The Center for Health Journalism has partnered with ethnic media organizations in California to report together on health equity, immigrant health, community well-being and gaps in health care in a unique collaborative learning effort. Learn more about the initiative here.
Although California has banned suspensions for “willful defiance” in grades K-12, both Elk Grove Unified and Sacramento City Unified school districts continued to suspend students for defiance during the 2023-24 school year, according to an OBSERVER analysis. The issue has gained new relevance as federal policies under the Trump administration threaten funding for schools that implement equity-based discipline practices.
The Latino Legislative Caucus has proposed legislation to protect the immigrant community in California, including two key bills focused on healthcare settings.
These measures are designed to take immediate effect if signed into law.
With escalating immigration enforcement activity in Los Angeles, undocumented immigrants are choosing to avoid public spaces for fear of encountering enforcement agents. This fear has extended to healthcare clinics where doctors are reporting that patients are canceling their appointments or not showing up for them.
The increasing number of Immigration raids have sown fear in the migrant community. Many like Alicia Romo are afraid to step out of their homes for fear of encountering enforcement agents.
G.H, a 51 year old immigrant applying for legal status, fears that the coming healthcare policy changes might impact her ability to afford the medical care she needs. California, facing its own budget crisis, has already scaled back parts of its Medi-Cal expansion program, and along with the federal spending bill, people like G.H. might find themselves excluded from getting basic healthcare needs met.
With much misinformation prevailing across immigrant communities about autism, Vietnamese parents raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder face a number of significant challenges rooted in cultural beliefs, social stigma, and limited access to resources and services.
For many Asian immigrant women, a combination of career opportunities, immigration anxieties, and the loss of nearby family support is reshaping how and when they choose to pursue childbirth— sometimes with irreversible consequences.
Despite years of pledges to address systemic racism and discriminatory discipline practices, the most recent state data show that two school districts, Sacramento City Unified and Elk Grove Unified, continue to suspend Black students at some of the highest rates in California.
What if reactions during moments of stress have a deeper, underlying context that connects to past generational history of trauma and racism? Hosts of this podcast explore whether behavior patterns can be inherited, learned or culturally programmed. They explore the evolving social and scientific theories of intergenerational trauma, weathering, epigenetics and John Henryism to build an understanding of how racism can get under skins, be felt in bodies and affect overall health.
