Cedars grant to The L.A. Trust will grow healthcare access and advocacy

Cedars-Sinai is growing its community outreach with a new grant to The L.A. Trust. Photo courtesy Cedars-Sinai.  

Cedars-Sinai has awarded $800,000 to The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health to expand advocacy, equity and effectiveness of school-based healthcare in Los Angeles County.

The goals of the two-year initiative include expanding student agency and healthcare access and increasing visits at 19 L.A. Unified Wellness Centers in high-need neighborhoods.  

 “This grant is a game changer,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust. “It will enable us and our partners to make long-needed improvements in school-based healthcare and prevention programs and support our students and communities as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and address the ongoing effects of systemic racism.”  

“Cedars-Sinai recognizes the significance of The L.A. Trust’s approach to ensuring access to care,” said Jonathan Schreiber, vice president of Community Engagement. “We are proud to support The L.A. Trust in the launch of this timely effort to meet the increased wellness needs of students in our communities.” 

The Cedars-Sinai grant will fund a School Health and Wellness Initiative that will develop best practices, expand student engagement and foster research and innovation:

Policy Roundtable 

The initiative will help re-establish The L.A. Trust Student Health Policy Roundtable and develop it into a robust cohort of Los Angeles-based partners that will advocate for funding and policies that improve the well-being of Los Angeles County public school students. The roundtable will address pressing student health concerns, including anti-racism priorities.  

Student engagement

The grant will also help The L.A. Trust expand student engagement by adding Student Advisory Boards at new or recently established Wellness Centers on Los Angeles Unified campuses. Student engagement is a key driver of campus change, enlisting hundreds of students each year to develop health campaigns that reach tens of thousands of students. Student Advisory Board members will also be consulted by the Policy Roundtable for input and participation.  

Research and resources

The initiative will also help increase access and improve services across the Wellness Network. This will be accomplished through The L.A. Trust Data xChange, a first-in-the-nation initiative that links student health metrics with academic and attendance data to identify concerns and find solutions. Other research and best practices funded by the Cedar-Sinai grant will include a verified school-health integration measurement tool, community events such as clinic open houses, and The L.A. Trust’s long-running Wellness Network Learning Collaboratives.   

“Cedars-Sinai is a generous and forward-thinking community partner,” said Anna Baum, director of development and communications for The L.A. Trust. “They are deeply concerned about student and community health, and their expertise and funding have supported our work in mental health, oral health and prevention education for five years,” Baum said. “We are grateful for their partnership and for making this important new initiative possible.”   

Partner profile: Satterberg Foundation is giving with heart

The Satterberg Foundation is a lead sponsor of the Seattle Equity Summit, which helps leaders and the public share strategies that advance equity. Photo by Jovelle Tamayo.  

By Anna Baum 

Donors are truly members of the non-profit family, and nowhere is that more evident than in the case of the Satterberg Foundation.

It helps that the Satterberg board and staff see their work as vital to their own well-being. Board Member Ben Lazarus and Caroline Miceli, director of operations and special interest grants, spoke to us recently and shared about Satterberg’s “secret sauce.” 

“It’s about building trust,” said Caroline, “how to build relationships and trust.” The L.A. Trust has benefited greatly from Satterberg’s supportive stance — Caroline was the first to reach out when the pandemic hit, schools closed, and the bottom dropped out for so many nonprofits. A grantee since 2018, we had developed the relationships between their staff and ours that build trust. 

A few months later when the murder of George Floyd rocked the nation and sparked a new chapter of its long climb out of racist roots, Satterberg was right there, asking its grantees again: what do you need? 

Being human together 

The answers led them to creating spaces “just to be human together,” and to Satterberg hosting professionally led Virtual Health, Healing & Caucusing meetings for both Black, Indigenous, People of Color and white-bodied cohorts. These gatherings offered a rare opportunity to begin the often-difficult conversations and healing processes as we engage in the national reckoning about systemic racism and its fall-out. 

The Satterberg Foundation states that it “strengthens our communities by promoting a just society and a sustainable environment. Doing this work deepens the interconnection of our family.” Founded in by 1990 by Virginia Satterberg Pigott Helsell out of her and her husband’s love for their family, it continues to be a well of inspiration for their children and grandchildren.  

Ben, Virginia’s step-grandson, is “grateful for the amount of family time it builds into my life.” A production sound mixer in Los Angeles, he looked forward to board meetings in Seattle before the pandemic, which allowed him to see his grandfather and other family members more frequently. The board is now composed of about 50% each of the two generations. 

