May 2020

By Perri Klass, The New York Times, May 4, 2020 Pediatric patients are not the sickest group right now, or the group most in danger. But pediatricians are worried, worried for children and families, for now and for the future. On our conference calls and Zoom meetings, everyone is worried about how stressed families are right now, about what we hear from our patients or their parents about the strain of staying home — or about the strain of parents whose work requires that they go out. About...

Leaders in ACEs/trauma/resilience movement from nine states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and the District of Columbia gathered for a networking call on May 1 to learn about flexible funding opportunities for states under the CARES Act, ways to get involved in advocacy, and share their successes and challenges in building statewide coalitions. The meeting of leaders was organized by ACEs Connection and the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) in response to COVID-19...

By Reema Amin, Chalkbeat New York, April 30, 2020 After years of searching in vain for the right school for her son, Erendira Matamoros was hopeful she found a good fit. David, a 14-year-old who is autistic and primarily speaks Spanish, is legally entitled to a small special education classroom led by a bilingual teacher, but that’s hard to come by in New York City. Only about a third of the roughly 5,500 students who required small bilingual special education classrooms this fall were...

Over the din of the negative pressure machine, I shouted goodbye to my patient. I zipped my way out of one of the little plastic enclosures in our emergency department (ED). With disgust and a bit of fear, I carefully shed my gloves, gown, and face shield. Only my precious mask remained on my face. I thought, This is a whole new world, and I hate it . The problem is that I’m losing that deep feeling of connection with patients, which is such an important part of this work. A few weeks ago,...

Joel Heller Thursday, May 7, 2020 Education Upended, continued. Please join us for the ongoing discussion of "A Better Normal — Education Upended". We are going to bring our focus back to the future. Using our breakout session format, we will identify the strategies and lessons learned from the past three weeks on regulation, relationships, and family connections that we want to bring into the future of school and ways in which we might do that. Our current capacity is 100 participants, so...

The United Way of Southwest Virginia (UWSWVA), the backbone organization of the Southwest Virginia Trauma-Informed Community Network (SWVA TICN), got an early start celebrating Resilience Week on Friday, May 1, 2020, with a Community Resilience Conversation hosted by John Richardson-Lauve. All of the members of the SWVA TICN, UWSWVA's six coalitions, and advisory councils were invited to attend. Their comprehensive approach is focused on education and communication throughout the community,...

By MDRC, May 2020 Subsidized employment programs use public funds to create or support jobs for people who can’t find employment in the regular labor market. These jobs are often called “transitional” because they are temporary until program participants can find permanent unsubsidized work. The largest subsidized employment programs in the United States have operated during periods of economic distress, most recently during the Great Recession in 2009-2010. These programs help to ensure...

By Juan Carlos Arean and Terri Strodthoff, Medium, May 5, 2020 Domestic violence tends to increase during periods of disaster, and the COVID-19 pandemic, by compounding emotional and financial stress with physical confinement, is leading to a tragically predictable rise in reports of domestic violence (DV) around the world. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres calls it “a horrifying surge.” There are troubling indicators that child abuse is also on the rise while families are sheltering...

By Sue Ryan, Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody, May 6, 2020 During the month of May, we celebrate Mother’s Day, acknowledging our mothers and all they give each day. Mother’s Day is a reminder of the importance of family and healthy relationships. Each family is unique, but the common hope is love. Societal and community definitions of gender roles place enormous expectations on mothers: to be nurturing, self-sacrificing, and relentlessly giving. Sometimes...

From Wisconsin Department of Health Services, May 6, 2020 Ahead of Children's Mental Health Awareness day tomorrow, May 7, Office of Children’s Mental Health Director Linda Hall today announces the publication of a new fact sheet focused on prioritizing children’s mental health in Wisconsin and how our communities can do that. Highlights include: Almost half of high school students in Wisconsin are feeling anxious A child typically experiences symptoms of emotional distress for 11 years...

Family estrangement is a very grief-ridden and personal experience that family members face when someone leaves or driven away from their family of origin. It occurs in families of all different demographic situations, including all races, religions, and cultures. But why do family estrangements happen? In this article, we shall focus on some of the most common reasons why family estrangements occur including: Abuse Neglect Mismatched expectations about family roles and relationships Clash...

By Mycelium Youth Network, May 2020 Mycelium Youth Network prepares youth in the Bay Area -- who are most vulnerable to and already feeling the effects of environmental racism -- for climate change. We use a merger of indigenous environmental traditions that emphasize youth environmental stewardship and relationship building alongside a rigorous STEAM curriculum that focuses on practical hands-on skills for climate resilience and mitigation that youth create and implement in their homes and...