Tagged With "Child Assessment"
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Why Mandating Mental Health Education in Schools is a Band-Aid on a Gaping Wound
Don’t get me wrong: of course I care deeply about the mental and physical health of children, including my own son’s. I don’t want students to suffer in silence and shame. But I am very concerned about just how this topic will be taught in schools.
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World Premiere: Stress & Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, November 13, 2019 When the stress in your life just doesn’t let up, and it feels like you have no support to get through the day—let alone do everything you need to do to be the best parent you can be—it can seem like there’s nothing that can make it better. But there are resources that can help, and this kind of stress—known as “toxic stress”—doesn’t have to define your life. In this video, learn more about what toxic stress is, how it...
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New ACEs data on Kidsdata.org
On behalf of California Essentials for Childhood, I am very excited to announce the release of a new Child Adversity and Resilience data topic on Kidsdata.org! This has been a collaborative effort between the CA Essentials for Childhood Initiative's Shared Data and Outcomes Work Group and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. I represent ACEs Connection Network on Essentials and am the co-chair of the Shared Data & Outcomes Work Group so I couldn't be more thrilled about...
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New Toolkit Issued to Help Providers Measure Trauma With ACES Survey [youthtoday.org]
A new toolkit is out that aims to help services providers give a survey about traumatic childhood experiences that are linked to negative effects on health and well-being. The toolkit, developed by The National Crittenton Foundation , offers recommendations about the Adverse Childhood Experiences survey, including how to talk to children and parents about the survey, track results and use the data for public education and policy advocacy. The toolkit also includes a sample protocol, case...
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Now is the Time to Be, not Do (interpersonalinsights.blog)
With Covid 19 keeping most of us at home, now's the time to let our lives catch up to us and envision a new future.
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Our Most Vulnerable Population - Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Before the pandemic, grandparents raising grandchildren were already in a precarious situation. They were struggling to meet the needs of children exposed to maltreatment and trauma while also supporting the family financially. But now, we fear, things have made a critical turn for the worse while those grandparents become unemployed, sick, or in the worst-case scenario, die due to Corona Virus.
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Parentification: Growing Up Too Soon
“ We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us - how we can take it, what we do with it - and that is what really counts in the end. How to take the raw stuff of life and make it a thing of worth and beauty - that is the test of living.” Joseph Fort Newton This week in the childhood trauma education series, I will tackle parentification . I discovered so much while researching this topic that explains a lot for me. Have you heard...
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Parentification: Growing Up Too Soon
“ We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us - how we can take it, what we do with it - and that is what really counts in the end. How to take the raw stuff of life and make it a thing of worth and beauty - that is the test of living.” Joseph Fort Newton This week in the childhood trauma education series, I will tackle parentification . I discovered so much while researching this topic that explains a lot for me. Have you heard...
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Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8 (The National Academies Press 2016)
A study published by The National Academies of Sciences in 2016 resulting in 10 Recommendations to build support for parents... "Over the past several decades, researchers have identified parenting- related knowledge, attitudes, and practices that are associated with improved developmental outcomes for children and around which parenting- related programs, policies, and messaging initiatives can be designed. However, consensus is lacking on the elements of parenting that are most important...
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Parenting’s Troubled History
As we learned from the CDC-Kaiser Permanente ACE Study , negative childhood experiences are often kept secret, downplayed, or repressed because of our powerful desire to put such things behind us. Unfortunately, our minds and our brains don’t work that way. Patterns can play out automatically, no matter how hard we try to be original and create our own realities. Just as it is important to know family medical history (e.g., diabetes or tuberculosis) it is equally important to know about our...
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Patient Preferences for Discussing Childhood Trauma in Primary Care [ThePermanenteJournal.com]
ABSTRACT Context: Exposure to traumatic events is common in primary care patients, yet health care professionals may be hesitant to assess and address the impact of childhood trauma in their patients. Objective: To assess patient preferences for discussing traumatic experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with clinicians in underserved, predominantly Latino primary care patients. Design: Cross-sectional study. Main Outcome Measure: We evaluated patients with a questionnaire...