Extended family 

The “family” in Satterberg’s mission statement is literal, but also resonates with the foundation’s vision of our human family. When Caroline started seven years ago, Sarah Walczyk was the only staff member, and the Satterberg family members did most of the work. Sarah is now executive director, with seven staff members and growing. Taking the long view of what organizations (as families) need in order to thrive, they focus on multiyear, core support grants. 

They also understand the benefits for everyone of being “process light” in their grants process. Originally they asked interested organizations to send a page, and decided on the basis of that whether to schedule a visit. One organization sent an idea the writer had while folding laundry and drinking wine, about growing a lemon tree in a trash can. “That candor was an oasis in a desert of really dry letters,” Ben said. They set up a visit and the idea went on to be a form of community garden. The process has evolved, but they continue to ”connect on a human level, not on a KPI level,” in Caroline’s words. 

Frank and open 

This “come as you are” attitude helps grantees be frank about the issues and open about lessons learned. “We show up as humans, imperfect, all trying to mitigate power imbalances and talk about what people and organizations need,” said Caroline. “It’s a mosaic, not a traditional, white-dominated way.  We’re centering and amplifying voices in our community, being an advocate through dollars or using one’s platform.” 

This leads to the question of how to vet nonprofits to ensure the funds have the strongest impact. The L.A. Trust was recently awarded another five-year core support grant. How does the Foundation make such decisions? “Through community,” says Caroline. They look at what the work is, who is doing it, and whether the work, staff and board are coming from the communities served. Site visits clarify whether there is alignment with Satterberg’s mission and values. 

Two of those values are moral courage and joy — qualities needed now more than ever. The L.A. Trust is grateful for the founders and stewards of the unique foundation; their comradeship helps sustain those values in our work.

Foundations sustain The L.A. Trust through COVID-19

Ballmer Group is among the foundations that have stepped up to support the work of The L.A. Trust during the coronavirus pandemic. 

In the midst of the suffering and uncertainty of our multiple pandemics, the outpouring of community support from the philanthropic world has been heartening and reassuring. We continue to receive grants that make the difference for students between empty days and much-needed healing and enrichment. The following funders have committed grants this past quarter to benefit those we serve:   

Ballmer Group notified us of their intention to invest on a large scale in student mental health through a two-year, $300,000 grant that will support our Student Mental Health Initiative, including Youth Mental Health Collaboratives. The purpose of The L.A. Trust project is to increase mental health education and prevention among Los Angeles Unified students within the Wellness Network by launching a collaborative made up of LAUSD leaders, Wellness Center staff, and community mental health organizations to identify and resolve obstacles to care. Student input will be a key component informing the group’s work. The group will also advocate for needed policy change at the district and county level. Much like our Wellness Network Learning Collaborative, our Oral Health Advisory Board and Data xChange Expert Advisory Council, this collaborative aims to improve students’ well-being through increased cooperation among stakeholders.  

Ballmer Group supports efforts to improve economic mobility for children and families in the United States who are disproportionately likely to remain in poverty. This generous grant reflects their belief that building pathways to opportunity requires broad, systemic change.  

Dignity Health is also making a significant investment in mental health, through a three-year effort funded in part by UniHealth Foundation to increase the awareness, skills and capacity of local community organizations and individuals to identify mental distress, address the impacts of trauma, reduce stigma and increase resiliency via delivery of mental health awareness education. The project focuses on children and youth of color and the adults who care for them in areas where high health disparities persist. Through a grant of $65,000, The L.A. Trust is joining in the second year of the project and will train after-school and academic support programs in Youth Mental Health First Aid and students in peer-to-peer outreach. We’re honored to work with the many organizations pioneering this effort.   

FCancer awarded The L.A. Trust $12,000 to expand HPV education and increase HPV vaccinations during the fall semester at the schools we serve. This is an extension of FCancer’s Take a Shot campaign. FCancer is dedicated to prevention, early detection, and providing emotional support to those affected by cancer. We have been working with FCancer since 2016 and are proud to continue this key cancer prevention initiative in spite of the limitations imposed by COVID-19 precautions.  

