Tagged With "toxic stress"
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Whom do we call to report the mistreatment of children by the federal government? [washingtonpost.com]
By Nadine Burke Harris, Washington Post, July 11, 2019. Nadine Burke Harris is the surgeon general of California. Children in dirty clothes who haven’t been bathed in days. Eight-year-olds caring for toddlers out of necessity. Kids deprived of the safe, stable and nurturing care that’s fundamental to their health and well-being. As a pediatrician who has spent my career working to address childhood trauma, I’ve unfortunately seen it all. And I’ve had to make my share of reports to Child...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Why this financial coach integrates ACEs-based training
In foreground, Dr. Donielle Prince (l) and Saundra Davis (r) ____________________________ Saundra Davis, a financial coach and consultant who trains other coaches on building resilience among the working poor, knew she had met her partner in helping people deal with their “money disorders” when she first met Dr. Donielle Prince in Sacramento at a black women’s gathering in 2015. Dr. Prince works with ACEs Connection as its San Francisco Bay Area regional community facilitator. She also...
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Why trauma-informed care is needed in Los Angeles County: Guest commentary [DailyNews.com]
When Jake was a child, his parents would scream at him every day. They told him everything he did was wrong and he was worthless. One day when Jake was 4, his father threw him against the wall three times. It was not until his mother found Jake talking to himself at age 12 that she saw he — and her family — needed help. When Jake entered therapy, he was hearing voices in his head and had a severe stutter. He never felt safe and found it hard to trust others. Today, Jake, a 58-year-old Los...
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Wildfire Mental Health Collaborative: Help for Those Recovering From The Devastating Fires of 2017 [sonomacountygazette.com]
By Sonoma County Gazette, October 22, 2019 As we reach the second anniversary of the 2017 wildfires, the triggers for those impacted have become more visible: reconstruction challenges, the Camp Fires in Butte County or just a windy night are a few examples. Mental health recovery and resiliency are more important than ever. Our community is really starting to see the long-term effects of wildfire trauma and PTSD on the mental health of our employees, neighbors and customers. Prolonged...
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Wildfires, power outages cause unprecedented healthcare disruption in California (sacbee.com)
Healthcare leaders told The Bee that they are confronting a level of disruption to delivering care and running their businesses that they have never seen in their careers as a result of the California wildfires and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s planned blackouts . “I actually have never experienced a power outage where we were on emergency generator backup for 40 hours or more,” said Dr. Brian Evans , the chief executive officer at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital in Grass Valley. “We’ve had...
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Will You Join PI and the Movember Campaign This Veteran's Day to Support Men's Mental Health and Wellbeing? [makingconnections.movemberprojects.com]
By Prevention Institute, November 11, 2019 Far too many men in the United States are impacted by stress, anxiety, depression, and other challenges to their mental wellbeing—and this is particularly true for boys and men of color, military service members, and veterans. That’s why Prevention Institute works with the Movember Foundation and 13 community coalitions throughout the US on a national initiative called Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys. Making...
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Wisconsin First Lady Tonette Walker shares her knowledge and passion about trauma-informed programs on Capitol Hill and at HHS
Wisconsin First Lady Tonette Walker (Center), Naomi Goldstein (R), and Elizabeth Hudson (L) ________________________________________________ The signature issue of Wisconsin First Lady Tonette Walker—advancing trauma-informed policy and practice in the state—began early in Governor Scott Walker’s first term (2011-2014) and continues to grow. She leads the statewide collaborative “ Fostering Futures ” (see attached fact sheet) that has an ambitious aim: “to improve child and family well-being...
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Wisconsin state agencies end year one of trauma-informed learning community; goal is to be first trauma-informed state
Here in California, many people think that it’s only liberal Democrats who have a corner on championing the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and putting it into practice. That might be because people who use ACEs science don’t expel or suspend students, even if they’re throwing chairs and hurling expletives at the teacher. They ask "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?" as a frame when they create juvenile detention centers where kids don’t fight, reduce...
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Women’s Need for Medical Care Spikes Following Sexual Assault, Study Finds (calhealthreport.org)
Women who experience sexual assault are more likely to need medical care for mental health and stress-related problems in the year following the attack, new research suggests. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente analyzed the medical records of 1,350 women in northern California who were sexually assaulted between 2009 and 2015. They compared the women’s use of health-care services and their diagnoses in the years before and after the assault. The study also compared the victims’ records with...
