August 2018

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Kids who faced daunting barriers to success in the classroom had a clear message for University at Buffalo researchers who asked them as young adults to look back on their experiences with maltreatment, homelessness and their time in school: Adults can do better. “It’s as though they’re asking us as adults not to give up on them, to stick with them,” says Annette Semanchin Jones, an assistant professor in UB’s School of Social Work (SSW) and lead author of the paper with...

Basketball superstar LeBron James continues to make offseason headlines. This time, it's for something that even 76ers fans can agree on. James' I Promise School model recognizes that a child's environment plays an important role in his or her success. A high IQ and personal initiative don't mean students will excel in the classroom, especially if they don't have support at home, don't know where their next meal is coming from or don't feel safe in their own neighborhood. James has opened...

LOS ANGELES -- I WAS JOSTLING for position with a gaggle of journalists and losing ground, sandwiched four-deep in a sea of bodies during media availability at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. It was hardly an ideal environment to broach such a sensitive, personal topic as mental health, but Cavaliers forward Kevin Love had hinted three weeks earlier in Cleveland that he might be ready to share. At that time, I was interviewing Channing Frye in the Cavs' locker room regarding his...

The effects of trauma can be complex and far-reaching, and no two responses to trauma are exactly alike. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), trauma is generally defined as an overwhelming, life-altering experience that can cause ongoing pain and distress, and sometimes results in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD). Because trauma response can be unique to each individual, self-care strategies for managing trauma...

By his own account, Alejandro Cruz-Guzman’s five children have received a good education at public schools in St. Paul. His two oldest daughters are starting careers in finance and teaching. Another daughter, a high-school student, plans to become a doctor. But their success, Mr. Cruz-Guzman said, flows partly from the fact that he and his wife fought for their children to attend racially integrated schools outside their neighborhood. Their two youngest children take a bus 30 minutes each...

A few times a month, San Francisco's immigration court becomes a day-care center of sorts. Toys, stuffed animals, and coloring books decorate the waiting room. Children as young as four years old have come here not to play, but to stand in front of an immigration judge and defend themselves against deportation. When I visited the court one afternoon this past March, about 20 kids had formed a single-file line as they waited to go through security. Wide-eyed boys in t-shirts and jeans cracked...

I am a believer in what I call "radical emotional composting." A young woman hid her pregnancy and travelled across the country to give birth and put her child up for adoption. She defied the rules of the time and breastfed her baby soon after her baby was born when no one was looking. A nurse caught her in the act and literally ripped her baby from her breast. Hours later the baby was placed in foster care where, along with other babies, they were severely neglected. This baby was me. I...

At the end of my presentations and lessons on ACEs I end with the following statement, "I understand that the data-driven and cross-sector prevention of ACEs and childhood trauma sounds daunting. To keep it simple, I recommend three actions." 1: Read. Our non-profit collective published and made free to the public Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment. Find a few quiet hours to read the ten chapters. You will discover that it provides a...

Alice is a knowledgeable and caring provider in the Head Start program in Ohio, helping families maneuver their way out of poverty by providing a "head start" for their children and guidance for the caregivers in those children's lives.

Albuquerque, New Mexico has a population of approximately 560,000 people. This means that about a quarter of the population—140,000 children, women and men—have endured or will endure three or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). What makes the headlines in the news is just the tip of the iceberg. Our kids live in homes where there is abuse, neglect and all forms of traumatizing adult behaviors and most of these families will never meet someone from child welfare. Our third graders...

Hello - I am excited to share about the Health Starts at Home initiative FamilyCare Health Centers in Charleston, WV, has undertaken. We have began screening pre-natal and pediatric patients at three of our health centers and will be adding two school-based health clinics to that number in November. Patients or caregivers who score a four or higher are offered a referral to our community resource specialist who provides additional education about toxic stress and protective factors and...

Most ACEs Connection members know we’re nearly 25,000 strong...and growing! Some are surprised to learn we host more than 160 communities . The ACEs Connection home page is just a glimpse of what is going on worldwide in the ACEs movement to help prevent and heal childhood trauma, and build resilience. Behind this home page, there are more than 160 communities where thousands of people work to advance trauma-informed and resilience-building practices in their own geographic- and/or...