured articles! We have a new-and-improved format...check it out and let us know what you think. Thanks!
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 Virtual Focus Group Begins Process of Creating StrategyThank you to everyone who participated in our Virtual Event last week! We had a great panel of leaders from around the state, representing teen pregnancy prevention programs, teen parent programs, male involvement, STI/HIV prevention, and more come together to talk about the important issues we're facing. From this discussion, we're moving forward with plans to foster the environment necessary to begin to form a strategic plan for adolescent sexual health in California.
Next Tuesday, October 11th from 2-4PM, we're hosting another virtual event. This time we're taking the four priority areas identified on the call and breaking participants up into groups to talk about how we can begin to address them. To participate, please RSVP to tnca@teennowcalifornia.org with your name, organization (if applicable), and the priority area you hope to work on:
1. Identify existing resources a. Talk about how young people are part of the solution and engage them 2. Examine further use of technology 3. Maintain and strengthen collaborations a. Be open to seek out new and non-traditional partners b. continue to talk to each other, see how we are all contributing to our shared vision c. dismantle and reassemble shared language 4. Remain vigilant on the kind of information that's being taught in schools We'll then send you instructions for participating in the call.
Please pass this information along to all your colleagues who care about protecting adolescent health!
Become a Board Member!
Do you stand behind our mission - to increase the knowledge, skills and resources of individuals concerned with adolescent pregnancy, parenting and prevention? BECOME A BOARD MEMBER and work for change in your region! Apply Today!! Please Support TeenNow California Use Goodsearch.com (under "Who Do You GoodSearch For" type in "TeenNow California") and GoodShop.com and do some good - support TeenNow California. Please donate today to help us amp up our advocacy work, trainings, and conferences! With your help, we can increase services and better serve your needs. To donate today, visit our website. Follow us on:     |
 Interview: Gabriela Valle
Gabriela Valle is the Sr. Director of Community Education & Mobilization for California Latinas for Reproductive Justice (CLRJ). Gabriela focuses on community-based education, alliance-building and mobilizing throughout California to promote Latinas' reproductive justice. Gabriela was set to be one of the keynote speakers at the TeenNow California conferences this year. Since, sadly, we had to cancel our conferences this year, we wanted to give you a taste of the incredible work Gabriela does in the arenas of reproductive justice, sexual health education and advocacy, and Latina empowerment. In her interview with TeenNow California, Gabriela shares insight into using a holistic approach to reproductive justice, the power of collaboration, and strategies for teen pregnancy prevention. Read more |
 Mary Byron Project Awards Honor Innovative Domestic Violence Programs The Mary Byron Project's Celebrating Solutions Awards program annually honors innovative U.S. programs that demonstrate promise in ending the generational cycle of domestic violence. These are awards for accomplishments, not grants for future projects. The awards are designed to honor programs that can serve as models for the nation, and provide $10,000 in recognition of these pioneering efforts. Deadline: November 18, 2011. Get more info and apply here Make a Difference Day, October 22  Each year on the fourth Saturday of October, millions of Americans take part in Make A Difference Day, the nation's largest annual day of volunteering. Sponsored by Points of Light Institute and USA WEEKEND Magazine, the lives of tens of millions are made better because of the efforts of volunteers on Make A Difference Day. Start planning a project for Make A Difference Day, October 22! Visit the Make A Difference Day website to find resources to help you get started and register your project to recruit volunteers. Register to win: - One of 10 $10,000 grants from Newman's Own to donate to a nonprofit
- Opportunity to be featured on USA Today's Kindness Blog
- One of two Motorola Xoom tablets
- One VIP table at the Make A Difference Day Awards Luncheon in Washington DC with celebrity keynote speaker
- Newman's Own cereal to serve for breakfast on the day of your service project .
National Civics Contest for Students Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the Verizon Foundation have announced the launch of a new national contest for middle and high schools designed to help renew the teaching of civic engagement. The contest, Civic Impact Challenge, involves using iCivics (an online education project that O'Connor spearheaded) to teach students civics, encourage them to learn about their rights and responsibilities as citizens, and learn and understand the workings of the U.S. government.The Civic Impact Challenge contest is open to classrooms (grades 5-12) across the country. Classes participating in the contest can earn "impact points" by playing any of fourteen civics games that are part of the iCivics curriculum. Games cover such topics as civil rights, how a bill becomes a law, and the role of local government. The class that earns the most impact points between October 3 and November 30, 2011, will win a VGo telepresence robot and receive a virtual visit from O'Connor. Deadline: October 3-November 30. Get more info and register here
Share Your Story about Raising/Working with Infants and Families Ron Lally is producing a film, book, and website about how babies are treated in America as part of a movement called For Our Babies. Share your personal stories about what it is like, right now, to be a parent raising children and/or a professional working with infants and their families in America. Help me make visible this neglect by sharing your true-life stories, both as a professional and as a parent, about how children are being harmed. If your story is selected to be a part of this project, a staff member will contact you for a follow-up phone and or video interview.
Examples of harm being done to infants and toddlers that you can help bring to life with your story include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
1. The impact on a child or a family of home visitation efforts that are too few in number and not in-depth enough to help with conditions presented.
2. The harm done to a child of a desperate new mother who has no one to turn to for advise and support.
3. The consequences to babies of their participation in Infant & Toddler care experiences and programs that have too many infants in the group, insufficient numbers of adults to infants, untrained and uninterested caregivers, and/or dangerous and barren environments.