QueensCare is partnering with us for the first time through a $50,000 grant to support oral health education for children and their caregivers associated with nine local elementary schools. The L.A. Trust will share information via educational branded videos and live video chats with our community members. A nonprofit organization with compassion at its core, QueensCare offers direct patient care through a mobile dental program at many LAUSD schools and in the community. Understanding that tooth decay is the most pervasive, yet preventable, chronic disease among children in the United States, we are very grateful to continue our long-standing commitment to oral health for children through this grant. The support from QueensCare comes at a critical point in the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing The L.A. Trust to deliver much-needed educational outreach when many cannot access adequate dental care.  

Satterberg Foundation has been a key supporter over the last three years through its seminal Core Support Grants. The Foundation recently let us know that they intend to provide another five years of general operating support in the form of $125,000 a year. The mission of the Seattle-based foundation is to promote a just society and a sustainable environment. The founders, board members, and staff of the Satterberg Foundation have a highly progressive, inclusive approach to grant-making. Their goal is to help organizations achieve their goals, to adapt to change, to innovate and to improve their ability to serve the community. They have been foundational in The L.A. Trust’s growth over the past three years, and we’re deeply honored to be continuing this relationship.  

Our current times illuminate with great clarity the ways in which all of us are interconnected. The interdependence of student services, social progress, and philanthropy can be seen in these generous grants from committed, forward-thinking institutions. We remain grateful for and inspired by these sustaining relationships.

Oral Health Advisory Board focuses on prevention education

Dr. Jim Crall of UCLA More LA Smiles (and friend) discussed public oral health campaigns during the final Oral Health Advisory Board meeting of 2020.

Representatives of the L.A.’s student oral health community met online December 15 at the fourth and final 2020 meeting of The L.A. Trust’s Oral Health Advisory Board.  

More than three dozen oral health providers and stakeholders attended the event, which focused on public health campaigns and best practices for student oral healthcare in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health, discussed The L.A. Trust’s oral health education campaign on KLCS featuring Program Manager Esther Yepez and her kid-friendly puppet, Billy. The campaign has generated up to 1.5 million views to date.  

Puffer thanked QueensCare for funding upcoming student oral healthcare education by The L.A. Trust at nine LAUSD sites and introduced The L.A. Trust’s new Oral Health Toolkit, providing useful resources for student and community dental care providers.  

Dr. Maritza Cabezas, dental director for L.A. County Department of Public Health, and Dr. Abrey Daniel, walked attendees through the development of a County oral health education campaign. She outlined the campaign development process, including: determining the need; selecting the audience; developing the message; and crafting the final creative with the help of focus groups. The County’s campaign’s goals are to increase awareness among caregivers of children under 5, demonstrating the importance and ease of at-home oral health habits.  

“People don’t understand the disease process when it comes to cavities – it’s insidious,” said Dr. Jim Crall, project director of UCLA More LA Smiles. He said “there are a lot of disconnects in oral health treatment” for children. Simple changes in student behavior can make a big difference and education is key. He previewed a series of TV spots featuring Sesame Street characters, which will be shown on KLCS remote learning channels through February. The L.A. Trust helped facilitate the broadcast of the Sesame Street spots.  

Doors still open 

Gloria Velasquez, organization facilitator for LAUSD Health and Human Services, said  seven Wellness Centers and school-based health clinics were still providing partial or full oral health services for students and community members: El Sereno Middle School (Western Dental); Hart Street Elementary School (Dr. Samoha); Jefferson Wellness Center (South Central Family Health Center); Maclay and Sun Valley Middle Schools (NEVHC); Monroe (Valley Community Health, appointment only); and Washington Prep Wellness Center (St. John’s Family and Wellness Center). 

Crall noted that the Medi-Cal Dental Transformation Initiative would continue but local DTI pilot programs would not. UCLA’s More LA Smiles LADRRS program (Los Angeles Dental Registry & Referral System) would be sustained for now and potentially integrated into the Department of Health Care Services.

Data xChange report shows growth of Wellness Centers

The L.A. Trust Data xChange has issued a new report showing the impact of L.A. Unified’s Wellness Centers since 2015.  

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health has released a new Data xChange report demonstrating the widespread impact of L.A. Unified’s 16 full-service Wellness Centers on students, families and community members in the District’s highest-need areas. 

According to the Data xChange report, 11 school-based Wellness Centers reported more than 229,000 visits from 86,000 patients in the past five years. Visits grew 143% in the past half decade and patients averaged 2.7 visits per year, demonstrating “a strong bond between clinics and patients.”  

