June 2020

For anyone who has access to the internet and a computer. Please share the invite widely! Commitment Due by July 15th I'm thrilled to invite you and yours to join a six month pilot to imagine and actuate Early Childhood Learning & Wellness that more fully benefits all children, families, and communities. I cannot think of better people than you all to help shape this group. Also, I hope it's a helpful option for schools, programs, organizations, and clinics that are looking for...

May 5, 2020 Counties are often faced with an array of unique funding and capacity pressures. During crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever for county officials to prioritize where and how they use their already-limited resources. The latest brief from Stepping Up’s In Focus series— Prioritizing Policy, Practice, and Funding Improvements —provides county officials with guidance on how to identify the most impactful changes needed to reduce the number of people in...

Transforming Trauma Episode 016: Strange Situation: A Journey into Understanding Attachment, Motherhood and Developmental Trauma with Bethany Saltman In this episode of Transforming Trauma, author Bethany Saltman shares the lessons she learned while writing Strange Situation: A Mother’s Journey Into The Science Of Attachment . Bethany and host Sarah Buino explore the different roles that curiosity, delight, anxiety, shame, and acceptance play when looking at parent-child attachment, and...

By Emma Goldberg, The New York Times, June 23, 2020 Growing up, Ashley Reynolds grew accustomed to marking rites of passage in the shadow of her older brother’s ghost. Her brother, Jeff Jr., named for their father, was shot at a house party when he was 18 and Reynolds was 3. On every birthday and holiday since, Reynolds has felt a sense of grief mingling with her joy, because she knows her parents wish that Jeff Jr. could be there to celebrate too. (He would have now been 33.) But high...

By Olivia Bowden, Global News, June 22, 2020 Some Black parents teach their children never to lose a receipt in case you’re accused of stealing or to keep your hands out of your pocket so they are visible to those around you. These are just some of the lessons Black people may tell their children to keep them safe from violence linked to anti-Black racism, said Myrna Lashley, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at McGill University in Montreal. But the need to constantly...

By Karen Gross, The Hechinger Report, June 22, 2020 Our students are traumatized. They are living with fear and confusion. They are experiencing or witnessing police violence, rioting and looting. And schools, a place where children typically process events and emotions, are shuttered. What are children to do? Who will acknowledge, understand and respond to their trauma and its accompanying symptomology? Who’s there to enable our students to understand racism and violence, and to mitigate...

By WJCT Editor, WJCT Public Media, June 22, 2020 A new California rule requires everyone to wear face masks in public as more businesses and public spaces reopen in the state this week. For some residents, the mandate is controversial even as COVID-19 hospitalizations are surging. California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris says public health officials are considering how to boost economic activity in the safest way possible. “The goal of this is really around protecting Californians...

By Cara Anthony, The Columbian, June 21, 2020 Champale Greene-Anderson keeps the volume up on her television when she watches 5-year-old granddaughter Amor Robinson while the girl’s mom is at work. “So we won’t hear the gunshots,” Greene-Anderson said. “I have little bitty grandbabies, and I don’t want them to be afraid to be here.” As a preschooler, Amor already knows and fears the sounds that occurred with regularity in their neighborhood before the pandemic — and continue even now as the...

By The Staffs of KHN and The Guardian, Kaiser Health News, June 23, 2020 America’s health care workers are dying. In some states, medical personnel account for as many as 20% of known coronavirus cases. They tend to patients in hospitals, treating them, serving them food and cleaning their rooms. Others at risk work in nursing homes or are employed as home health aides. “Lost on the Frontline,” a collaboration between KHN and The Guardian, has identified 679 such workers who likely died of...

Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us, Thanks! Michael. The Surviving Spirit Newsletter June 2020 http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-06-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_June_2020.pdf Newsletter Contents : 1] I desperately miss human touch. Science may explain why. By...

Whether or not to screen for ACEs in primary care is an important debate—and I hear and respect the passion from both sides of the argument. I fall in the “pro-ACE assessments” camp, but with some important caveats. I think that assessments for ACEs are dramatically different from screening for autism or developmental delays. In my opinion, assessments for ACEs in primary care should be primarily about building relationships.

By Change Lab Solutions, June 23, 2020 Access to safe, stable, and affordable housing is crucial for community health, and COVID-19 is amplifying its importance. Access to housing helps individuals practice social distancing and maintain adequate hygiene to prevent infection. Housing quality is equally important. Given that families are encouraged to stay home as much as possible during the pandemic, it is critical that individuals have housing that is free of lead, mold, and other harmful...