4. The ramifications of risk factors identified but not addressed.
5. The damage or neglect of babies that is directly attributable to the low quality or absence of Federal, state, or local regulations regarding childcare and child health.
PLEASE SEND YOUR STORY including your contact information to Julie at
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 More Budget Cuts Proposed for Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention (and more funding for Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs that don't work)
House Republicans released their Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill. Among other devastating cuts to vital health and education programs, the bill slashes funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI), cutting the funding by $85 million to a total of only $20 million. The initiative was funded at $105 million in FY 2011. The bill also brings back dedicated discretionary funding for ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, the now-defunct Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) grant program, at a level of $20 million. CBAE was funded by the federal government from FY 2001 until FY 2010 when Congress and the administration finally heeded the overwhelming evidence and the urging of our nation's medical and public health agencies and eliminated funding for the failed program. "It is outrageous that conservative policy makers would decimate funding for proven, evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs while resurrecting funding for failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that the federal government's own study proved to be ineffective," said Monica Rodriguez, president and CEO of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). Created in FY 2010, the TPPI funds medically accurate and age-appropriate programs to reduce teen pregnancy and underlying behavioral risk factors. The legislation also removes language which required TPPI-funded programs be supported by rigorous research or promising models, completely eliminating one of the central tenants of the program-that it be evidence-based and work to build the body of evidence. Because so many abstinence-only-until-marriage programs do not meet this standard, the elimination of this requirement shows the true intent of conservative lawmakers-to appease the abstinence-only-until-marriage industry while sacrificing the best interests of our nation's young people. Read more
Food Stamp Bill Awaits Gov. Brown's Action
AB 402 by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would let families seeking free and reduced-price school lunches also apply for the CalFresh food stamps program at the same time, on one application.CalFresh is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is available to people with maximum gross income of 130 percent of the federal poverty level ($28,665 for a family of four) and a net income of 100 percent of federal poverty guidelines, and who have lived in the country for five years; are receiving disability-related benefits; or are children under 18. The bill was conceived in part at the Alameda County Community Food Bank. The food bank says the adjustments to the application and added processing time would carry minimal costs but could bring enormous benefits to California, which currently ranks second-to-last in food stamp use. |
 All Regions TeenNow California Free Virtual Event
When: October 11th, 2011, 2-4PM PST
Where: via phone What: This focus group will continue a discussion from a panel of leaders from across the state, and an opportunity for everyone to share ideas, strategies and needs of their agencies and the people they serve. Help us create a game plan to maintain the progress California has seen in teen sexual health. See more info above.
Mix It Up at Lunch Day
When: Tuesday October 18, 2011
Where: at your school!
What: Mix It Up Day at helps students break social boundaries by changing seats at lunch and interact with someone new.
Get more info, ideas, and resources here.
Region 3
Free STEM Training When: Saturday October 29, 2011, 9am-12:30pm
Where: Oakland What: Join in for a morning of hands-on science! CalSAC Trainers will lead program staff through a hands-on STEM activity while modeling facilitation techniques to foster inquiry-based learning and sharpen science process skills. We will explore Balls & Tracks, a Design It! activity, which can be implemented in your program with youth for up to 6 hours of STEM programming.
Teen Talk Sexuality Education Teacher Training When: October 13th and 14th, 9am-4pm Where: Redwood City School District What: Ideal for middle school and high school teachers, and community/health educators. This workshop will cover: California Education Code, healthy relationships, values clarification in sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/AIDS), abstinence/not having sex, birth control updates, encouraging parent/child communication, pregnancy options, decision-making skills, sexual identity & gender, sex and the media, how to answer tough questions from teens, and more. Get more info and register here Region 6
Meet Title X Guidelines for Talking to Teens about Sexual Coercion and Family Involvement
When: Thursday December 1, 2011Where: Los Angeles What: Title X has excellent guidelines on providing care to teens. This includes a requirement to talk to teens about family involvement in their choices about sex and birth control. Title X also requires providers to assess teen clients for sexual coercion. Using real life examples from actual Title X site visits, this workshop will help educators and administrators to develop or enhance their skills and policies to meet and exceed the Title X requirements.This workshop will help educators to start the conversation with their teen clients. Designed for any family planning clinic or program staff responsible for working with clients. Get more info here Region 7 PACE 42nd Annual Education Conference When: October 14 - Oct 16 2011 Where: Garden Grove, CA What: Two-day education conference for owners, directors and teachers of early care and education. Get more info and register here Region 8  Hope in the Park
When: Saturday, October 8th, 1-7pm
Where: Balboa Park
What: A community effort presented by the San Diego Domestic Violence Council, Operation for HOPE Foundation and the San Diego County Commission on Children, Youth and Families to promote safe and healthy families and communities. The event will have a host of activities for everyone and provide free resources and information for parents, teens, caregivers, educators and community leaders.
Get more info here |
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Hiring?
E-mail tnca@teennowcalifornia.org and we will post your job announcements here. Your position will be sure to reach a variety of health and teen pregnancy professionals.
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TeenNow California (formerly CACSAP)
(619) 741-9650
3468 Citrus St. Suite F
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
www.teennowcalifornia.org
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Become a TeenNow California Member!
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Support pregnant and parenting teens; help us prevent teen pregnancy. If you are an existing member, now is the perfect time to renew your membership! If you are not a member, we encourage you to join today! As a member you get access to all the latest TeenNow California news and events, as well as other benefits. Check out the brochure, join online, or contact us.
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TeenNow California is a state-wide organization that provides training, technical assistance, advocacy, and professional development opportunities to those working with adolescents.
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