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Physical abuse and punishment impact children's academic performance [sciencedaily.com]
A Penn State researcher and her collaborator found that physical abuse was associated with decreases in children's cognitive performance, while non-abusive forms of physical punishment were independently associated with reduced school engagement and increased peer isolation. Sarah Font, assistant professor of sociology and co-funded faculty member of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, and Jamie Cage, assistant professor in Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Social Work,...
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Positive Childhood Experiences offset ACEs: Q & A with Dr. Robert Sege about HOPE
Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...
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Progress Stalls on Child Poverty, According to New Data [datacenter.kidscount.org]
By Kids Count Data Center, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, September 27, 2019 In 2018, 13 million children in the United States — 18% of all kids — were living in poverty, and for the first time since 2014, the percentage did not decrease compared to the previous year. This is discouraging news; all children should have the economic security that provides them the opportunity to thrive. However, the share of children in poverty remains significantly lower than its recent peak of 23%, seen in...
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Promoting Trauma-Informed Parenting of Children in Out-of-Home Care: An Effectiveness Study of the Resource Parent Curriculum. (Abstract Only) [psycnet.apa.org]
By Kathryn J. Murray, Kelly M. Sullivan, Maria C. Lent, et al., APA PsycNET, March 2020 Abstract The Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC) is a workshop designed to promote trauma-informed parenting among foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers (i.e., resource parents). The ultimate goal of RPC is to improve placement stability and promote healing from traumatic stress in children who have been placed in out-of-home care. The current study examined data from multiple RPC implementation sites...
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Pueblo, CO, clinic rewrites the book on primary medical care by asking patients about their childhood adversity
In October 2015 in Pueblo, CO, the staff members of a primary care medical clinic – Southern Colorado Family Medicine at the St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center – start asking parents of newborn babies to kids five years old about the parents’ adverse childhood experiences and the resilience factors in their lives. They ask the same questions of pregnant women and their partners in the hospital’s high-risk obstetrics clinic. The results are so positive after the first year that the clinic starts...
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ACE Member Discount 18th Annual Families and Fathers National Conference Limited
I am sharing a 20% discount and that U.S. OCSE as well as trauma experts are actively participating with a special series on March 1st at the 18th Annual Families & Fathers National Conference, "Never Giving Up - Breakthrough 2017", will be hosted by Fathers & Families Coalition of America from February 27 - March 3, 2017 in Los Angeles, CA. Early Bird Registration is now open with full event, two-day or one-day options for individuals to customize their training. The focus of this...
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ACEs Science and Racism
This is a collection of resources regarding structural racism and trauma. This list aims to give a broad overview and is not all-inclusive. We welcome suggestions; if you have any, please comment below! The titles below and the PDFs in attachments are in alphabetical order. BSC Full Report Trauma Resilient Informed City Baltimore: This is the full report of the work, data, lessons, and direct quotes from several teams of people from various backgrounds in the Baltimore community as they...
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Activity Calendars for Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month
The Children's Bureau has created activity calendars that parents, programs, and community partners can use to participate in National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. Discover ways to plan and engage with families through events related to the protective factors into Child Abuse Prevention Month activities. Calendars are available in English and Spanish. https://www.childwelfare.gov/t opics/preventing/preventionmon th/spread-the-word/activity-calendars/ Other resources for National...
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Addressing Trauma and Building Resiliency as Comprehensive Disaster Planning and Response
The attached memo is intended to make observations about communities affected by disaster-related trauma, and to offer recommendations for trauma-informed recovery. Community examples provide case studies or models for other communities grappling with similar issues. Suggested resources and tools provide communities with support for accelerated action. Memo authors represent active cross sector networks that contribute to resilient community infrastructure development, awareness building,...
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Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
In Alice Miller’s classic book For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence, Miller hammers home her provocative stance that the root causes of ALL violence are a consequence of childhood trauma.
