Tagged With "California Department of Public Health"
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Maternal Depression and Intimate Partner Violence: Impacts on Children [aappublications.org]
Among the many adverse childhood experiences, one must consider are the effects of maternal depression and of mothers being the victim of physical or sexual violence. What is the toll of these on children? Neamah et al. ( 10.1542/peds.2017-3457 ) decided to evaluate this by looking at the strength of such an association on the cognitive development as well as physical growth of over a thousand toddlers between 18 to 36 months living in Tanzania. These children underwent developmental testing...
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Medicaid is Not Just for Doctor’s Visits: Innovative Early Childhood Funding Strategies [chcs.org]
If a family has no means of transportation, consistent prenatal care becomes extremely difficult. If a mother is homeless, she is less likely to attend a child wellness visit. If a one-year-old is hungry, brain development is detrimentally impacted. And if a toddler is experiencing trauma at home, he or she cannot focus on learning. While there is significant evidence around the value of investing in early childhood to improve physical, social, and emotional development later in life, more...
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Mental Health and Resilience Month Part 1: Self-Care
Hello, everyone! Since June is Mental Health and Resilience Month, I'll be posting weekly resilience tips or resources. Hopefully these are helpful not only as you begin work in trauma-informed care, but in creating balance for your life in general. I thought I'd start us off with some information on self-care - you've probably all heard of it, and it's gotten a lot of attention recently, but what exactly does it mean? (Even if this is all familiar to you, reminders are always helpful!) See...
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Mental Health and Resilience Month Part 2: Mindfulness
For the second week of our mental health and resilience posts, I thought I'd give you a sort of toolkit for mindfulness . The basic principle is to bring awareness into whatever is unfolding in the moment, and just notice the things around (or within) you, free of judgement or categorization. Our thoughts are often in the past or future, and mindfulness allows us to slow down and live in the present. You can practice it while you're eating, walking, working, or just breathing. Mindfulness...
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Mental Health and Resilience Month Part 3: Declutter Your Mind
Happy Friday! For this week's mental health and resilience tip, I wanted to give resources on ways to declutter your mind. Some of them are more literal (#6 - declutter your workspace), but most of them are figurative ways to help you feel less stressed and more centered. My personal favorite is #5 - breathe. Taking a slow, deep breath actually lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, which signals to your brain that you're calm, which then makes you feel calmer! You can read the list...
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Mindfulness Stress Reduction Techniques for Healing
Whether you're healing from illness, trauma, or other difficult times, these mindfulness stress reduction techniques can support your healing.
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Mitigating the Effects of Trauma among Young Children of Immigrants and Refugees: The Role of Early Childhood Programs [migrationpolicy.org]
A child’s early years are a time of exceptional growth, and ones that can be profoundly affected by traumatic experiences. Research has firmly disproven the idea that infants and toddlers are “too young” to be affected by such experiences, leading to an increased awareness of the need for trauma-informed services for children. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs have the potential to play a central role in identifying and addressing the effects of trauma, with lifelong...
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Moving Toward Neuroscience-Based Social Work
Early Registration Now Open! September 21, 2018 Corning, CA Super Early Bird rate $129 now through June 30th . Plus, the first 25 to register using the EarlyEarly discount code get an extra $10 off the Super Early Bird price (a $30 savings over the regular registration fee). Last year's conference in Southern California was so well received, this year we are offering the event in Northern California! The revolution in brain science has important implications for our understanding of human...
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Multifaceted reforms needed to reach California’s education goals, research project finds [edsource.org]
Researchers on Monday released a massive collection of education studies timed to inform the next California governor’s and Legislature’s preK-12 agenda. The big achievement gap for California’s low- and middle-income children relative to their peers in other states starts in kindergarten, indicating a need to significantly expand preschool and quality child care.Among the findings of Getting Down to Facts II: The big achievement gap for California’s low- and middle-income children relative...
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NEW: 2018-19 California County Scorecard of Children's Well-Being
Children Now is pleased to announce that we've just released our new 2018-19 California County Scorecard of Children's Well-Being! The latest edition is an interactive tool that provides a comprehensive snapshot of how children are faring in each of the 58 counties, over time, and by race and ethnicity. The tool's indicators cut across four domains of education, early childhood, child welfare and health. This updated edition of the Scorecard features significant enhancements including heat...
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New Community Manager
Hello! I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself as the ACEs Connection Community Manager for the California Bridge Program. Some of you might know me from my time as Research Associate at the Network from 2012-2015. I’m very excited to be back in this new capacity, working in Communications and Trauma-Informed Care. I have a BA in Psychology and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology, and am passionate about children’s well-being - particularly low-income children - and the effects...
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New Data on Children with Special Health Care Needs
Updated information on children with special health care needs, those who have a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional condition that requires more than routine health and related services, is now on Kidsdata. Discover the latest data on children with major disabilities by legislative district and by county, city and school district. Also, find special education enrollment by disability and race/ethnicity, the number of active California Children’s Services (CCS) enrollees...
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New Health Resiliency Stress Questionnaire debuts for pediatricians, family practice, internal medicine...but anyone can use it
There's a new ACEs-resiliency survey in town! It came out of a conversation between two physicians having a conversation on a bus. Here's the story about how it was developed, and how to use it. Pilots were done in a pediatric clinic, internal medicine, addiction treatment center, group therapy, and psychiatric practice. It's now being used in two community clinics.
