Children’s Institute & Partners Launch Mental Health Awareness Campaign

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Children’s Institute, Partners for Children South L.A., St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, Watts Leadership Institute and a network of Watts-based nonprofit organizations, announced the launch of You Good?, a bilingual mental health awareness campaign centered in South Los Angeles.

Launching during Mental Health Awareness month, the campaign’s goal is to familiarize residents of South Los Angeles with signs of trauma and destigmatize discussions about self-care, emotional well-being and counseling. Additionally, the campaign will help connect individuals and families to resources and supportive services within the coalition of trusted partners.

The campaign was created with community input from stakeholders, focus groups and CII’s Community Wellness Advisory Committee (CWAC), made up of community residents and providers who volunteer their time to support the well-being of the community through outreach and wellness initiatives.

“The past year has been incredibly stressful — the pandemic, job losses, isolation and social unrest have all contributed to an unprecedented need for emotional support,” said Ginger Lavender-Wilkerson, LMFT, Clinical Program Manager at Children’s Institute. “There are long-term consequences when traumatic experiences go unaddressed, and we want to ensure that our community is connected to resources that support healthy and hopeful futures.”

Designed as a question, You Good? seeks to engage with the audience and start a conversation, while the tagline — “It’s okay to say you’re not okay” — creates space for an authentic answer. The campaign features multiple colorful and high-impact creative components including a Spanish  and English website, print and digital ads and outdoor placements including murals. All materials focus on emotional well-being and encourage outreach for free support services including counseling, preschool, employment and financial resources, health care, housing supports, parenting groups and more.

The campaign is funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health as part of a four-year grant focused on residents of South Los Angeles (in a subsection of Supervisorial District 2) who are currently experiencing or are at risk of trauma from factors including COVID-19, racism and poverty.

Visit the campaign website at yougood.la and follow on Facebook, Instagram  and Twitter.

Processing the Chauvin Verdict

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Dear Friends of CII,

Today, we are comforted that the long journey to healing can begin for so many. We are optimistic that this verdict is a critical step on the path to racial justice and police reform that is so urgently needed in America.

However, witnessing the trial has underscored how far we have to go. Many of the children and families we work with have experienced multiple layers of trauma this year, as have many of our staff members and many of you. Still in the midst of a global pandemic, we have also experienced profound personal loss. We are all juggling much more than we ever imagined. And just when it seems like we are at our breaking point, another tragedy unfolds.

CII stands with the family of George Floyd and all victims of racism, excessive force, bigotry and systemic inequity, and we will continue fighting for justice and a brighter future for our kids.

Please take care of yourself and your loved ones and stay engaged. Thank you for your ongoing support.

With my warmest regards,


Martine Singer
President & CEO

Dr. Todd Sosna Named Chief Program Officer at Children’s Institute

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We’re pleased to announce that Todd Sosna, Ph.D. has been named Children’s Institute’s Chief Program Officer effective today.

In this new role, Dr. Sosna will lead all Early Education, Behavioral Health, Family Strengthening and Community Innovations programs for the agency, overseeing a budget of more than $70 million and a staff of 800.

Dr. Sosna has served as Interim Senior Vice President of Clinical Services at Children’s Institute since April 2018 and held the role of Senior VP for Program Evaluation and Improvement from 2012 to 2014.

“Over the past eight months, Dr. Sosna has demonstrated strong leadership, collaboration and accountability, and has fostered strong morale throughout the reorganization of our clinical and community programs. We currently have the unique opportunity to unify our broad array of services to achieve lasting impact for the children and families we serve, and I am confident Dr. Sosna is the best suited candidate for this crucial role,” said Martine Singer, President & CEO, Children’s Institute.

“As Chief Program Officer, I look forward to strengthening CII’s position as a leader in child trauma, behavioral health and early education, and deepening partnerships with other community-based organizations, funders and policymakers,” said Dr. Sosna, Chief Program Officer, Children’s Institute.

Dr. Sosna’s prior positions have included Senior VP of Operations for Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, Deputy Director for the California Institute for Mental Health and Assistant Director for Santa Barbara County Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services. He is known for developing Santa Barbara County’s nationally recognized multi-agency Integrated Children’s System of Care, advancing California’s large scale dissemination of evidence-based practices, leading child welfare and juvenile justice reforms, and establishing early childhood mental health programs in partnership with Head Start agencies.

Dr. Sosna earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Washington State University in 1991, and is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Support for Children Exposed to Gun Violence

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With orange balloons flanking the stage at our Watts campus, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, Children’s Institute and the Los Angeles Police Department announced the REACH TEAM, a new program to support children exposed to gun violence in the Watts community.

In 2017, there were approximately 110 calls made to LAPD in Watts reporting shots fired, with over 40% of the calls coming from local housing developments.

When gun violence occurs in a community, children are often witnesses to the event and its aftermath. The impact of gun violence exposure is associated with learning, health, emotional and behavioral issues, as well as substance abuse later in life. Early intervention and emotional and social support are key in preventing and healing the symptoms of trauma.