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An Open Letter to Teachers
My son and my daughter, like all the children who fill the desks in your classroom, come to school every day prepared to do the best they can and they will give you the opportunity to help them. My children may struggle in ways that frustrate you or in ways that you do not understand. They perceive, process, and express information differently than most people do.
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CA pediatrician develops, tests, gets state OK for whole-child assessment tool that includes ACEs
Over the last dozen years or so, many pediatricians, astounded by the ramifications of the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the children they care for, began integrating this science into their practices. The most common approach has been to ask parents about ACEs using a questionnaire, and to use this information to counsel parents and identify resources for the family. Different practices have been using different questionnaires: Some ask parents for their ACE scores...
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CA pediatrician develops, tests, gets state OK for whole-child assessment tool that includes ACEs
[Editor's note: This blog was first posted in April 2017. Dr. Marie-Mitchell updated the assessment by modifying a few of the questions, so we are republishing with the new assessment, one in Spanish and one in English.] Over the last dozen years or so, many pediatricians, astounded by the ramifications of the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the children they care for, began integrating this science into their practices. The most common approach has been to ask parents...
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California Plans to End 'Lunch Shaming' That Guarantees Meals for All Students [usatoday.com]
By Joshua Bote, USA Today, October 14, 2019 A bill signed Saturday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to cut the recent trend in schools of "lunch shaming." SB 265, which was originally introduced by California state Sen. Robert Hertzberg, will require that all public school students have a "state reimbursable" meal provided by the school "even if their parent or guardian has unpaid meal fees." It amends the Child Hunger Prevention and Fair Treatment Act of 2017, which previously stated...
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Child Law Penalizes Moms for Abusive Partners [capitalandmain.com]
By Angelika Albaladejo, Capital & Main, October 16, 2019 Ingrid Archie thought she was doing everything right to protect her children. She got a restraining order against her abusive partner and moved into a domestic violence shelter with her kids. Then Archie got arrested for child endangerment. It had been only a month since she’d left the relationship and she was struggling to get back on her feet. She was stressed out and trying to run errands with her two youngest daughters. One of...
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Child poverty and education
Child poverty and education The National Education Union (NEU) has published a report looking at the extent to which poverty is damaging the educational opportunities for children from poor families. Findings from a snapshot survey of 908 NEU members including heads, teachers and school support staff working in England, Wales and Northern Ireland finds that: 87% of respondents said that poverty is having a significant impact on the learning of their pupils and students; and 60% believe that...
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Children & Family COVID19 Resilience Brief 3: Overcoming Fear
Here is the latest infosheet on Resilience for Children & their Families. It takes cutting edge neurological PTSD and fear research, explaining it at a second-grade reading level. That was not easy! Please feel free to use and distribute as you see fit for professional or online resources. Stay Safe! Dr. Machelle
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Dr. Ross Greene - Trauma Informed Educators Network Podcast Episode 18
I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Ross Greene, American clinical child psychologist and New Your Times Best selling author of the books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost & Found, and Raising Human Beings, about his perspective on the current state of systems used to manage "behavior" in schools, his CPS approach, and the current pandemic! His insights are amazing and I hope you enjoy this amazing conversation. You can access the podcast from your platform of choice or through...
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Each Mind Matters: Raising Awareness For Men's Mental Health
“Don't Drive Like My Brother!” Sound familiar? “Car Talk” is the highly popular, long-running radio show hosted by two brothers who dispense colorful advice to callers to help them solve their car problems. Imagine for a moment a similar show where men – and those who care about them – called in every Sunday morning to ask how to tune up their mental health, to keep their emotions from overheating, or their mind running smoothly? Traditionally, men are raised to be self-sufficient, tough,...
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
Yes, and sadly it may have taken generations and lots of child psychology/parenting education classes to overcome this phenomenon! My great-grandfather immigrated from Germany and 3 generations later, in spite of advancing his education in child psychology, my father was very very strict and punitive. Not to the point of physical beating, but words and body language can do much to break down a child's self-esteem and ego. By the time I majored in early childhood education at CSU Sacramento,...
