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Prior to joining CSAC last fall, I spent over a decade working for a nutrition education organization where I witnessed the heralded birth of our own workplace wellness program. When an organization employing a dozen registered dietitians and health advocates struggled to keep its employees engaged in wellness, I realized I was about to witness something great when I started learning more about Mendocino County’s Working on Wellness Program.

Falling through the cracks – it’s a phrase we often hear when it comes to our most vulnerable populations. In Placer County, though, a concerted effort is under way to focus on chronic homeless individuals who have traditionally needed assistance from a variety of agencies and programs.  And this effort is working; county staff is helping individuals find housing, linking them to needed resources – and changing their lives.

As one of 18 counties participating in the State’s Whole Person Care Pilot Program, Placer County has developed a custom-designed program to provide intensive case management through four different service bundles:

After a career of helping others address substance use issues with alternative and holistic therapies, Tony Landrum found himself living with brain cancer and in need of some care himself.

“Alameda County Care Partners, especially Miss Wanda, came out to visit me and learn about my needs,” said Landrum. “Miss Wanda not only listened to me, but she really heard me.”

Transparency, technology and timeliness — combine those three and you have the foundation for Nevada County’s new app that allows residents to quickly and easily communicate with county staff about hazards, needed road work or other issues of concern.

On a hot Thursday afternoon in September 2011, San Diego County was plunged into darkness when a massive power outage hit the region, caused by a grid malfunction across the southwestern United States. The blackout spanned from North County to Coronado and left millions of San Diego County residents without power for over 12 hours.  Power was restored but in the aftermath, County officials learned a lot about the vulnerabilities and gaps in their emergency response plan.

Mark Twain is often credited with saying “whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting.” Certainly, in drought prone-California, water is a complex and contentious issue. And according to Wesley Nicks, Placer County Environmental Health Director, nothing is more critical, more imperative than safe drinking water for California’s communities.

Two special rooms within the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility are having a strong, positive impact on the residents. They are called “multi-sensory de-escalation rooms,” and the County is the first juvenile detention facility in the United States to open such a program.

These de-escalation rooms provide a safe environment where the facility’s residents can calm down and regulate their feelings without use of force or being put in isolation. This is a skill that can serve them well when they are back in the community.

When you sit down and talk with Inyo County’s Rehabilitation Specialists about the impact they are having on local youth, they are modest in their response. But their success is anything but modest. Formerly classified as juvenile correction counselors who worked inside Juvenile Hall, these specialists now work out in the community and are playing a pivotal role in the Inyo County Juvenile Services Redesign Initiative’s success at helping turn around the lives of youth before they end up in the adult correctional system.