We're Hiring | Free California-Based Introductory Trainings on Community Care Navigation | Primer: Engaging Community Development for Health Equity

Funding for CA Bridge Substance Use Navigators in Jeopardy

PHI's CA Bridge and its behavioral health navigator program have connected thousands of emergency department patients with long-term substance use treatment. Bridge Substance Use Navigators (SUNs) meet people where they are, building trust and connecting patients with outpatient treatment and community partners so that they’re supported with resources and care at every step in their recovery journeys. And the model works: Patients who received help from a SUN were three times more likely to be in treatment within 30 days of discharge.

SUNs are only one critical component of the CA Bridge model, a multilayered approach that's expanding the use of medications for substance use disorders in ERs. But now, funding uncertainty is making it hard for hospitals to retain SUNs amid a growing opioid overdose epidemic. “This should be very basic, 101 first aid for opioid use disorder, and we are truly struggling to sustain it,” PHI's Dr. Andrew Herring, an emergency medicine physician at Highland Hospital in Oakland and a co-founder of CA Bridge, told the?San Francisco Chronicle. “Everyone is looking at everyone else to pay for this. The doctors, nurses, social workers and care managers are standing by, ready to do work that is inherently compelling and wonderful, but they’re simply not being paid to do it.” Read the article →

PHI's HPI Helps Community Members Identify Local Funding Priorities in Marin's Under-Resourced Neighborhoods

PHI’s Healthy Places Index (HPI) is a powerful data, mapping and policy platform designed to identify opportunities to improve neighborhood health and help guide investments, programs?and policy changes to where they will have the strongest impact on life expectancy. In 2023, California's Marin County used the?HPI as an equity metric to identify neighborhoods that score under its 70th percentile—indicating that the areas are experiencing disproportionate economic and racial health disparities. These neighborhoods were then prioritized in the region's first-ever?participatory budgeting process, empowering community members to decide which solutions they wanted to invest in.?

"When we discovered the Healthy Places Index, it really clicked for us," said Jamillah Jordan, Marin County's director of equity. "It confirmed much of what we already knew about the assets and challenges of under-resourced communities in our area, but more importantly, it provided a data-driven foundation for us to direct our participatory budgeting funds to communities with the greatest needs."?? Read the full impact story →

New Public Health Primer: Engaging Community Development for Health Equity

How can the public health and community development sectors to work together to advance health and racial equity? A new primer from?PHI’s Build Healthy Places Network and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors?provides a roadmap for forging?upstream partnerships, with recommendations, strategies and lessons-learned from national, state?and local leaders engaged in this work. One recommendation: Health and community development practitioners need to expand the way they talk about equity and must build adaptive change that's receptive to the values, experiences and?leadership from within the communities they?seek to serve. Explore the primer →

Free California-Based Introductory Training Series on Community Care Navigation

Are you interested in becoming a community health worker? Join PHI’s AC Care Alliance (ACCA) for free trainings to grow your network and skills. Funded through the Caring4Cal Program, the trainings are available online to any California resident as well as?in-person in four regions of California: The Bay Area; Los Angeles; San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties; and Central California. Sessions will cover?several core areas of ACCA's Care Navigator training curriculum such as Holistic Approach to Care and Advance Care Planning, as well as?a Mental Health First Aid course presented by PHI's Cypress Resilience Project. The curriculum also includes personal coaching and incentives of up to $2,750.?Find specific dates for in-person trainings and register today?→

Upcoming Events, Webinars & Trainings

Exploring Partnerships Between Prescribers & Recovery Housing Staff: Tuesday, March 5?| 11am–12pm PT. PHI's?Alcohol Research Group hosts the Studying Treatment & Addiction Recovery Residences (I-STARR) webinar series, which?explores how to address?challenges to providing and conducting research on medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in recovery housing. This webinar explores the tension between the medical model and social model approaches that is evident between many MAT prescribers and recovery residence staff. Speakers will review models and provide examples of programs where prescribers and recovery housing staff are learning to work more closely together. RSVP →

CA Regional Regenerative Meat Workshop & Dinner: Monday, March 11 | 10am–8pm PT | $50-$70?| 5800 Nave Drive, Novato, CA. Regenerative meat refers to meat products that are sourced and produced?in ways that rebuild soil health,?reduce carbon emissions?and promote biodiversity. Join PHI’s Roots of Change?for a day of panel discussions, presentations and business introductions to connect butchers, buyers and?chefs with regenerative meat producers and?processors. The event will be followed by a?dinner reception?and blind meat tasting to compare fresh and previously frozen ribeye steaks prepared by Chefs Duskie Estes and Emily Luchetti.?Get tickets →