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Working with UCSF, California Surgeon General Aims to Cut Adverse Childhood Experiences by Half [ucsf.edu]
By Rebecca Wolfson, University of California San Francisco, February 18, 2020 Nadine Burke Harris, MD, California’s first surgeon general, has a bold goal: cut adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress in half within one generation. She spoke about her vision and her groundbreaking work to reduce adverse childhood experiences across the state during a speech at the UC San Francisco Parnassus Heights campus. The lecture at Cole Hall on Feb. 13 was part of Chancellor Sam Hawgood’s health...
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Workplaces COVID-19 Resources [futureswithoutviolence.org]
COVID-19, Domestic Violence and the Workplace For some survivors of domestic violence, going to work or school can provide safe haven and respite from the abuse experience at home or in interpersonal and familial relationships. And the added stress of close quarters created by social distancing measure may indeed exacerbate violence experienced at home. The site provides tips on that may help supervisors and coworkers recognize when a colleague may be experiencing violence at home, how to...
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Workshop in Oakland, CA: Adverse Childhood Experiences: Health and Mental Health Consequences
Drs. Vincent Felitti and John Preston will do a presentation about ACEs from 1-5 pm, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, at Kaiser Center Auditorium, 300 Lakeside Drive, 2nd floor, in Oakland, CA. The course is sponsored by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Mental Health Training Program. This is the course description: [The workshop organizers say that this workshop is not limited to licensed professionals, but anyone who is interested. Seats are limited, and...
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Yes, Stress Really is Making You Sick [newsweek.com]
By Adam Piore, Newsweek, March 2, 2020 In the mid-2000s, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris opened a children's medical clinic in the Bayview section of San Francisco, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. She quickly began to suspect something was making many of her young patients sick. She noticed the first clues in the unusually large population of kids referred to her clinic for symptoms associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—an inability to focus, impulsivity, extreme...
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Yoga helping inmates transcend jail cells [KEYT - Santa Barbara]
An ancient spiritual practice is helping rehabilitate men and women at the Santa Barbara County Jail. Prison Yoga Santa Barbara (PYSB) invites inmates to practice yoga, meditation and mindfulness during incarceration at no cost to taxpayers. Ginny Kuhn is the force behind the non-profit staffed by volunteers. The program is modeled after The Prison Yoga Project which was started yogi James Fox at California’s San Quentin State Prison 15 years ago. Kuhn's motto for PYSB is 'Working Freedom...
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You Can't Be Trauma-Informed If You Can't See the Trauma
Trauma-informed care should be like universal precautions – in the same way you wouldn’t clean up a blood spill without wearing gloves, you should always assume that someone has experienced trauma and treat them accordingly. Only it doesn’t happen that way. Once our indignation or any other parts of our wounded selves come into play, that usually goes out of the window unless you have been conditioned to wear a trauma-informed lens. And even then, there will be times we fail. Let me give you...
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You're Not Losing Your Mind - Really [chcf.org]
By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, May 11, 2020 The COVID-19 crisis has stunned the nation with medical trauma that has unfolded on an unimaginable scale. A vaccine or treatment may come along that halts the pandemic’s remorseless progress, but the damage done to our psyches may be with us for a long, long time. The data show that living under the threat of infection by the novel coronavirus is taking a toll. A recent KFF health tracking poll found that 56% of US adults...
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Youth court banishes blame; leads with ACEs science
YMCA Marin County Youth Court in San Rafael, California In her opening statement, 17-year-old youth advocate Eva advises jurors how to proceed and summarizes her “client’s” good qualities. “As you will see, Julian is genuine, well-spoken and friendly. I recommend asking him about his friends and family, his future plans and his activities outside of school.” (First names only of all minors are used to protect their privacy.) Welcome to the YMCA Marin County (CA) Youth Court, one of 1,400...
Ask the Community
Anyone using MHSA or other funds in innovative ways to address ACEs or trauma?
Question: Please share examples of innovative uses of existing funding to address ACEs and trauma. For example, Mental Health Services Act has a funding category called "Innovative Projects" which might be a way to fund ACEs and trauma related efforts. Are you aware of any CA communities that have found ways to utilize MHSA or other funds in unexpected ways - that have the potential of addressing trauma and ACEs? See below and attached for more background re MHSA. Background: The CA...
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Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing. At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the...