The statistics in the Wellness Center 5-Year Impact Report were produced by The L.A. Trust’s Data xChange, which is designed to measure the impact of Wellness Center investments, improve the allocation of health resources and connect the dots between student health and academic achievement. 

Vital services 

Quality healthcare is essential to student success, the report noted. The L.A. Trust supports these clinics by offering best practices, prevention education programs, learning collaboratives and other vital infrastructure. In addition, it has independently raised more than $1.5 million to create the Data xChange, which The L.A. Trust views as key to the future of school-based health in Los Angeles and throughout the nation. 

Common student services include Well Child Exams, contraceptive management, weight and obesity management, immunization and vaccines, sexually transmitted infection testing and management, and mental health and substance use services. 

Because students are only as healthy as the communities they live in, Wellness Centers treat family and community members, too. Community members are more likely to be treated for chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. 

There are currently 16 LAUSD Wellness Center clinics with two more on the way. They bring high-quality medical services into traditionally underserved communities, provide culturally competent care and reduce transportation burdens by putting the clinics on school campuses. (Most of the clinics have a street-facing door to admit community members and a school-facing door to admit students.) 

COVID-19 response 

The coronavirus pandemic has hit Los Angeles hard, especially predominantly Black and Latinx communities served by the Wellness Centers, the report stated. Six Wellness Centers have remained open during the height of the school lockdown and received more than 12,000 visits between March and June of this year. 

“As many of our Wellness Centers pivot toward telehealth and incorporate more specific coding practices related to COVID-19, The L.A. Trust Data xChange will stay in step with them by working to create new reports and insights,” the impact report affirmed.  

The Data xChange is guided by an Expert Advisory Council that includes: Manal Aboelata, The Prevention Institute; Mayra Alvarez, The Children’s Health Partnership; Grace Kim Crofton, L.A. Care Health Plan; Rebecca Dudovitz, UCLA; Pia Escudero, LAUSD Student Health and Human Services; Mehrnaz Davoudi, Kaiser Permanente; Art Garcia, First 5 Los Angeles; Will Grice, Kaiser Permanente and board president of The L.A. Trust; Lyndee Knox, PatientToc; Hayley Love; James Kyle, L.A. Care Health Plan; Anitha Mullangi, St. John’s Well Child and Family Health Center; Kevon Tucker-Seeley, LAUSD Office of Data and Accountability; Mollie Rudnick, LAUSD Chief Strategy Office; Nina Vaccaro, Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County; Ron Tanimura, LAUSD Student Medical Services; Kimberly Uyeda; and Lynn Yonekura, L.A. Best Babies Network

COVID testing key to L.A. Unified’s return-to-school strategy

L.A. Unified return-to-school plan encompasses testing and tracing for nearly 800,000 students and employees.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has begun an unprecedented coronavirus testing program, part of its developing return-to-school plan for nearly 800,000 students and employees 

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said, “Health practices are in place. Classrooms and facilities have been electrostatically cleaned top to bottom, air-conditioning systems have been upgraded with the equivalent of N-95 filters, personal protective equipment is provided to all individuals on campus, and classrooms and facilities have been reconfigured to keep all at a school a safer distance apart.  

“When students do return to schools, they’ll be kept in small cohorts to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. And as we learn of other ways to enhance health practices, we’ll incorporate them as quickly as possible.”

‘Taking the lead’ 

“Once again, LAUSD is taking the lead nationwide in protecting our students, teachers, staff and community members,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health. “It is essential that we open our schools as soon as it is safe to do so.” 

Beutner added, “While unprecedented, the virus testing, community engagement and contact-tracing program is necessary and appropriate as we must do everything we can to protect the health and safety of all in the school community.”  

Among those collaborating on the program are UCLA, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, Anthem Blue Cross, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Health Net.

Student leaders and The L.A. Trust advocate for school-based health

Mayra Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership, rallied more than 50 school-based health advocates at the CSHA’s first-ever virtual Advocacy Day. 

More than 50 school-based health advocates briefed 42 California lawmakers and their staffs August 5 during the California School-Based Health’s Alliance’s first-ever virtual Advocacy Day. 

Students from several of The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards joined staff members from The L.A. Trust, CSHA and other organizations at the legislative briefings, which focused on top policy priorities made more urgent by COVID-19. These priorities include healthcare and SBHC funding, student mental health, substance use prevention, and coordination by state departments (Education, Health Care Services and Public Health) to strengthen partnership with School-Based Health Centers. 

