Blog

By Paul S Dilorenzo, for Imprint News, September, 1, 2021 Most of what I write for The Imprint is about family support and primary prevention programming. Like many of my colleagues, I frequently distinguish between “upstream” and the “deep-end” activities of the child welfare system, which is a shortcut description of what we perceive and then, how we function. It serves our purpose for partializing our work. However, I’m sure we would all agree that this might not be the perception of the...

By Guest Author, 9/7/21, positiveexperience.org/blog Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics released the fifth snapshot in the Family Snapshots: Life during the Pandemic series. In past blogs , we discussed the results of the survey that the HOPE team, in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics , Prevent Child Abuse America , and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) , conducted using the national online platform YouGov.com . This survey asked a national...

In partnership with First 5 Humboldt and funded by the First 5 California Home Visiting Coordination Grant, the California Center for Rural Policy has just released the Humboldt County Home Visiting Program Environmental Scan. The findings and recommendations in the environmental scan are grounded in partner workgroups, interviews, and surveys that occurred in 2020-21 and capture the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on home visiting services. Excerpts: "The organizations that provide home...

We all have a role to play in making sure children have the opportunity to thrive. In Child Abuse and Neglect: What It Is and What to Do About It , you will learn more about the types of child maltreatment, what to do when you think a child or family needs more support, and how to make a report if you suspect that a child has been abused or neglected. We all want children to be safe and healthy. However, the heartbreaking reality is that every year thousands of children are victims of child...

By Eric Moskowitz, Bostonia, July 28, 2021 Near the end of the strangest school year of her life, Julia, a Newton North High School freshman, found herself scrolling an Instagram feed full of her friends posting COVID-vaccine selfies. Some boasted that they felt like superheroes, newly powerful. One said she could finally exhale, calling it her “first deep breath” in over a year. Neither captured what Julia was feeling as she worked up the nerve to get her first shot. “I was really nervous...

By Heather Forkey, Moira Szilagyi, Erin T. Kelly, and James Duffee, American Academy of Pediatrics, August 2021 Abstract Most children will experience some type of trauma during childhood, and many children suffer from significant adversities. Research in genetics, neuroscience, and epidemiology all provide evidence that these experiences have effects at the molecular, cellular, and organ level, with consequences on physical, emotional, developmental, and behavioral health across the life...

NOW Playbook Transformative Community Capacity to Advance Equity We are excited to share the Vital Village Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Playbook . The NOW Playbook is a resource guide designed to provide tools for local leaders, community coalitions and networks, educators, practitioners, and policymakers working to promote the wellbeing of children and families, advance equity, and align systems of care and education in early childhood. The models, pillars, and...

By Heather C. Forkey and James H. Duffee, American Academy of Pediatrics, July 26, 2021 The COVID-19 pandemic and our nation’s racial reckoning have given new visibility to trauma and its impact on children. Even before the pandemic, it was understood that the most fundamental threats to health have their roots in adversities experienced by children without sufficient buffering of a caregiver. Behavior, development, relationships and physical health can be affected for a lifetime due to the...

By Julia Weis, ¡Salud America!, July 20, 2021 A new method is emerging to help children heal from trauma – art therapy. More mental health clinics, like the Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas , are beginning to use art to help children with the healing process. Mental health professionals hope that art therapy can help children process adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which is growing to be a public health crisis . “Art therapy helps one process emotions and feelings that one...

We would like to provide you ongoing support and materials following the Mindfulness for Healthcare Summit . This week, we would like to share Gratitude Practice for Nurses —a joint initiative of the American Nurses Foundation and the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Decades of scientific research have shown that practicing gratitude is good for our minds, bodies, and relationships. Gratitude Practice for Nurses is a free initiative designed to provide...

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN, June 28, 2021 Physical punishment does not appear to improve a child's positive behavior or social competence over time, according to a review of 69 studies from the US, Canada, China, Colombia, Greece, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The review, published Monday in the journal Lancet , found physical punishment such as spanking is "harmful to children's development and well-being," said senior author Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor in human...

As a primary care pediatrician, I spend most of my days talking about things that are hard for families. Parents ask what to do when their child won't poop on the potty. Or how to get their baby to sleep longer or how to get their teenager to wake up earlier. They ask how to get their child to sit in the car seat or what to do when they get car sick on long rides. And over the years I have developed a list of problem-solving strategies to help. But the one that has recently become my...