Regional Host Agencies

Riverside - San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc. and Native American Resource Center

Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health Inc. (RSBCIHI) provides a comprehensive healthservice delivery system for American Indians and Alaska Natives in the Riverside-San Bernardino Counties. RSBCIHI mission is to raise the physical, mental, social, and spiritual healthof American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level and has done so for over 50 years RSBCIHI seeks to ensure that comprehensive, culturally acceptable personal and public health services are available and accessible to American Indian and Alaska Native people. 

Native American Resource Center’s prevention and early intervention programs prevent further serious behavioral, mental health and substance abuse problems and reduce the stigma of accessing mental health services through:

•  Attracting interest in traditional cultural activities
•  Highlighting positive culturally grounded activities
• Utilizing education and prevention activities to minimize family distress, alcohol and drug related problems 
• Culturally appropriate domestic violence service referrals 
• Native specific mental health services
• Historical Trauma trainings
• Cultural humility trainings
• Traditional Wellness herbal classes
• Community Resources
• White Bison curriculum: Daughters of Tradition, Red Road to Wellbriety, Understanding the Purpose of Life ; Teen curriculum
• American Indian Life Skills

The agencies presented in San Bernardino on April 30, 2019 and will provide a basic overview of Historical Trauma, barriers to care and important things to know to improve services when working with Native American communities.

•  We’re still here or who we are and who we serve!
•  Genocide: the origins of the trauma
• Historical Trauma responses and effects
•  Native Specific Services and Programs

Presented by Julie Andrews, LCSW and an enrolled member of the Sicangu Band of the Lakota Nation and employed by Riverside San Bernardino County Indian Health Services Inc. in the Native American Resource Center (NARC) since 2007. Ms. Andrews and NARC provide prevention and early intervention services for mental health and substance abuse, and domestic violence advocacy. NARC staff provides trauma informed cultural competency trainings on Historical Trauma, and the role historical trauma has on barriers to accessing services. 

Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (Advancing Justice - LA) is the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (NHPI). Founded in 1983 as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Advancing Justice - LA serves more than 15,000 individuals and organizations every year. Through direct services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, leadership development, and capacity building, Advancing Justice - LA focuses on the most vulnerable members of Asian American and NHPI communities while also building a strong voice for civil rights and social justice.

The agency presented in Los Angeles on May 22, 2019 by Sandra Chung. Sandra Chung is the Project Director of the Survivor and Family Empowerment (SAFE) Project at Advancing Justice – LA. The SAFE Project provides family law services with a focus on serving domestic violence survivors, as well as the indigent and limited-English proficient immigrant community.

This course will provide a basic overview of domestic violence family law and immigration, covering the following topics:

• What is domestic violence and special considerations for immigrant communities; 
• Types of restraining orders, including how they intersect; 
• DV family law overview; and             
• DV immigration relief

Centro la Familia - Fresno

Founded in 1972, Centro La Familia Advocacy Services began as a small, urban-centered agency that provided direct advocacy and intervention services. Over the past four decades, we’ve grown into a multi-service agency that offers social service and education programs in both rural and urban areas of Fresno County.

Today, Centro La Familia provides a broad range of services to un-served and underserved residents in more than a dozen different communities. Each week, our experienced and specialized bilingual staff (English, Spanish and Hmong) works in remote areas of Fresno County to assist community members who face transportation barriers.

We serve more than 10,000 clients annually and reach more than 100,000 community members through outreach and education programs, presentations, workshops, special events and multi-media.

Our nonprofit, grant-funded organization is led by an executive director who reports to an all-volunteer board of directors.

The agency presented on June 13, 2019 in Fresno, CA. 

UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland

UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital (BSHO) is a private, non-profit regional pediatric medical center located in Oakland, Alameda County. BCHO was first established in 1912 and has since operated under the continuing mission that strives to protect and advance the health and well-being of children through clinical care, teaching, and research. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland offers a broad range of inpatient, outpatient and community programs. Although BCHO's serves patients throughout Northern California and other states and counties, about 80 percent of BCHO's patients come from Alameda and Contra Costa counties. BCHO is a pediatric safety-net hospital for both if these counties, since neither has public hospital beds for children. 