Mayra Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership, rallied the online advocates. Noting that California is a national leader in health insurance coverage with 97 to 98% of all kids covered, “you all know it’s not enough to be covered.” She saluted those working on the frontlines of student health and said, “we have shared goals and a shared partnership.” 

A time of reckoning 

Alvarez tied the issue of health equity to the larger issue of race. “This is a reckoning — a racial reckoning,” she said. “It is truly wiser when we listen to those marching in the streets. Going back is accepting the status quo — we can pave a better path forward for California and the nation.” 

Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust, stressed the importance of school-based health and thanked all the attendees for speaking out. Puffer and six other staff members from The L.A. Trust participated in the legislative briefings. 

Lisa Eisenberg, policy director for CSHA, noted that one-third of all California legislators were reached — five lawmakers attended in person. 

“While we really wanted to host in-person advocacy visits earlier this year, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented those plans,” CSHA said. “As this pandemic has disproportionately impacted people served by school-based health centers, it’s more important than ever to share challenges and experiences with policymakers as schools grapple with a changing environment.”  

There are 277 school-based health centers in California, and 274,000 California students have access to high-quality healthcare through these clinics. There are 75 school-based health centers in Los Angeles County, including 16 LAUSD Wellness Centers supported by The L.A. Trust. 

Student mental health challenged by COVID, recession and racism

Idle busses and empty classrooms are reminders of the scale of the education and healthcare void caused by the continued coronavirus shutdown.

Student mental health in Los Angeles is facing unprecedented challenges, according to Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health.

“Our students are under tremendous pressure,” she said. “Many were already dealing with inadequate access to mental healthcare and the impacts of poverty and racism. The isolation and economic hardships brought on by COVID-19 threaten to create a student mental health crisis in Los Angeles.

“Students miss the structure of school, their friends and their support system, including access to counseling and mental health treatment,” said Puffer. “Some students may be in stressful situations at home or even the targets of abuse. We must redouble our efforts to help them.”

New initiative

This fall The L.A. Trust will launch its Student Mental Health Initiative. The collaborative is funded by a $100,000 grant by Cedars-Sinai and a $50,000 grant by Health Net.

The initiative will train students as peer leaders through The L.A. Trust’s Student Advisory Boards, increasing awareness of symptoms like anxiety and depression, and building positive coping mechanisms and self-referrals to care. The initiative will foster student social media campaigns and conduct online trainings such as “First Aid for Mental Health,” scheduled for August.

“Student voices are critical in addressing mental health awareness and to ensure access to services,” said Pia V. Escudero, executive director of  Student Health & Human Services for Los Angeles Unified. “We are grateful for this grant opportunity that will lift stigma and access to services for students and families that need it the most.”

Puffer added that “as a backbone agency for student health in Los Angeles, The L.A. Trust has a unique role and responsibility. We are committed to lead on this issue, helping support students, family members, healthcare providers and LAUSD tackle these issues.”

Racism and mental health

Puffer noted that July is BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month and that racism must be factored into any discussion of student mental health. This is especially relevant in Los Angeles, where four out of every five LAUSD students is Latinx or Black.

A review of literature on the impact of racism on child health found that 11 out of 12 studies showed an association between racism and depression, while three studies showed an association between racism and anxiety. “We can’t ignore the impact of racism on the mental health of our students,” Puffer said. “Our programs, outreach and training must acknowledge the racism that many of our students live with every day.”

Resources available

Puffer saluted LAUSD Student Health and Human Services, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and other public and private organizations for adapting and expanding to serve students and family members during the COVID-19 crisis.

LAUSD Mental Health Hotline (213) 241-3840. Open weekdays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is staffed by counselors and mental health professionals who can provide support in English and Spanish. Teachers can also call and get advice on how to connect their students to services. Questions can also be emailed to mentalhealth@lausd.net.

Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (800) 854-7771. Open 24/7 for all mental health services.

2-1-1 Hotline. The central source for all health and human services support in Los Angeles County.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline English: (800) 273-8255 Español: (888) 628-9454.

Teen Line Text “TEEN” to 839863 between 6:00pm-9:00pm PT to speak to a teen.

Posted July 15, 2020 at 9:55 a.m.

Eight major grants will power The L.A. Trust’s mission

New grants will fuel objectives of The L.A. Trust, including youth engagement. Participants in this year’s Youth to Youth Summit shown above. 