Webinar: Sustainable Transportation, Air Quality &?Climate: Thursday, March 14 | 10-11am PT. How can California advance its?ambitious agenda on sustainable transportation, air quality?and climate protection?while also navigating challenges like substantial budget deficits??Join this webinar from PHI’s RAMP in partnership with the American Lung Association to hear from a variety of experts and advocates about opportunities to engage in upcoming policy processes to improve air quality, transportation and public health.?Tune in →

Atlanta Workshop: Improving Mental Health Services for AAAI Communities | March 15-16 | Catalyst Community Center, 1854 Shackleford Court, Norcross, GA. Register for an in-person, two-day workshop from PHI’s Lotus Project and partners to connect with researchers, practitioners?and?community leaders to promote greater culturally rooted trauma-informed care and prevention for underserved?Asian American and Asian immigrant (AAAI) children and families in the Atlanta, GA area. Topics include culturally sensitive practices, services and healthy community partnerships, as well as strategies to address?youth mental health issues. Register →

Training Course for the CASp Examination: April 22-26 | 8am-12pm daily | Early Bird Rate: $1,400 or $1,600 (after March 15). This five-day online training course from PHI's Pacific ADA Center will provide a comprehensive review of the relevant knowledge, skills and abilities covered on the examination to become a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) in California. A CASp is a qualified individual who is certified by the California Division of the State Architect to review buildings and facilities for compliance with state and federal construction-related accessibility codes and standards. Sign up →

More from PHI

• Charting a Course for Future Health Leaders: Meet Veronica, one of PHI's first AmeriCorps VISTA members, who worked for the San Benito County Opioid Task Force. Veronica shares her journey and career trajectory from working in a small county to supporting coalitions throughout California as a program coordinator for PHI’s Center for Health Leadership and?Impact and its?Overdose Prevention Network. Read the full story →
• Inspiring Indigenous Millennials Working to Heal the Land: The latest episode of Flipping the Table, a podcast from PHI's Roots of Change, features Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott, a 30-year-old Native American rancher, mother and nonprofit leader. Kelsey reflects on the power of being born in the millennial generation, indigenous knowledge, the future of food, and her role in the film Common Ground. Listen to the podcast →
• Advancing Health Equity with?Local California Health Departments: In 2022, PHI’s Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) provided strategic communications support to help public health departments and their partners strengthen racial and health equity communications. BMSG provided news analysis and recommendations for how to message and frame?pandemic recovery;?co-facilitated?a training on how to talk about the connections between housing, health and equity; and provided behind-the-scenes media support resulting in front-page coverage in the?San Francisco Chronicle and other outlets. Read the impact story?→
• Supporting Smoke- &?Tobacco-Free Policies at Community Colleges: In California, only 66% of community college campuses—compared to 100% of?four-year colleges—were fully smoke-?or tobacco-free in 2023. A recent?study by PHI’s Alcohol Research Group?examined both campus and community influences on what makes a community college 100% tobacco-free. Results are being used to help the remaining 40 California community college campuses overcome institutional and other barriers to tobacco-free policy adoption and to deliver more effective environmental strategies to reduce tobacco-related disparities. See the full story →

We're Hiring

PHI is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. Join us:

• Executive Director: Sacramento CA (Remote). This role with PHI’s Center for Cancer Surveillance and Research is responsible for the overall vision and strategic direction of the Center and supporting vibrant multidisciplinary and collaborative Center programs. The position works proactively to identify and attract additional resources to further and support epidemiological and public health research activities at the Center, including supporting and expanding a team of affiliated independent research investigators.
• Compliance Quality Control Specialist II: Sacramento, CA. This position?has the temporary responsibility of addressing delinquent cancer reporting backlogs at selected reporting facilities within the Cancer Registry of Greater California (CRGC) catchment. This position also has the temporary responsibility of performing casefinding by reviewing pathology reports, electronic medical records, medical record disease index, and other casefinding documents; then, abstracting identified reportable cases to efficiently bring the reporting facility in alignment with California Cancer Registry (CCR) cancer reporting timeliness and completeness standards.
• Administrative Assistant IV: Sacramento, CA.?The Administrative Assistant IV will work for the Center for Wellness and Nutrition is?responsible for providing a wide range of administrative services spanning clerical, fiscal, human resources, and event coordination.?

See all current opportunities →

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