Welcome to the AAP-CA2!

OUR MISSION
The mission of the American Academy of Pediatrics is to champion optimal physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children, adolescents, and young
adults and to advocate for and support its members in these endeavors.

Chapter 2 includes seven of the ten Southern California counties: Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

Membership Benefits

We publish a monthly newsletter highlighting current affairs, advocacy priorities and events

Members can be highlighted on our website, featuring short videos to showcase projects and accomplishments. 

Access to Committees

Pediatric Job Opportunities

State Advocacy

Legislative Advocacy is our strongest presence, locally and in the State – The health industry is changing and the pace in Sacramento is constantly moving. As a member of AAP Southern California Chapter 2, your voice as a  pediatrician can be heard through the State Government Affairs committee.

Our local priorities are safe return to school (COVID-19), immunizations, teenage vaping, immigrant health and ACEs. We are part of local coalitions and you will see us speak at several press conferences. In 2021, we have issued press releases and held press conferences on the safe return to in-person education. We have given statements in favor of a ban on flavored tobacco at over twenty municipalities, and in front of the County of Los Angeles Supervisors. We were instrumental in the adoption of the first two citywide ordinances in the US prohibiting the sale of all tobacco products: Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach.

Reach out and Read Inland Empire

Reach Out and Read Inland Empire gives young children in Riverside and San Bernardino County a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.

Click here to view Reach out and Read Inland Empire Website

Become a Provider for ROR IE

The Reach Out and Read model of literacy promotion and family engagement consists of three key elements:

  • Primary care providers (Doctors, NPs and PAs) are trained to deliver anticipatory literacy guidance to parents and caregivers of children from birth through 5 years of age during each well-child visit. This age-appropriate guidance centers on the importance of elements such as: frequent and early exposure to language, looking at board books and naming pictures with infants, rhyme and repetition for gaining phonemic awareness during toddlerhood, and reading interactively (such as asking open-ended questions) when reading with preschoolers. Providers also use this opportunity to model reading aloud and introduce it as another way to support positive interactions between caregiver and child.

  • During well-child visits for children ages 6 months through 5 years, the provider starts the visit by giving the child a new, developmentally appropriate book to take home, building a child’s collection of 8-10 new books before kindergarten.

  • Reach Out and Read sites also create literacy-rich environments that may include gently used books for waiting room use or for siblings to take home. In some waiting rooms, Reach Out and Read volunteers model for parents the pleasures and techniques of reading aloud with very young children.

Family and Provider Resources

Help Me Grow Inland Empire

ACE's Aware

Help Me Grow Inland Empire provides free developmental screenings and risk screenings for families with young children. Help Me Grow also provides free referrals to community services and early intervention services, and helps families navigate these services. Families and providers can visit the Help Me Grow website or call the Access Center at 1-888-HMGIE-16 for information and support.

ACEs Aware is an initiative led by the Office of the California Surgeon General and the Department of Health Care Services to give Medi-Cal providers training, clinical protocols, and payment for screening children and adults for ACEs.

Resources for Families

Reach Out and Read is here for you so that you can be there for them. We understand the difficulties of parenting especially during the current climate of the world. Young children are very observant, and you may be struggling to address difficult conversations with them. It is during these times of anxiety when children are most in need of a secure environment and opportunities for one-on-one engagement with a loved one.

Monthly Newsletters

President’s Message | Disaster Planning (Millicent Wilson, MD) | Pediatric Symposium Abstract | In the News | Press Release | Health Advisory | UCLA Anti-Vaping Task Force | First 5 LA – Technical Assistance | Member Spotlight (Karinne Van Groningen, MD, MPH) | Residency Corner (Victoria Goldman MD & Bethany Burdick, MD) | Upcoming Events| Section on Early Career Physicians | Climate Change Committee | CHOC Children’s Lecture Series |  Recorded Events | Amazon Smile | Resources | LA Immigrant Youth Resource Toolkit | ACEs Aware Medi-Cal reimbursement |  Advertise in our Newsletter | Article Submissions |

 

The AAP-CA2 Newsletter Editorial Review Board was established in July 2020. Its goals are to highlight educational content and resources of value to chapter members and to showcase our chapter membership while maintaining consistency of style and form across submissions.