Note: The impacts of toxic stress and the brain's neuroplasticity are discussed. The importance of infancy and attachment are here. ACEs are mentioned briefly as are trauma-informed general approaches. There is no surprise content to those of us who know about ACEs science.
However, this is a great guide. It's accessible (for parents like me). The mention of ACEs could obviously be expanded upon. However, what is thrilling is the acknowledgement of how shame-reducing all of this science can be for parents and families who have been in the child welfare system (or struggled with ACEs).
Here's an excerpt:
A brief description of the 17-page guide is shown below. It's from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. The pdf can be downloaded in from the resource library. It's at the top of the list here.
How can we use insights from cutting-edge science to improve the well-being and long-term life prospects of the most vulnerable children in our society? This is both a critical challenge and a powerful opportunity to affect the trajectories of millions of children in the United States and around the world. It is a question of particular importance to those who make or affect public policy. This paper shows how the science of child development can be leveraged to strengthen and improve the public child welfare system so that it can better support the children, families, and communities it serves.
The paper is intended for leaders in the public agencies responsible for child protection and related functions; in the private, non-profit agencies that provide many of the services in these systems; in the courts, which play a critical role in child welfare; in legislative committees that oversee child welfare and related services; and in the many other public systems, such as early childhood education, mental health, and juvenile justice, whose support is essential to success in child welfare.
Note: One of the reasons I'm so eager to get ACEs science into the hands of all parents via the Parenting with ACEs group is that it increases understanding of why so many parents have challenges (us, our own parents or those we work with).
The facts can reduce shame and blame while helping show and explain how and why different parenting and self-care strategies might be useful. It encourages us to consider new styles, tradition and practices even if (or because) they seem to be a radical shift from family history, culture or patterns.
So often, traditional therapy and many social service supports skip this part entirely or somehow we as parents are made to feel we are abandoning our family culture, history, loyalty and ways by trying new approaches.
But we can't commit to change if we aren't sold on why it's necessary or helpful or useful or beneficial. I'm not sure why this information is not shared more directly with all parents-to-be.
Is it because people think families won't care, understand or will be too emotionally overwhelmed? Is it because people think parents somehow already know but just all refuse to do something different?
I'd love to see a shorter version of this handed out at doctor's visits where we wait for 15 min. to an hour bored because our phones died or the magazines are dated. What a good use of wait time that might be. I know it's when I've every vaccine warning or oversized poster left on a waiting room wall.
I hope we can make these messages more clear and popular so that they reach all parents and teens through adults. It improves our understanding of parents and parenting and reduces shame at the same time. How healing is that?
Comments (1)