CAN Newsletter – Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage and Mental Health Awareness Month
May 12, 2021
Each year the month of May highlights the opportunity to celebrate our AAPI community of children, youth, and educators. This year we celebrate and recognize the great contributions the AAPI Community has made to our nation, but also reflect on and condemn the violence and hatred that has been directed at the AAPI Community. We, as a nation, need to do better. We need to continue to teach, to learn and unlearn, and rebuild our communities with love, empathy, and inclusivity. Our AAPI children, youth, educators, and communities deserve equitable spaces to learn, live and thrive! “The power of visibility can never be underestimated.”― Margaret Cho
May also highlights the opportunity to spread awareness and promote mental health wellness. This past year, as we lived through a global pandemic, our overall health & wellness were incredibly important. To be resilient and care for our communities, we must empower our own Mental Health Wellness. Our field has long recognized the importance of supporting the social, emotional, and mental well-being of our youth, staff, families, and communities. Many of the young people served in our programs often experience toxic stress, trauma, and Adverse Childhood Experiences, directly impacting their mental health and well-being. We hope you find time and space to take care of your mental health and support others around you to do the same. Especially, as we continue to navigate the reopening of our schools and shared spaces we need to ensure our youth, staff, families, and communities are receiving the mental health and wellness supports they need.
We have compiled a quick list of resources to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage and resources to support Mental Health Awareness for you, children, youth, and our communities.
RESOURCES & TIPS
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage:
- One Day Digital: Stories to Inform and Inspire
- Humanizing Asian Americans in the Classroom Through Children’s Literature
- AAPI Resources to Support:
Mental Health Awareness:
- Supporting Students this Mental Health Awareness Month from Learning for Justice
- Mental Health Resources for Educators
- Visit CAN’s COVID-19 Caring for Your Mental Health Resource page.
- Visit the National Alliance for Mental Health- California to find resources and learn more about how to support Mental Health Awareness Month.
- Mental Health and Good Sleep: 10 Best Sleep Apps in 2021
In Community,
The CAN Team
In This Newsletter:
#CaWholeChildELO Post-Convening Update & Materials
"We have the opportunity to build back better." - CA SSPI Tony Thurmond
Thank you to all of our attendees, presenters, guest speakers, and planning team! We truly enjoyed our day with you and hope the #CaWholeChildELO convening provided you with an opportunity to connect and learn.
And if you weren’t able to make it – no problem! You can still access the materials!
Welcome Lupita Perez!
Lupita Perez joined the CAN team in April 2021 as a Program Coordinator!
Prior to joining CAN, she served as an ASES Expanded Learning Site Coordinator in the Elk Grove Unified School District with The Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center. Lupita received her B.A. in Sociology and Feminist Studies with a minor in Applied Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, Lupita takes pride in being a Youth Mental-Health First-Aider and a Trauma-Informed Advocate. Prior to her start in Expanded Learning, Lupita was a crisis response advocate and safehouse case manager for WEAVE Inc. of Sacramento supporting survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
AB86 Information & Resources
The California Legislature provided $6.6 billion in the Assembly Bill 86 COVID-19 relief package, including $2 billion for In-Person Instruction (IPI) Grants and $4.6 billion for Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO) Grants. Governor Newsom signed AB 86 on March 5, 2021.
There is no application required to receive AB 86 funding. In May 2021, eligible entities will receive an apportionment that represents 50 percent of their allocation for both the IPI and ELO Grants. In August 2021, eligible entities will receive the remaining 50 percent of their allocation, less any reduction or forfeiture of IPI Grants described below.
Below are some key resources to learn more about the AB86 ELO Grants:
Changes to the Annual Performance Report (APR)
One of the federal requirements of receiving 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) funds is inputting required data into the 21APR system. The Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) will be changing and this will impact the types of data each grantee collects and then enters into the 21APR system as reporting outcomes for the GPRA. The GPRA are required outcomes that are reported to Congress once a year and continue to help tell the story of our 21st CCLC programs.