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
Jackie: I totally agree with you. Old habits die hard, and the "spare the rod, spoil the child" mentality (even if it doesn't involve actual beating) is still alive and well. I frequently hear people say "I was spanked/hit/scolded/harshly punished/etc. and I turned out just fine." And so it goes... As you say, education and awareness is indeed the key. I cringe when I think of some of the things I said to my own children when they were young. At the time I thought it was all in the name of...
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
Jill, how do you respond to people who say, "I was spanked/hit/etc, and I turned out just fine"?
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
Jill: Thank you for this post. It can be easy to blame ourselves (as parents) or our own parents (as children) for some things that were/are cultural pressure. I know for myself, I struggled with the "cry it out" at night before bed routine and whether that promoted self-regulation or just makes a child feel ignored. There were various and popular views saying completely opposite things. There are parents seeking to do the absolute best and not always sure of what that means. Sometimes, the...
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
Thanks, Jackie. That's a great way to respond. I'll use it!
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
To Jane and Jackie: I love Jackie’s great response to Jane’s question. I totally relate to the fear and hatred I felt when I was physically punished! Here are a few more thoughts: Usually I ask what lesson spanking imparts that couldn’t be achieved with compassionate communication. Invariably, those who sanction spanking respond that young children do not have the cognitive ability to understand verbal reasoning. Hence, a 2-year-old needs a smack to learn not to run out in front of a...
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Re: Alice Miller's For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence
Cissy: I completely relate to what you say. Until he was about three years old, my oldest son was a screamer—vicious temper tantrums during the day and screaming all night long. I felt wholly inadequate as a parent as it seemed that friends’ babies were blithely floating through life. So at the urging of many friends and relatives, I tried letting him cry it out. But it was torturous for me and I couldn’t keep it up so we just sort of muddled our way through. Fortunately, I started reading...
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Re: Parenting’s Troubled History
Kristen: Thank you for posting this. It's so detailed and interested. I learned a lot. I just heard a discussion on NPR yesterday about how kids need empathy because of that Sesame Street segment teaching it. http://wfae.org/post/sesame-study-kindness One of the things they said is that many bullies have excellent manners and sometimes the emphasis on politeness is overdone because it doesn't necessarily equate with kindness. I thought that was interesting. I agree that the hate speech in...
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Systems Transformation for the Better Normal: Follow-up Slides and Call Recording
Find in this post the slides from the Systems Transformation Better Normal call, featuring RYSE Youth Center's Associate Director Kanwarpal Dhaliwal. A link to the call recording is also provided.
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Multiple Factors Predict Higher Child Care Costs for Low-Income Hispanic Households [hispanicresearchcenter.org]
By Danielle A. Crosby, Julia Mendez, National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families, May 28, 2020 Cost is a key factor shaping families’ decisions about whether and when to use different types of child care arrangements for children. Recent federal guidelines suggest that affordable child care should cost no more than 7 percent of a family’s income. Yet, national analyses indicate that the average market price of formal child care (e.g., centers and licensed or regulated family...
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The Traumatic Impact of Racism on Young People and How to Talk About It [Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg]
Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg (Keynote speaker from the recent Creating a Resilient Community Conference) shared the excerpt from his book Reaching Teens titled The Traumatic Impact of Racism on Young People and How to Talk About It. This is a valuable resource for anyone interacting with youth and we are providing the excerpt as an attachment here for you to read and share. Also, Dr. Ginsburg will be coming back to our community (virtually) and you’ll be invited to his workshop. Look out for the...
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I learned the impact of prolonged exposure to stress from my foster child [washingtonpost.com]
By Jenn O'Connor, The Washington Post, June 6, 2020 You know what stress is, right? You’re late for work, your car won’t start, gas costs more than you expected. We’ve all been there, and it’s not pleasant, that palm-sweating, heart-racing anxiety. Luckily, it’s not long-lasting — not toxic. What is toxic stress? It’s prolonged adversity and/or abuse — not having enough to eat or being exposed to violence. It’s the kind of stress that puts you on edge and keeps you there, day after day after...