Kids and Families Together

Transgender Day of Visibility
2023-03-31 | CA
To learn more, please visit our JEDI page!

Cesar Chavez Day
2023-03-31
To learn more about Cesar Chavez, please visit our JEDI page!

Autism Acceptance Month
2023-04-01 - 2023-04-30

Child Abuse Prevention Month
2023-04-01 - 2023-04-30

Good Friday
2023-04-02

Passover
2023-04-05 - 2023-04-13

International Asexuality Day
2023-04-06

Easter
2023-04-09

Nurturing Connections: Support and Training in Becoming a Therapeutic Parent
2023-04-12 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Nurturing Connections: Support and Training in Becoming a Therapeutic Parent
Who Should Attend: Foster/kinship resource parents, adoptive parents, legal guardians
Description: Support and training, led by a therapist, in a safe and supportive environment where participants can share their experiences as a foster or adoptive caregiver. Participants have a chance to explore their own attachment histories and strengthen their therapeutic parenting skills. Learn about attachment, trauma, development, self-care, and more. Resource parents can earn training hours!
2023 Training Dates/Topics:

Jan. 11th: Staying Connected with
Birth Families
Feb. 8th: Making Sense of Your
Attachment History
March 8th: Ambiguous Loss
April 12th: Transracial Adoptive
Families
May 10th: Vicarious Trauma and
Self-Care
June 14th: Building Resilience in

When & Where: Every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 5-6:30pm, Currently offered via Zoom.
English/Spanish: Group is in English with live Spanish interpretation!
Cost: Free for foster/kinship resource, adoptive, and legal guardian caregivers within the Ventura County Child Welfare System.
Register: Click Here to Register
Contact: Please contact us at 805-643-1446 Ext. 180 or referrals@kidsandfamilies.org with questions.

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Yom HaShoah
2023-04-17 - 2023-04-18

Earth Day
2023-04-22

National Day of Silence (in honor of LGBTQ Youth)
2023-04-23

Mother Father Deaf Day
2023-04-25

Yom Ha’atzmaut
2023-04-25 - 2023-04-26

Arbor Day
2023-04-28

National Foster Care Month
2023-05-01 - 2023-05-31

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
2023-05-01 - 2023-05-31

Jewish American Heritage Month
2023-05-01 - 2023-05-31

Older Americans Month
2023-05-01 - 2023-05-31
Older Americans Month
(From the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services)
Each year in May, we commemorate Older Americans Month (OAM) to encourage and recognize the countless contributions that older adults make to our communities. Their time, experience, and talents enrich the lives of those around them. The theme for this year is Aging Unbound, which offers an opportunity to explore diverse aging experiences and discuss how communities can combat stereotypes. This year, there is a focus on promoting flexible thinking about aging and how we all benefit when older adults remain engaged, independent, and included.
We are recognizing the 60th anniversary of Older Americans Month and we challenge people to change the narrative on aging. Here are some ways we can all participate in Aging Unbound.

Embrace the opportunity to change. Find a new passion, go on an adventure, and push boundaries by not letting age define your limits. Invite creativity and purpose into your life by trying new activities in your community to bring in more growth, joy, and energy.
Explore the rewards of growing older. With age comes knowledge, which provides insight and confidence to understand and experience the world more deeply. Continue to grow that knowledge through reading, listening, classes, and creative activities.
Stay engaged in your community. Volunteer. Everyone benefits when everyone is connected and involved. Stay active by volunteering, working, mentoring, participating in social clubs, and taking part in activities at your local senior center or elsewhere in the community. For more information, contact your local Area Agency on Aging.
Form relationships. As an essential ingredient of well-being, relationships can enhance your quality of life by introducing new ideas and unique perspectives. Invest time with people to discover deeper connections with family, friends, and community members.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Here at K&FT, we support several grandparents who are raising and caring for their grandchildren and wanted to highlight the important role grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren. While contending with their own issues, many grandparents are raising grandchildren because their children are facing their own difficulties. Despite the hurdles and challenges, the grandchildren appear by and large to do well, new research has found.
Over 2.6 million children in the United States are being raised by grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends. While it can be extremely rewarding for an older adult to take on the responsibility of raising a child, there are also many challenges that arise. There is a wide variety of reasons kinship families form. However, regardless of how they come together, many of them face similar difficulties such as navigating the welfare system, establishing legal guardianship, and moving past trauma.

