The UC Center Sacramento has launched a new speaker series: Finding Policy Solutions at the Nexus of Homelessness, Mental Illness, and Incarceration. The first event takes place this Wednesday, Jan. 18. Download a series flyer (PDF).

Select each title for registration info. For questions, contact UCCS-talks@ucdavis.edu.

Addressing Mental Health and Neurocognitive Dysfunction in Chronic Homelessness
January 18, 12 – 1 p.m. (PT)
Mental and cognitive health are paramount for sustaining income and independent functioning. In this presentation, Professor Elizabeth Twamley, of UC San Diego, will describe the types, rates, and implications of cognitive and psychiatric impairment in adults who are chronically homeless.

The Other Revolving Door: From Emergency Department to the Streets and Back Again
February 1, 12 – 1:15 p.m. (PT)
Many unhoused people come to the emergency room with unstable medical or mental health conditions. They are often released back to the streets either not fully stabilized or without a comprehensive follow-up plan and return for emergency care within days, weeks or months. Dr. Aimee Moulin will share her experience and research as an emergency physician at UC Davis Health. Then, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg will provide his impressions of how the system has failed in the past, how we might move forward more effectively, and how new state, county and municipality arrangements offer a glimmer of hope.

Structural Solutions for a Structural Problem: Drawing on Innovations and Best Practices on Homelessness
Feb. 8, 12 – 1 p.m. (PT)
Dr. Enrico Castillo is an academic community psychiatrist and health services researcher at the UCLA Center for Social Medicine and the associate vice chair for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry. In this lecture, he will frame homelessness as a structural problem caused by inequitable laws, institutions and socioeconomic forces. He will highlight the limitations of mental health services to address homelessness and the pitfalls of failing to recognize these limits. And, he will spotlight domestic and international best practices that address the upstream causes of homelessness.

Seeking Solutions to Chronic Homelessness: A Panel Discussion
February 15, 12 – 1:30 p.m. (PT)
In this special presentation, an academic expert and two public policymakers will explore ways in which California is beginning to address the problem of the chronically unsheltered homeless, what barriers remain and how innovative solutions might restore some of the sheen to California’s golden reputation. 
• Dr. Margot Kushel, M.D., is a professor of medicine at UCSF; division chief and director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations; and director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.
• Senator John Laird represents the 17th State Senate District, which includes all of Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties, the majority of Monterey County and parts of Santa Clara County.
• Dr. Toby Ewing is executive director of the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, a state agency working to transform California’s community mental health system.

Applying a Public Health Perspective to Improving Prison Conditions
March 1, 12 – 1 p.m. (PT)
This presentation will introduce the audience to the public health principles that have enabled the Norwegian Correctional Service to run the “world’s most humane prisons.” It will then describe the early efforts of Amend — a UCSF program that draws on public health, medical ethics, occupational health, international human rights and correctional practices to address dehumanizing conditions in U.S. prisons — to bring this approach to change California prison culture.

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