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health is pleased to announce a series of grants that will help the organization meet its mission in the coming month and years. “During this global health crisis, the world needs these givers more than ever,” said Anna Baum, director of development and communications for The L.A. Trust. “We’re grateful they have placed their trust in us.” 

Baum reported:

The Weingart Foundation is supporting our mission with a $125,000 unrestricted operating support grant which we plan to use to support organizational planning and staff development as well as the Data xChange. We’re very pleased to partner with this foundation for the first time, which has helped nonprofits reach underserved communities for over 50 years.  

We’re very happy to announce another first-time partnership, with UniHealth Foundation to further work on our groundbreaking Data xChange.  UniHealth has been supporting nonprofit, community-based hospitals and health organizations for over 20 years. This two-year, $200,000 grant will allow us to continue integrating Wellness Network health services data with LAUSD academic data. 

Two major forces in the Los Angeles area healthcare arena have stepped up to provide relief to teens through a new initiative to be deployed next school year: The L.A. Trust’s School-Based Mental Health Education & Awareness Program. Health Net committed $50,000 and Cedars-Sinai $100,000 to this program, which is in the planning phase. By building capacity among students as peer leaders through our Student Advisory Boards, the program seeks to increase awareness of symptoms like anxiety and depression, and to increase positive coping mechanisms as well as self-referrals to care. The mental health crisis among our underserved youth can only be addressed through the prescience and generosity of funders like Cedars-Sinai and Health Net.  

The Annenberg Foundation has made an unrestricted operating support grant to further our mission to improve student health and increase readiness to learn.  We’re very pleased to be partnering with Annenberg, which has demonstrated its commitment to education and well-being for over 30 years. 

Last fall The Ahmanson Foundation awarded us a grant for furnishings and computers at Roybal Learning Center where over half the staff is located. This has already proved extremely helpful as we transition to remote work plans, and will be even more so when we reconvene on campus. 

Two recent grants have buoyed our activities: Insperity, our human resources services company, awarded a grant to support our Student Advisory Boards. The California Credit Union awarded a grant that will helps us upgrade and maintain key technical platforms like QuickBooks. These timely grants will support our student outreach during the current LAUSD closures, as well as into the coming school year.  

In addition to awarding these generous grants, all the funders acknowledged here have announced flexibility in regard to dates and fund restrictions in light of the COVID-19 environment. We applaud the efforts of our funders and express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who make these grants possible, Baum said. 

A ground-breaking year for The L.A. Trust and its partners in student health

Maryjane Puffer joined students and community leaders at the groundbreaking for a new Student and Family Wellness Center at Mendez Learning Center December 15.

The year 2019 was a busy one for The Los Angeles Trust and its partners, and 2020 will be busier still. Thanks to its partners and stakeholders, last year The L.A. Trust:

• Made final preparations for the launch of its ground-breaking Data xChange initiative, which will link confidential Wellness Center data with academic performance numbers to improve outcomes on both.

• Supported LAUSD’s growing network of Student and Family Wellness Centers, helped dedicate new clinics at Santee Education Complex and other schools, and hosted two Learning Collaboratives where clinicians received critical data and best practices on student healthcare.

• Provided oral health education and partnered with More L.A. Smiles to provide free dental screenings and interventions to thousands of kindergartners and third-graders at LAUSD elementary schools.

• Supported anti-vaping and substance use education efforts across the District, assisting student outreach and hosting a Vaping 101 webinar series for clinicians and others.

• Hosted a Youth2Youth Summit engaging 100 student health advocates and their adult allies from across the District.
  

• Presented recipes, nutrition and food-shopping advice at more than 50 classroom and community events as part of the CalFresh Health Living initiative.

• Worked with UCSF research staff on the development and delivery of the “Health-E You/Salud iTu,” an app-based contraception awareness program focused on Latina youth. The program resulted in a 117% increase in the use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (results will be published in leading health journals this year).

• Partnered with leading healthcare organizations and announced important new program grants, driving the organization’s mission through 2021.

• Hired new staff, including Marsha Ellis as director of programs; Rob Wray as associate director of communications and media; Mackenzie Scott as student engagement coordinator; and Danielle Griffin as student engagement assistant.

2020 vision

“We had a great 2019,” said Executive Director Maryjane Puffer, “and we have laid the groundwork for a truly breakthrough year in 2020.” 

She said The L.A. Trust has a new strategic plan, a new logo and a new mission statement: “Bridging the worlds of health and education to achieve student wellness.”