Setting the tone for the announcement, actor/poet/activist and Watts native Kyland Turner performed one of his original pieces of poetry.

Following his performance, Turner commented, “I’m 23 and I’ve lost more friends than I can count on both of my hands to violence and I don’t think that’s normal. I don’t think it’s normal to experience this thing of literally living in a war zone, and I had to find a way out. For me it was poetry, it was art, it was spoken word, it was writing.”

L to R: Kyland Turner, Actor/Poet/Activist; Yvette Martinez, Children’s Institute Administrative Assistant; Dennis Kato, Deputy Chief Operations-South Bureau, LAPD 

“Children deserve safe and secure childhoods, and when violence erupts into their lives, we have to step in and act, and that’s just what we are going to do,” said Feuer. “I have put Deputy City Attorney Lara Drino, who has years of experience working with abused children, in charge of our efforts to work with our partners to intervene quickly and effectively to reduce the long-term trauma children exposed to violence suffer.”

The REACH TEAM aims to ensure children and families exposed to gun violence receive appropriate and timely crisis intervention and support services through Children’s Institute and partner organizations.

“Children’s Institute is so pleased to be partnering with the City Attorney’s office and LAPD on this important initiative that is a natural extension of our work offering trauma-informed services and support to children and families in the Watts community and throughout Los Angeles. In addition to providing early intervention and follow up care through our REACH TEAM, we also hope to increase community awareness around the possible long-term effects of gun violence exposure and encourage outreach for support,” said Martine Singer, President & CEO, Children’s Institute.

“Shots fired in our community tear at the very fabric of our emotional security, especially for our children,” said Michel Moore, LAPD Chief of Police. “There is no excuse for a child in our city to be exposed to gun violence, and the Los Angeles Police Department will work diligently to ensure our most vulnerable residents are safe and supported.”

When a gunshot is reported in the Watts community, LAPD will assess the scene and notify the REACH TEAM, comprised of Children’s Institute staff, who will provide an initial crisis response to the families involved as soon as possible. From there, children identified for follow-up support will be referred to Children’s Institute to receive trauma-informed health services, as well as other family services and support.

Children’s Institute staff member Yvette Martinez closed the event with her personal account of growing up in South Los Angeles in the midst of gun violence. “Once you are connected to the effects of one bullet whether by sight, sound or because you knew the individual’s family, you are never the same. The support of my family has always kept me going. But once again I ask, ‘should we have to cope without professional help?'”

As a part of the program, the LA City Attorney’s office and Children’s Institute will regularly conduct community outreach within Watts schools, housing developments, community organizations and nonprofits. Children and families in Watts who have been exposed to gun violence in the past can also reach out for support.

This initiative has received guidance and support from the Watts Gang Task Force and The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles.

Daniel Beaty’s “emergency” and The Healing Power of the Arts

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On Saturday, September 8, an eager crowd gathered at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills for multi-talented artist Daniel Beaty’s powerful one-man show “emergency” presented by Children’s Institute.

Foster youth from CII’s Individualized Transitional Skills Program (ITSP) and high school students from Santee Education Complex arrived on school buses and were treated to a pre-show Chipotle feast before taking their seats in the Bram Goldsmith Theater.

The lights dimmed, cell phones were silenced, and Beaty immediately commanded the room through poetry, song, humor and an array of characters ranging from two young brothers with a mentally ill father to a little girl living with AIDs.

Following the performance, Beaty was joined by Judy Belk, President & CEO of The California Wellness Foundation, for a conversation about his personal journey and the power of art to heal.

”Similarly, art creates a relatedness and a shared experience that touches us on a soul place. Who would think that I, as this big black guy, would be playing a little girl with AIDS? But I do that and that’s consistently a character that moves people the most,” said Beaty who continued,“In our core, despite all of the illusions of separation that are so pervasive in our society, we know we’re connected to each other. We know we’re made of the same stuff and we desperately need artists to remind us of that.”

As the young people exited the theater, many were moved by the performance and shared their reactions:

“I thought that Daniel was very inspiring for his strength and his way of expressing his lifestyle, what he’s been through. He really made an impact on the youth today, like how we can get through a lot of things through art. It doesn’t have to be what we’ve been through, it can be what we want to be or what we want for our future. He really models strength and creativity and that’s not something that I’ve ever seen before.”

“I thought it was incredible. I liked all the characters that he played, but when he talked about not having his dad around…his mom was the primary caregiver. The roles for me are reversed but I still understand what he was trying to say. I thought it was beautiful how he incorporated everybody’s life situation.”

In Beaty’s words, “It’s so important for young people to be exposed to different worlds and different experiences, such as coming to a beautiful theater like The Wallis…When I got to Yale and began to see how other people were living, I discovered that the trauma that was normalized in my childhood was not necessarily what everybody else was dealing with. And so my question became, How do I start to get free?”

Thank you once again to the sponsors who made this event possible:
The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, David Bohnett Foundation, Southern California Grantmakers and The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.