The Center for Child Protection (CCP) is the pediatric sub-specialty department at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland that provides trauma-informed forensic medical and mental health services to children and youth impacted by child abuse. The Center for Child Protection's mission is to care for children and families impacted by child abuse, and tow rod actively to decrease the prevalence, recurrence and escalation of child abuse and family violence within an environment of respect and sensitivity. The Center for Child Protection is recognized as a Center of Excellence - the highest category for child abuse programs - as defined by the Child Hospital Association based upon structure, staffing, function and administrative infrastructure. 

Presenter Shelley Hamilton is the manager of the Center for Child Protection. She joined UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in 1995 as clinical social work staff before transitioning to the Center for Child Protection two years later to provide comprehensive psychotherapy services. In 2001, Ms. Hamilton began her tenure as the manager of the department where she oversees the administrative and clinical services while still providing direct services to children, youth and families. Ms. Hamilton received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California. Over her twenty-five year plus professional career, she is most proud of enhancing and expanding the trauma-informed mental health services to communities of color. She has served on numerous professional boards, advisory committees and community task force. She has served as a long-time filed instructor for Master of Social Work programs in Northern California and on the east coast. She is the immediate past-president of the California chapter of the American Professional Society of the Abuse of Children. 

UCSF Benioff will be presenting on July 9, 2019 in Oakland, California. The session will provide attendees with a general overview of a pediatric child abuse program including: 

• Program structure
• Program role in the investigation of child abuse
• Child abuse disclosure and discovery 
• Assessing child abuse in a multi-cultural setting 

Measurable Learning Objectives

1. Describe the components of a pediatric child abuse program
2. Define scan team as defined by the California Penal Code
3. Discuss child abuse disclosure categories
4. Discuss the importance of understanding cultural context when assessing for child abuse 

The Fausel House Child Advocacy Center, a division of the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, is committed to reducing trauma to children, increasing child protection, aiding in the successful prosecution of offenders, and providing continued quality care to the children and families of our community.  The CAC works very closely with law enforcement and child welfare investigators, mental health providers, prosecutors, and victim witness advocates from the District Attorney’s Office to ensure children and their families are receiving the best service possible and we are assisting them in their continued growth, healing, and wellbeing. 

The El Dorado County Victim/Witness Assistance Program provides services to all victims and witnesses of crime throughout El Dorado County.  Advocates with the VW program stay with the victim from the start of their case and through adjudication, appeals, and parole board hearings or releases. Advocates help ensure victims have access to payment for continued mental health and other benefits through the California Victim Compensation fund, as well.     

During this session, Rhia Grotke, the CAC Coordinator, will briefly go over services provided by the CAC in El Dorado County for children victims/witnesses and their non-offending family members. This will include services provided for non-English speaking families, as well as hearing impaired families.  This presentation will also include cultural competency standards the CAC is actively striving to meet per federal accreditation regulations. 

Johana Milan, Victim Witness Services Coordinator, will then explain the V/W advocacy program through the District Attorney’s Office, to include services provided and how the VW program works with the community in education of victim rights and available services. Johana Milan will discuss how the victim advocates work with at-risk, vulnerable, underserved, and underrepresented communities within El Dorado County, and will discuss outreach possibilities for victims in the area via collaboration with nearby allied agencies. 

Measurable Learning Outcomes: 

1. Learn about the CAC Model and how multi-disciplinary team response and advocacy can assist children and families involved in traumatic events involving children. 

2. Learn how the CAC and Victim/Witness program through the DA’s office provide advocacy and services for citizens of El Dorado County

3. Learn how the CAC and Victim/Witness program work toward cultural diversity and competency, and how victims and families from other cultures and who speak other languages can receive services and treatment in El Dorado County.