“We also have our first vision statement,” Puffer stated. “It’s ‘A world where every student is healthy and successful.’ We have always stood for this, but this is our northstar and it’s important to share it.”

Puffer said The L.A. Trust will reintroduce itself in the spring with a new website and a new awareness campaign. “The L.A. Trust believes nothing is more important to the future of our country than the health of our kids. In 2020, we will be better positioned than ever to help advance student health where it’s needed most.”

Eight new grants will drive The L.A. Trust mission

The Los Angeles Trust is proud to announce eight new grants from partners who understand the critical health-related needs and issues facing students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Several of these partners came forward earlier in this school year to lend support to our mission.

Long-time partner Kaiser Permanente awarded a $500,000 grant over two years to fund three initiatives: Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL); our Oral Health Initiative; and the groundbreaking Data xChange.  HEAL is Kaiser Permanente’s multi-faceted, integrated strategy to achieve long-term sustainable reductions in obesity and related chronic illnesses; funds for the Oral Health Initiative will support education and dental screening for kindergarteners as well as parent and caregiver education; and the Data xChange funding will make it possible for us to integrate academic data with Wellness Center health data.  Kaiser Permanente’s beneficent support continues to be a mainstay of our work.

Another exciting development is the continuation of work on SBIRT coordination (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) at five Wellness Centers.  This is an impactful four-year grant from the California Community Foundation to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, with which we partner to increase screenings and improve data collection. With the legalization of cannabis, and with vaping and drug use on the rise in our schools, this work is more important than ever.

DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement (DentaQuest Partnership) has remained a major supporter this year, with three generous grants to support improvement of oral healthcare delivery in Los Angeles and beyond.  We received $125,800 for the Oral Health Initiative to increase our oral health policy advocacy, the oral health build-out of the Data xChange, and to increase student participation at the elementary school dental screenings we facilitate.  In addition, we received $111,226 to support our participation in DentaQuest Partnership’s Oral Health Progress and Equity Network, where our staff serves as a key connector for the growing national network’s infrastructure; and $12,900 for Executive Director Maryjane Puffer to participate in the Regional Oral Health Connection Team.  We’re thrilled to continue the groundbreaking work that DentaQuest Partnership has championed for many years, addressing the pervasive but entirely preventable chronic disease of tooth decay among children in the U.S.

Cedars-Sinai is also supporting the Data xChange build-out with a $25,000 grant.  We’re very pleased to partner for the second time with Cedars-Sinai, which continues to be a champion for healthy communities.

We’re delighted to be working again with Fu*k Cancer through a $40,000 grant to raise awareness about cervical cancer prevention through HPV vaccination campaigns.  This year the program will be enhanced by increased work with the Student Advisory Boards as well as social media support provided by Fu*k Cancer.  The Data xChange will play a key role in tracking vaccination rates.

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation awarded The L.A. Trust a general operating capacity-building grant of $75,000.  This generous support will help us strengthen the organizational infrastructure as well as support youth development and the Data xChange.

The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation is another long-time supporter that recently granted The L.A. Trust general operating funds in the form of a $15,000 grant.

Kaiser grants $500,000 to The L.A. Trust for new solutions

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health has announced a two-year, $500,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente to provide healthcare programs, foster healthy habits and generate insights to improve student health in Los Angeles public schools.

A portion of the grant will underwrite an innovative new Data xChange initiative that will link healthcare and educational performance data to find ways to improve healthcare strategies and educational outcomes. 

“This major grant will not only help us deliver on our promise of improving the health of the LAUSD communities we serve, it will give us the insights we need to design programs and services that connect better healthcare to improved educational performance,” said Maryjane Puffer, executive director of The L.A. Trust.

Kaiser fully committed

Will Grice

“At Kaiser Permanente we are committed to helping everyone in our communities achieve total health,” said Will Grice, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.“That is why, through this grant, we’re proud to support The L.A. Trust in their efforts to increase access to oral health education, screenings and referrals for LAUSD students and their families, integrate healthy eating, active living programs into schools, and implement a system that measures the impact of health services on academic performance and attendance,” Grice said. “Together, we can work to reduce the disparity in access to quality health care in our communities.”

The mission of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health is “to improve student health and increase readiness to learn through health care access, advocacy, and programs.” The independent 501c3 nonprofit organization supports 15 district-wide Wellness Centers and a variety of programs focused on preventative care, oral screenings and referrals, healthy living habits, mental health services and more.