August 2018

Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...

“Fixing and helping create a distance between people, but we cannot serve at a distance. We can only serve that to which we are profoundly connected.” Rachel Naomi Remen on the healing power of service.

About halfway through the three-hour siege at Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake, the wounded gunman, Gene Atkins, looked at one of his hostages, MaryLinda Moss, and told her it was all over for him. “I just shot at a cop,” he said. Moss, a 55-year-old artist who exudes calm, feared a suicidal gunman could spark a bloodbath. Through a series of disastrous decisions by Atkins, dozens of strangers had ended up at the grocery store on a hot Saturday afternoon, drenched in fear and surrounded by SWAT...

" Kill the spider" describes what can happen when our client’s minds believe the lies perpetuated by a traumatic event. The result can be the stronghold of shame and require shame therapy . Cobwebs are the metaphor for the child’s trauma symptoms (i.e., depression, aggression, addiction, anger, self-harm) that medicate the stronghold of shame – the spider. Trauma therapists who attend my workshops tell me it is easy to overlook the spider. They recommend therapeutic interventions that help...

I was honored to be given the key to the city by the Mayor of Owensboro, Kentucky, Tom Watson. He shared that it was a gesture of thanks for my collaborative work to reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in their community. The work being done is a team approach involving many committed local stakeholders and the "key" is symbolic of opening doors to new ways of addressing ACEs that lead to measurable and meaningful change. Owensboro greatly values their children's well-being and plans...

Officials say Louisville is on track to meet established goals to address substance abuse in the city. The Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness in March released a plan to address drug abuse in Louisville . Input from Louisville Metro departments and programs contributed to the plan, which addresses substance abuse through prevention, recovery and public policy changes. One priority of the initiative is to address substance abuse among young people. When kids face adversity at a...

My summers are spent teaching at Rutgers-Camden School of Nursing in the School Nurse Certificate Program. It is truly one of my most cherished roles and this summer was no exception. Every year I learn alongside my students, all who are adult learners returning to school to meet the state requirements to become school nurses. But truthfully, it is so much more than only meeting course requirements. The students are vulnerable, learning a new nursing specialty, and challenging themselves in...

A mission is never finished till it’s actually complete. Sounds obvious, of course, but it’s something I didn’t recognize until I left Afghanistan — after my mission was technically “done.” Growing up, all I ever wanted was to have a mission. It was something that was I born and bred to do. In my family, military service goes back four generations to my great-grandfather, who served in WWI. But, to be honest, I mostly just wanted to be an Airborne Ranger. Those are the meanest dudes on the...

The Chronicle of Social Change is highlighting each of the policy recommendations made this summer by the participants of the Foster Youth Internship Program (FYI), a group of 10 former foster youths who have completed congressional internships. The program is overseen each summer by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. Each of the FYI participants crafted a policy recommendation during their time in Washington, D.C. Today we highlight the recommendation of Calli Crowder, 25, a...

The controversy that swept Southern states over Confederate monuments is spreading across the nation, as cities contend with calls to remove statues depicting stereotyped and subjugated Native Americans. Among them: a sculpture in San Francisco’s Pioneer Monument near City Hall that shows a Native American at the feet of a Spanish missionary and vaquero, and one in New York City that depicts a Native American and an African holding the stirrups of Theodore Roosevelt astride a horse. Earlier...

Chicago’s aldermen enjoy a great deal of power in their respective jurisdictions, including the ability to block or restrict new housing development. And that authority—referred to as the aldermanic prerogative—has been used to preserve racial and economic segregation, and worsen the city’s affordability crisis . That’s according to a recent report by the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance (CAFHA), which states that aldermen in majority-white, well-off wards have disproportionately deployed...

State legislatures are an ever-changing landscape. Some states cram in a year of policy into short sessions, and the membership is constantly turning over. It can be a tough environment for child welfare issues to find traction, even with widespread concern over increases in foster youth and shortages in foster homes. One national organization is taking a crack at embedding more state houses with legislators poised to take the lead in this arena. The National Conference of State Legislatures...