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Solano County launches its ACEs and resilience initiative inviting all to take action
Elizabeth Huntley recalls the day when her family’s life was turned upside down. “One day my mom woke up and she packed up all of our clothes, all five of us…and she took me and my younger sister who had the same father… down to my paternal grandmother’s house…and she left us there. She took my middle sister to a town near Birmingham, Ala., and left her there. She took my only brother and an older sister back to Huntsville and left them at a sister’s house. Then she went back to that housing...
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Solano County's (CA) ACEs initiative, a robust community effort, makes room for input from all
In a house called “Johanna’s House” on a tree-lined side street in Vallejo, Calif., four women are filling out the adverse childhood experiences (ACE) survey given to them by Maria Guevara, the founder of Vallejo Together, an organization that serves homeless residents in Vallejo. The house was named for Johanna Dilag, a homeless woman who was found dead along with her dog.
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Starting Blocks: A 3-Part Series on California's Childhood Poverty
In a new 3 part series Starting Blocks, KQED examines the ways public policy often fails California’s youngest residents and their families, especially those living at or below the poverty line. They look at traditional issues like paid parental leave, subsidized child care and maternal health, but also issues like housing, criminal justice, immigration policy and even natural disasters to see how children are adversely affected, often in ways that are unexpected or unintended. Parents in...
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State and Federal Support of Trauma-Informed Care: Sustaining the Momentum
Policymakers increasingly recognize the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on lifelong physical, emotional, and social health and are beginning to support efforts for incorporating trauma-informed care into the health and social service sectors. This new CHCS blog post looks at how proposed state and federal legislative, regulatory, and contracting policies aim to reduce trauma and toxic stress and promote resiliency and trauma-informed practices. It also explores how federal...
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State Dropping Ball in Dealing With Childhood Trauma, New Report Says [CaliforniaHealthline.org]
The lowest of 31 grades issued in the 2016 California Children's Report Card released on Wednesday was for dealing with the effects of childhood trauma. In Children Now's biennial assessment of the status of California kids, researchers gave the state a "D-" for how it deals with childhood trauma. The report contends that children who experience traumatic problems such as abuse, neglect and witnessing violence at home can suffer serious long-term consequences, including health...
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State of Our Health 2020 Breakfast - Sponsorship Opportunities
This year's coming State of Our Health Breakfast on February 7th, 2020, will feature Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. Dr. Burke Harris is the 1st and current Surgeon General of California since 2019. She is a pioneer in linking adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress with harmful effects on health later on in life. We are excited to have her share with us! You won't want to miss it! You can listen to an interview with her here . We are currently only taking in Sponsorships and Table sales.
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State surgeon general’s prescription for a healthy Sacramento: Alleviating childhood trauma [sacbee.com]
California’s new surgeon general made Sacramento the first stop on her statewide listening tour, and after Tuesday’s event, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris told The Bee that capital residents are powerfully grappling with the long-term impact childhood trauma has on their families and neighborhoods. Burke Harris said many of the 100 Sacramento-area residents she met with asked her to find ways to bring training, resources and support to families, educators, nonprofits and other community-based...
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Statewide meeting of public health officials focused on ACEs!!!
The Road to Resilience: A Public Health Approach to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) I was privileged and excited to present Neurobiology of Trauma and Resilience to this powerful and attentive group of over 200 state health workers on May 10. We talked about childhood brain development, effects of ACEs, genetics and epigenetics, and neurology of stress, trauma and resilience. From this conference I anticipate statewide action, hopefully impacting thousands if not millions of California...
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Stockton emerging as public health model for toxic stress intervention [Bakersfield.com]
While scores of public agencies are working to develop resources and programs to address childhood trauma and toxic stress in their communities, San Joaquin County has been turning itself into a model for how to address the issue. “This is not a new concept for us,” said Barbara Alberson, senior deputy director of policy and planning at the San Joaquin County Public Health Services Department. “It’s in our DNA.” The county performed a Community Health Needs Assessment in 2016 that identified...
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Stress Health Virtual Focus Group and iPad Giveaway
Your thoughts on toxic stress are needed: Please join our virtual focus group this Wednesday at 5 pm PST.
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Stress is hurting kids’ health. California’s new surgeon general has a plan to help [qz.com]
The US medical system isn’t particularly good at preventing illness . Once someone is sick, doctors hopefully know how to treat them. But historically, there’s been far less focus on preventing people from needing treatment in the first place. That’s finally starting to change, thanks to a growing movement in the health-care community that looks to address the environmental and behavioral causes of many common diseases. Prevention, experts say, will save money (though it’s unclear how much )...
