Blog

The October 19-21, 2022 biennial Together for Families Conference is a unique virtual event that connects various stakeholders from across the U.S. and Canada in the Family Support and Strengthening Field to focus on best and promising practice for supporting families’ advancement. This conference, co-hosted by key national organizations in the field, is designed for practitioners at the program, systems, and funder levels, it will provide valuable opportunities to learn from expert...

By Anya Kamenetz, Illustration: L.A. Johnson/NPR, National Public Radio, February 10, 2022 Dale Farran has been studying early childhood education for half a century. Yet her most recent scientific publication has made her question everything she thought she knew. "It really has required a lot of soul-searching, a lot of reading of the literature to try to think of what were plausible reasons that might account for this." And by "this," she means the outcome of a study that lasted more than...

By Britt Cannon, Illustration: Neto Junior, Collider, February 12, 2022 Disney is no stranger to exploring some heavier aspects of life. Many of their releases from the last couple of decades have reputations for being tear-jerkers. More recently, films like Tangled , Inside Out , and Soul unpack emotional abuse, gaslighting, trauma, and even consciousness and death. Encanto is another incredible addition to a long line of animated features that carry a deeper message. Encanto is receiving...

PACEs Connection is helping to get the world out about this, 17th year of Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Day. See below for instructions on downloading, coloring, and entering your sheet in the coloring contest, and you may win a bag of RAK swag! On #RandomActsOfKindnessDay, (February 17, 2022), five random entries will be selected to receive a RAK #MakeKindnessTheNorm Swag bag. Visit https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/ to download a coloring sheet and instructions now!

This article from Mental Health America discusses common stressors faced by single parents. Single-parent families are increasingly common in the United States – some start that way, while others come about after divorce, death, or incarceration. Sometimes one parent’s job requires them to travel often or for extended periods, making their partner effectively a single parent at times. There are many types of single-parent families, headed by a biological parent, grandparent, foster or...

By Pam Jarvis, Photo: Runar Pederson Holkestad/Creative Commons, Yorkshire Bylines, January 30, 2022 As time goes by we see more and more initiatives funnelled into education to ‘close the gap’ between children who live in families with incomes that place them into the ‘disadvantaged’ category. Yet again and again we find that very modest returns leave politicians disappointed. Instead, we should be looking at the environments that children inhabit before they even enter the school gates.

By The HOPE Team, 2/9/22, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ The American Academy of Pediatrics released two new snapshots in the Family Snapshots: Life during the Pandemic series. These reports share what parents found the most helpful or most challenging in raising their children throughout lockdown and as the pandemic progressed. In the Words of Parents Part 1: Work and Family Finances and In the Words of Parents Part 2: Remote Education and Home life . [ Click here to read more. ]

A New Path Forward: A Report on How Stigma Harms Youth exposed to Parental Substance Use Disorder and Recommendations for a New Path Forward NEW REPORT: On February 3rd, Starlings Community released a FIRST of its kind report on how stigma impacts youth exposed to parental substance use disorder. Approximately 1 in 6 youth are exposed to the stress and stigma of a parent's substance use disorder. These children/youth are at double the risk for depression, triple the risk for addiction, and...

In October 2021, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and ZERO TO THREE convened a group of state leaders and national experts to discuss strategies to promote the economic security of families with infants and toddlers. Four policy areas were addressed: cash assistance and tax credits, paid family and medical leave, housing, and education and training. Together, panelists and participants discussed the history of support in each of these areas, recent laws and legislative proposals,...

By Anton C. Bizzell, Photo: Unsplash, Psychology Today, January 26, 2022 The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on individuals and groups around the world, from frontline health care professionals to service workers to the elderly to entire families decimated by the virus. However, there is a large, traumatized cohort that requires more attention : our youth. How do we help young people cope with the upheaval in their lives due to the coronavirus , on top of the many other traumas...

By Shayne Rodriguez Thompson, Photo: wikimedia/WhiteHouse.gov, HipLATINA, January 28, 2022 The ever-inspiring Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor , just released her fourth children’s book earlier this week, J ust Help! How to Build a Better World , inspired by her beloved mom. Sonia credits her with instilling an attitude of positivity and optimism in her. Celina Báez Sotomayor died in July 2021 of cancer at 93 years old and following the loss Sonia was inspired to write this book to...

By Reema Amin, Photo: José A. Alvarado Jr./Chalkbeat, Chalkbeat, February 1, 2022 When New York City school officials introduced a new COVID policy during winter break, panic spread among many Bangladeshi parents in parts of central Brooklyn. In a letter to families, officials said students could now stay in school if exposed to COVID, as long as they tested negative on at-home tests. The letter also said officials “ strongly encourage ” children to get a test before returning to school —...