A Proclamation on Older Americans Month, 2023
The following are excerpts from this year’s Proclamation on Older Americans Month by President Biden:
“On this 60th anniversary of Older Americans Month, we honor our Nation’s senior citizens, whose lifetimes of hard work, devotion to family, and commitment to community have laid the foundation for the country we are today.  We have a rock-solid responsibility to ensure our Nation’s seniors can age with dignity and financial security.
When President John F. Kennedy issued the first proclamation recognizing older Americans, approximately a third of seniors lived in poverty, and close to half were without health insurance.  Our Nation rallied together to confront this crisis, passing Medicare to deliver affordable, quality health care to our seniors; strengthening Social Security, the bedrock of American retirement; and ultimately raising so many seniors out of poverty.  We extended lifespans and provided critical breathing room to Americans who had worked hard their whole lives.  But there is still more work to do to ensure that no senior lies in bed at night wondering how they are going to pay for lifesaving drugs, put food on the table, or support their children and grandchildren.”
“Older Americans are the pillars of our community, and we owe it to them to value their wisdom, celebrate their contributions, and champion their well-being.  To older Americans across this Nation, we will always support you.”
Action Items

How are we going to care for the baby boomers?
As the baby boomer generation continues to age, the need for properly established care services becomes increasingly important. Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are the second-largest generation in United States history, with an estimated 76 million individuals. As they continue to grow older, it has become more urgent than ever to begin considering how we will provide care for this generation.
Many older adults are unable to afford care services due to high healthcare costs and inadequate retirement savings. Addressing these issues may require policy changes at the state and federal levels, such as expanding Medicare coverage and increasing funding for retirement savings programs.
Caring for the baby boomer generation is a daunting and inevitable challenge that requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach. By continuing to educate ourselves, we can ensure that baby boomers receive the care they both deserve and need to live healthy and comfortable lives.
Resources

Older Americans Month | Senior & Disability Services | Health & Senior Services
Caregiver Services – VCAAA
Microsoft Word – Caregiver Resources v2.docx (pcdn.co)
Microsoft Word – Caregiver Resources_SPANISH.docx (pcdn.co)
Resources for grandparents raising grandchildren » NCRC
Grandparents Living with Grandchildren (census.gov)
A Proclamation on Older Americans Month, 2023 | The White House
How are we going to care for the baby boomers? (mcknightshomecare.com)

Mental Health Awareness Month
2023-05-01 - 2023-05-31

Cinco de Mayo- Victory Battle of Puebla
2023-05-05
To learn more, please click here to check out our JEDI page!

National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day
2023-05-05

Nurturing Connections: Support and Training in Becoming a Therapeutic Parent
2023-05-10 17:00 - 18:30
Nurturing Connections: Support and Training in Becoming a Therapeutic Parent
Who Should Attend: Foster/kinship resource parents, adoptive parents, legal guardians
Description: Support and training, led by a therapist, in a safe and supportive environment where participants can share their experiences as a foster or adoptive caregiver. Participants have a chance to explore their own attachment histories and strengthen their therapeutic parenting skills. Learn about attachment, trauma, development, self-care, and more. Resource parents can earn training hours!
2023 Training Dates/Topics:

Jan. 11th: Staying Connected with
Birth Families
Feb. 8th: Making Sense of Your
Attachment History
March 8th: Ambiguous Loss
April 12th: Transracial Adoptive
Families
May 10th: Vicarious Trauma and
Self-Care
June 14th: Building Resilience in

When & Where: Every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 5-6:30pm, Currently offered via Zoom.
English/Spanish: Group is in English with live Spanish interpretation!
Cost: Free for foster/kinship resource, adoptive, and legal guardian caregivers within the Ventura County Child Welfare System.
Register: Click Here to Register
Contact: Please contact us at 805-643-1446 Ext. 180 or referrals@kidsandfamilies.org with questions.

Please click image to expand

Mother's Day
2023-05-14

Malcolm X Day
2023-05-19

Harvey Milk Day
2023-05-22

Shavuot
2023-05-25 - 2023-05-27

Memorial Day
2023-05-29
Kids & Families Together will be closed on Monday, May 29th in observance of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day
2023-05-29

LGBTQIA+ Pride Month
2023-06-01 - 2023-06-30
Why Do We Celebrate PRIDE MONTH?
June is Pride Month and it’s an opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community and allies to celebrate identity and show their pride in who they really are. Pride is necessary because most of the LGBTQ+ community went through their formative years in silent suffering. Adolescents in the LGBTQ+ community suffer from exponentially high suicide rates. The Trevor Project estimates that at least one LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 13–24 attempts suicide every 45 seconds in the U.S. Because many LGBTQ+ youth report attempting suicide multiple times in a given year, this estimate likely underrepresents the extent of how often LGBTQ+ youth attempt suicide in the U.S.