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Stress is making our children ill; here is what we can do about it [SFChronicle.com]
I will take my oath of office today and have the honor of representing Silicon Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives. My political campaign succeeded because of the help of hundreds of students. Their ambition and drive will allow them to flourish, but I am concerned about their well-being. These students were volunteering because of a genuine passion for giving back to the community. But a few also told me that the campaign work was a release, or as one student put it “a respite from...
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Substance Use Disorder and Brain Development
The inputs a brain experiences during its developmental stages have a profound impact on whether that person will develop a substance use disorder (if they choose to drink or use other drugs). In turn, developing a substance use disorder (SUD) as a tween, teen, or young adult dramatically influences that person's brain development. And why is understanding this causality important? The risk factors for developing a substance use disorder are the result of inputs the brain experiences (or...
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Rising from the Ashes: How Trauma-Informed Care Nurtures Healing in Rural America [The Rural Monitor]
By Jenn Lukens April 17, 2019 It was late July 2018 when the Mendocino Complex wildfire broke out in rural Lake County, California. It burned more than 450,000 acres and destroyed 280 structures before it was contained. Ana Santana managed to fill some storage bins with sentimental items – her kids’ blankets, pictures, and art projects – before fleeing her home. Santana is the facilitator of the Lake County Children’s Council and Program Director for Healthy Start Youth and Family Services ,...
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RWJF Issue Brief Series on Social Determinants of Health
Paula Braverman of the The Center on Social Disparities of Health writes: In 2009-2011 and 2014 The Center on Social Disparities of Health worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to produce a series of issue briefs on the social determinants of health that would have solid scholarship but be aimed at a wide, non-technical audience. A number of people who teach graduate or undergraduate courses are using these issue briefs as core curricular materials. RWJF and we would be...
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RYSE Center's Listening Campaign: Young people in Richmond, CA help adults understand trauma, violence, coping, and healing
"My experience with violence is very brutal...I grew up with violence as if it were my sibling." - LC participant (youth) "We know we can't run the city- it's too complex- but our experience and our voices should count, especially because we're the most effected ." - LC participant (youth) "Our city's problems are shared by us all; we are all part of the problem AND the solution. Listening is a key component to healing." - LC Share Out partici pant (adult) Three years ago, RYSE Center in...
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Sacramento County ACEs & Resilience Awareness and Action Day Proclamation
March 14, 2019 Dear Resilient Sacramento Members, The ACEs Connection Resilient Sacramento Community is working on a Proclamation for the Board of Supervisors/Chair’s approval and signature to designate May 22 nd as Adverse Childhood Experiences & Resilience Awareness and Action Day. As a member of this Community, I have been working on this effort and am thrilled to report there are similar efforts in progress or passed in cities, counties, and states across the country, including the...
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Sacramento has a mental health crisis. Let’s shift from ‘emergency’ to strategy (sacbee.com)
The mental health crisis in Sacramento is getting worse. We need a plan to turn things around. On a recent Monday, I began my clinical rounds at UC Davis Medical Center’s emergency department providing initial care for 25 adults and four children suffering with psychiatric emergencies. These patients represented one-quarter of all patients in our emergency department that morning. The company executive with depression and alcohol problems who had suicidal thoughts after losing custody of his...
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Sacramento Native American Health Center Presentation by Jeanine Gaines (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)
On June 11th, Jeanine Gaines from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation presented to the Resilient Sacramento ACEs Connection meeting discussing the intersection of ACEs and historical trauma of first nation people. My intention was to upload the information for everyone to review right away but I found myself so emotionally moved that it took a full moon meditation to be able to free my feelings and write about my experience during and after the presentation. I consider myself well read concerning...
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San Bernardino Valley College hosts California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris [IECN]
by Community News, Inland Empire Community News, Jun 10, 2019 California’s first Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, visited San Bernardino Valley College’s (SBVC) Child Development Center on Monday. The visit was her last stop in a statewide listening tour to raise awareness on how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and toxic stress influences health outcomes. Burke Harris participated in a roundtable discussion moderated by SBVC President Diana Z. Rodriguez. Public health...