IPI and ELO Grants Frequently Asked Questions
The California Department of Education has released FAQs for the In-Person Instruction and Expanded Learning Opportunities Grants funds from the education trailer bill, Section 2 of Assembly Bill 86 (Chapter 10, Statues of 2021).
COVID-19 and Reopening Schools for Black Students in Los Angeles: Beyond the Schoolhouse, Digging Deeper
Explore how the American Rescue Act and other COVID-19 relief funding affects Black students and families, and the underlying factors that impact the academic achievement and success of Black youth by reading the Center for Transformation of Schools at UCLA’s report Beyond the Schoolhouse: Overcoming Challenges and Expanding Opportunity for Black Children in Los Angeles County.
Leaning Forward Podcast: Funding and Design Tips for Summer and Expanded Learning
Tune in for the latest Leaning Forward Podcast episode where Dr. Michelle Perrenoud was interviewed by the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) titled “Funding and Design Tips for Summer and Expanded Learning!”
Committed to supporting Multilingual Learners, but short on time?
CalSAC has you covered! Try their “bite-sized” mini-courses – all 5 minutes or less, filled with easy strategies that you can try tomorrow, and readily accessible on your phone, tablet, or computer. New courses will be released every 2 weeks, now through July.
Reimagine and Rebuild: Restarting School with Equity at the Center
PACE, in collaboration with 39 research, education, and community organizations from across California have endorsed a new research-based framework outlining a restorative restart for public schools as students return to campus in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic entitled Reimagine and Rebuild: Restarting School with Equity at the Center. The brief outlines steps schools and districts can take now to support the social-emotional and academic needs of students while laying the groundwork for longer term systemic transformation.
Helping Students and Parents Get Back to School and Work with Expanded Learning
The California Budget and Policy Center has released a new fact sheet to show while demand for quality expanded learning programs and the needs of the expanded learning workforce were rising even before the pandemic, state funding stalled. COVID-19, however, has shown just how important expanded learning programs are for youth and the integral role they are playing in supporting students and parents making the return to school and work. Policymakers can make long-term and sustainable investments in expanded learning that support students’ academic and social-emotional development as well as families’ caregiving needs.
Students Speak Out About Mental Health
Tune in for Student Voice’s latest Students Speak Out podcast episode where they explore mental health and how current school curriculum has fallen short.
FREE Summer Technical Assistance Hub
Partnership for Children & Youth has teamed up with the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and Sperling Center for Research and Innovation to offer free tools, resources, and expert TA to help students recover and re-engage with learning, this summer.
CalSAC is Searching for An Executive Director!
CalSAC needs help finding the next person who will lead them forward towards their vision of building a more just and equitable California through high-quality, affordable out-of-school time programs – and valued, supported, and resourced out-of-school time (OST) professionals!
Help by exploring the job description, sending prospective candidates their way, and applying!
Shelter in Grace: A Staff Wellness Guide
The pandemic has taken a toll on everyone and now is the time to make sure that the staff in organizations are taking care of themselves as well as they are taking care of the students. The California School-Based Health Alliance has released a staff wellness guide for managers, coordinators, education leaders, and youth leaders facilitating either virtual or in-person meetings to create health connections with each other through authentic, thoughtful wellness support for everyone.
Check Out Our Other Newsletters!
Access the CAN newsletter archives to view past newsletters today! You may be interested in some of our other newsletters as well:
CAN Health and Wellness Newsletters
- Get informed on the connections between afterschool and Whole Child Health and Wellness.
- Subscribe today!
CAN STEAM Newsletters
- Get informed about the Million Girl Moonshot project and access other STEAM resources.
- Subscribe today!
CAN Policy Newsletter
- Get informed about policy-related content, including national, state, and local updates, that supports our Expanded Learning programs.
- Subscribe today!