LGBTQ+ youth are not inherently prone to suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society. No other identity can cause an individual to be afraid of losing their family and friends by simply revealing who they are. This fear is very real and sometimes never goes away. To some in the LGBTQ+ community, they are afraid of losing their employment, their family, their friends and their lives for expressing their sexual orientation or gender identity. Thankfully, in recent years, we have seen many adolescents coming out of the closet far earlier than before, which just highlights the tremendous progress the LGBTQ+ community has gained in establishing acceptance and making it safe for young people to express their identity with less fear.

The History of PRIDE MONTH
There were some organizations and movements for LGBTQ+ rights that started as early as 1924 but the first Pride Event occurred in 1970. However, the event that triggered the first Pride Event took place exactly one year prior. On June 28, 1969, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in Greenwich Village that catered specifically to the LGBTQ+ community. The New York City Mafia owned the Stonewall Inn and other similar establishments. The State Liquor Authority and the New York Police Department regularly raided bars that catered to gay patrons. Where the law saw deviance, the Mafia saw a golden business opportunity. To operate the Stonewall and its other gay bars, the Mafia bribed the NYPD to turn a blind eye to the “indecent conduct” occurring behind closed doors. They also blackmailed wealthy gay patrons by threatening to “out” them. Historian David Carter presented information that the owners of the Stonewall Inn were blackmailing wealthier customers who frequented the bar. Some members of the NYPD, reportedly, would receive kickbacks from the liquor sales of the Stonewall Inn, but they did not receive kickbacks on the extortions scheme, so the members of the NYPD decided to close the Stonewall Inn permanently.

At approximately, 1:30 a.m., several members of the NYPD arrived at the Stonewall Inn and announced “Police! We’re taking the place!” Police began to line up the patrons and check their identifications. Patrons were required to wait in line outside of the building for 15 minutes while the patrol vehicles arrived. This created an increased sense of tension for the bar patrons. Their identities were safe in the bar where they could be themselves. They were now forced to confront their fear of identification as they stood and waited in front of the world. However, the patrons and police did not get the response they were expecting from the crowd of people who began to assemble. There was a large population of LGBTQ+ individuals, and it was the first time that the crowd came together in a show of force and solidarity. A scuffle broke out and the NYPD began to break up the crowd with force and the crowd fought back. The situation turned into a riot. The NYPD Tactical Patrol Force arrived to free the police who were trapped inside the bar. The NYPD then turned its attention onto the ever-growing crowd. The protestors fought back and by 4:00 a.m., the streets had mostly been cleared.

On the one-year anniversary of the police raid and ensuing riot, the Christopher Street Liberation Day occurred in New York City with corresponding Gay Pride Marches in Los Angeles and Chicago. Pride had arrived. It soon spread to major cities throughout the United States. Over the years, since 1970, and to some early protestor’s consternation, Pride shed its violent birth and replaced it with a more jovial celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. However, the meaning of Pride remains the same. It is an opportunity to gather and show the LGBTQ+ Community’s force and identity.

Why the RAINBOW flag?
This short clip from a Chicago based news station explains the history and evolution of the rainbow flag: History of the Pride Flag – YouTube

Resources/Action Items
Memorial Day

Memorial Day Weekend Events and Activities Around Ventura County — Conejo Valley Guide | Conejo Valley Events
Memorial Day 2023: Facts, Meaning & Traditions | HISTORY
Remembering LGBTQ veterans on Memorial Day | News | Seattle Pride
Memorial Day – Over 150 Years of Remembrance (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Honoring LGBTQIA+ Servicemembers on Memorial Day | News | Seattle Pride
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (defense.gov)
Changing of the Guard at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Female Sentinel) Bing Videos

Crisis Support Resources:

The Trevor Project | For Young LGBTQ Lives
Talking About Suicide | The Trevor Project

Crisis Intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQIA+ youth

The Trevor Project | For Young LGBTQ Lives

Pride History:

7 Surprising Facts About the Stonewall Riots and the Fight for LGBTQ Rights (history.com)
Pride Month 2023: Origins, Parades & Dates | HISTORY
Pride Month 2023: Origins, Parades & Dates | HISTORY

Children’s Books:

59 Children’s Books That Celebrate Pride – LGBTQ Book List for Kids – No Time For Flash Cards
» Celebrity Interviews, Parenting Tips & Entertainment10 Children’s Books To Read For Pride Month – (celebrityparentsmag.com)

LGBTQIA+ Organizations:

Ventura County

Diversity Collective VC

Worldwide

Top 68 LGBT Organizations in the World [2021] | Diversity & Social Impact Made Easy