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San Bruno, CA, police reduce stress, burn-out with mindfulness
When Officer John Hampton of the San Bruno Police Department in San Bruno, CA, first heard that mindfulness training was being offered to him and his fellow cops, he had two reactions. John Hampton “I think my major reaction was: ‘Oh, there’s some hippy thing that they’re trying to get cops to do,’” he said. “When I say that, it’s funny because that’s not my voice. It’s the caricature of a police officer-like voice. In the back of my mind, I was interested and open to it, but that police...
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San Juan Capistrano Christian PTSD Drug Rehab Trauma Informed Care Launched [newswire.net]
By willian brown, Newswire, February 6, 2020 San Juan Capistrano Christian PTSD drug rehab center PTSD & Trauma Drug Rehab launched trauma informed care services and a special First Responder Drug Rehab Program in Orange County. These services are delivered by licensed counselors and therapists as residential or outpatient treatments. San Juan Capistrano Christian PTSD drug rehab center Christian Drug & Alcohol Treatment Centers (CDAT) dba PTSD & Trauma Drug Rehab has launched...
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San Mateo (CA) launches county initiative to tackle ACEs and build resilience
Attendees at the San Mateo event participate in ice-breaking exercise When you’re working with people who've had a lot of childhood and adult adversity, it’s hard for you to believe that anyone else can have a bad day, says Laura van Dernoot Lipsky. “Your neighbor or your best friend says: ‘I’ve had a bad day.’ And you think, ‘Oh, I’m sorry you had a bad day; were you sex trafficked today? No, you were not!'” Laura van Dernoot Lipsky Van Dernoot Lipsky, the author of Trauma Stewardship: An...
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Save the Date! Building Human Resilience for Climate Change in California Conference January 24-25, 2018
Wednesday-Thursday, January 24-25, 2018 The California Endowment's Oakland Conference Center Registration Opens July 1, 2017 Flyer attached Why Attend This Conference? Trauma and toxic stress affect many people today in the California. The acute disasters and chronic stresses generated by climate change can aggravate many of these ongoing adversities, and create altogether new ones as well. The result can be rising mental health problems including severe anxiety, depression, PTSD, and...
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Save the Life of Your Child
Some of my colleagues and I have developed a process and program called, "Design Thinking Suicide Prevention," that we have been presenting at mental health conferences . The reason for it is that we have discovered that certain words scare too many people who don't have to deal with mental issues in their family (although that number is becoming smaller and smaller). In fact, just the word "mental" causes people to run for the hills unless it directly affects them or a family member. Design...
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Schools to take on 'emotional learning' [SanDiegoUnionTribune.com]
t Cherokee Point Elementary School, first-grade teacher Hagit Patolai roams her classroom to asses student progress on a “fact versus opinion” writing assignment. She crouches down to read over the shoulder of a boy, asking him to point to the words (beautiful and cool) that indicate his illustrated story about a rainbow is based on his opinions. Why are people’s opinions important, she asks. It’s a question that gets at more than the lesson at hand. Patolai keeps detailed records on the...
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Screening for Childhood Trauma
Dr. Ken Epstein has been in the social services sector for nearly four decades and has witnessed firsthand the long-term effects of trauma. As both the son and father of fellow social workers, the work runs in his blood. Now, he’s helping Bay Area health clinics screen for and address childhood trauma through the Resilient Beginnings Collaborative (RBC), led by Center for Care Innovations (CCI) and made possible by Genentech.
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Secondary Traumatic Stress for Educators: Understanding and Mitigating the Effects [KQED]
By Jessica Lander Roughly half of American school children have experienced at least some form of trauma — from neglect, to abuse, to violence. In response, educators often find themselves having to take on the role of counselors, supporting the emotional healing of their students, not just their academic growth. With this evolving role comes an increasing need to understand and address the ways in which student trauma affects our education professionals. In a growing number of professions,...
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Senate HELP Committee approves opioid bill with major trauma-related provisions
The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee unanimously approved The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 Act on April 24. Significant provisions were included from the Heitkamp-Durbin Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act (S. 774), including creation of a task force on trauma, and grants for trauma-informed schools.
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September 18, 2019 Sierra Region Learning Community: Highlights and Resources
The first Sierra Learning Community for the 2019-20 fiscal year focused upon Best Practices in Trauma Informed Care: Building Youth Resiliency. The power point and other materials distributed to attendees is available in the Resources Section. View the recording by clicking here: September 18, 2019 Sierra Learning Community ANNOUNCEMENTS Make sure to visit the Strategies2.0 YouTube Channel to access recordings of all the Strategies2.0 sponsored webinars and Learning Communities. The channel...