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WELLNESS TOPICS

Hi, UTLA SLPs,

We are sharing again the links again for En'Dea Marrone and Ally Puga and Monica Roper. Let's continue to show these SLPs and their families lots of love and support as they recover from the tremendous loss of their homes. We encourage everyone to give generously and share widely.

In unity,

Kyoko, Sally, Leah and Sara

Latest on the Los Angeles Fires

It will be weeks before the scope of loss and damage from the firestorms is fully assessed. People across Southern California are being impacted in countless ways, from the loss of power and water to the loss of jobs, businesses, and homes. The fallout will be with us for a long time.

UTLA is committed to connecting with members impacted by the fires as soon as possible. If you have been impacted by the fires, please complete this online assessment and share with any UTLA member you know who has been affected.

Disaster Impact Assessment

Resources for UTLA Members

UTLA leadership is working to identify additional resources for members in need and to develop demands of the district to meet the needs of those significantly impacted by the fires.

Childcare win: District agrees to flexibility

In response to fierce organizing by UTLA members, the district agreed this week to a new districtwide policy on flexibility for childcare issues related to the return to in-person instruction. This is a great win for families who have been struggling to figure out childcare.

If you are a member with a childcare issue, reach out to your administrator and explore solutions, such as being able to Zoom from home or leaving at a different time to pick up your child. The district issued this memo and held a meeting with local district supervisors this week to tell local school leaders to be as flexible as possible in trying to find creative solutions. Even if you previously asked for accommodation but your administrator said no, try asking again now that LAUSD has clearly communicated the need for creativity and flexibility districtwide.

If you receive an unreasonable denial, talk to your chapter chair, and reach out to your Area rep and UTLA Area leadership. Also send an email to UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz, utlapresident@utla.net.

The district has also agreed to extend the deadline for the $500 per child for childcare subsidy for those who missed the previous deadline, until May 14, when the May forms are due. Check instructions at the district’s Human Resources page.

Since the return to in-person instruction, UTLA members have organized around their childcare needs — by driving petitions, amplifying the issue on social media, giving interviews to the press, and turning advocacy into action. UTLA was relentless in our conversations with Beutner, the district’s bargaining team, and various School Board members to press them on childcare issues.

This week we held a UTLA childcare forum with 75 mothers, and the stories shared were heart-wrenching — like the educator who was denied an accommodation for her medically fragile child, the teacher threatened with a negative evaluation if she didn’t return to in-person instruction, and the first-year educator who was waitlisted for daycare at every place she tried.

There were stories of desperation and anxiety — and they are paralleled in working families across the country, from warehouse workers to grocery store employees and bus drivers. Childcare for working families is a right, not a privilege.

Women of color compose the majority of the LAUSD workforce. Access to childcare is a social justice issue, and we will keep advocating for sustainable solutions, on the local, state, and national level.

LAUSD Childcare guidance

Childcare Subsidy Program Instructions

Black Wellness Caucus for support & itinerant staff

For all Black support staff and itinerant staff working in LA Unified: A new group has been formed — the Black Wellness Caucus — as a subgroup of the UTLA Racial Justice Task Force. This group is for Black support and itinerant staff who are interested in connecting for more social/professional support from fellow staff members and joining Black staff from across the district to center wellness, healing, and safety as tenets of Black student achievement. See more info on the graphic below or sign up for the mailing list by sending your name, title, and non-LAUSD email address to evamays86@gmail.com.

VACCINES

We have been getting questions about the vaccine, so would like to share this link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website that provides information on the vaccine. The main information states:

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history.
CDC recommends you get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible.

Read more about Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines from CDC

CDC on Why people with certain medical conditions NEED TO TAKE the vaccine

LOCKDOWN WELLNESS

Employee Wellness is central to Union Work. We'd love to hear from you about what helps you to stay well in normal and not so normal times. For a start, here are some resources on this topic. I love this video about managing wellness in isolation below.

Backyard gardening: grow your own food, improve your health - Harvard Health BlogA new book from First Lady Michelle Obama, "American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America," details the challenges and joys the First Lady has experienced with her now-famous White House garden. It also looks at community gardens all across America, and how they can improve health. The book contains helpful hints for starting your own vegetable garden, as well as a school or community garden. This effort dovetails with Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" initiative. In addition to getting more physical activity, so the thinking goes, eating more food harvested from the ground and less from packages can help kids — and adults — become healthy or stay that way. The health benefits of growing your own food range from helping you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to deciding what kinds of fertilizers and pesticides come in contact with your food.

Reducing Social Media Interaction improves happiness

Recently a member asked if we could have an interface for our group outside of the Facebook platform.

There have been several studies and short and longer presentations about how FB can impact negatively on users' quality of life. Some are listed below hopefully informative and/or entertaining.

It should not be necessary for members to have an account on FB to access information or see announcements from your SLP UTLA representatives.

UTLA has an official Facebook page at facebook.com/UTLAnow/. This is the official UTLA Facebook presence. They also have an awesome website with lots of resources and information. The site link is listed on the front page and here it is again. www.utla.net

This website will post content and announcements regularly. You can bookmark our site and check it.

Online Social Networking and Mental HealthDuring the past decade, online social networking has caused profound changes in the way people communicate and interact. It is unclear, however, whether some of these changes may affect certain normal aspects of human behavior and cause psychiatric disorders. ...

Thinking styles that can impact your mental health, and then what to do about them.

WHAT HAS BEEN HELPING YOU STAY WELL IN THE PANDEMIC?

We'd love to hear what helps you and we can add it to this wellness page.

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