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New Report: Holding Policymakers Accountable for Kids' Well-Being
New Report: Today’s shifting political sands have put kids at risk, and it’s urgent that policymakers put kids’ needs front and center. We all have the power to hold policymakers accountable for prioritizing the needs of children, and our friends at the child advocacy group Kids Impact have charted a course on how. In their new report, “Accelerating Policymaker Accountability for U.S. Kids’ Well-Being: Charting the Course & A Call to Action,” they help define a collective “True North”...
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Running TIC Resource List
This is a running list for trauma-informed care websites and resources that aren't downloadable, so you can access them in one place. I will keep this list updated, and you can always find it under the Running TIC Resource List blog category (this will be the only blog in there). If you have any additional resources, please post a comment below with the link, or send me a private message or email at gdimatteo@rrnetwork.org , and I will add it to the list. As always, feel free to reach out to...
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OCAP grants announced - Deadline EXTENDED TO DEC 28th
The Office of Child Abuse and Prevention ( OCAP ) recently announced a funding opportunity that may align with the work of California based ACEs champions. Please see the details below, the OCAP Grants link, and the attached document for further details. Copied from the website : The Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) administers federal grants, contracts, and state programs designed to promote best practices and innovative approaches to child abuse prevention, intervention, and...
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Organizing Your ACEs Initiative: Steps to Growing A Resilient Community
The information below is to be used as guidance for how local ACEs initiatives can structure and organize themselves. We’ve gathered this information from experiences in communities and on ACEs Connection; we've pulled examples of things that work & lessons learned along the way. We want your input — in the comments section, please share with us things we have missed, examples of what’s working for you, and any lessons you have learned and would like to share with the members of ACEs...
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Overcoming Childhood Trauma: How Parents and Schools Work to Stop the Cycle [kqed.org]
Many people have experienced some kind of trauma in their childhood, such as loss of a caregiver, substance abuse in the home, homelessness or abuse. There are ten types of “Adverse Childhood Experiences” that were identified in a study conducted in the 1990s. The total number of childhood traumas someone has experienced determines their ACE score . About 2/3s of the people in the groundbreaking study had at least one ACE, but the researchers also found higher rates of adult physical and...
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Parent Handouts: Understanding ACEs, Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs (English)
Please see the main post for these parent handouts in the ACEs Connection Resources Center. These two flyers ( Understanding ACEs and Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs ) can be downloaded, distributed, and used freely. One is brand new and the other is a revision. Both flyers were made with generous support from Family Hui, a Program of Lead for Tomorrow. Translations of these flyers are in progress and will be shared by Family Hui and updated on ACEs Connection when available.
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Parent Handouts: Understanding ACEs, Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs (now available in English, Dari & Spanish)
The updated parent handouts are now available in Spanish as well as English and Dari. Here's the blog post with links to all three versions of each flyer. All versions of the Understanding ACEs and Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs parent handouts can be downloaded, distributed, and used freely. Both flyers were made with generous support from Family Hui, a Program of Lead for Tomorrow, who is responsible for making the Spanish and Dari translations available. These are updates of the...
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Parents talking to kids may blunt negative impact of adversity on schoolwork [physiciansweekly.com]
By Lisa Rapaport, Physician's Weekly, July 8, 2019. Children who suffer adverse experiences tend to do worse in school than kids who don’t, but a U.S. study suggests parents may still help improve academic outcomes by simply talking to their kids. Adverse childhood experiences, commonly called ACEs, can include witnessing parents fight or go through a divorce, having a parent with a mental illness or substance abuse problem, or suffering from sexual, physical or emotional abuse. ACEs have...
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Playtime May Bolster Kids’ Mental Health [theatlantic.com]
“Play has become a four-letter word.” So says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek , a psychologist at Temple University and one of the authors of a new paper about the importance of play in children’s lives. The clinical report , published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommends that pediatricians write a “prescription for play” at doctor visits in the first two years of life. Years of research have shown that play is an important part of a child’s development, assisting in cognition, memory, social...
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Positive Childhood Experiences May Buffer Against Health Effects Of Adverse Ones [npr.org]
By Selena Simmons-Duffin, National Public Radio, September 9, 2019 Plenty of research shows that adverse childhood experiences can lead to depression and other health problems later in life. But researcher Christina Bethell wondered whether positive experiences in childhood could counter that. Her research comes from a personal place. In the 1970s, in a low-income housing complex in Los Angeles, Bethell had a tough childhood. Sometimes she didn't have money for lunch. Sometimes, when a free...
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Presentation: Are the Words "Toxic Stress" Toxic? Re-thinking the Narrative About Early Life Stress
The concepts of “toxic stress” and “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs) have captured professional and public attention in recent years. While this has helped to bring more resources and interest to early childhood issues, it has also resulted in some harmful language and imagery that depicts children, families, or entire communities as “broken” or beyond healing and resilience. In our concern about adversity, are we selling short the capacity of individuals and communities to heal and...
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Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (training) [vetoviolence.cdc.gov]
Adverse childhood experiences—commonly known as ACEs—affect children and families across all communities. ACEs can impact kids’ health and well-being, and they can have long-term effects on adults’ health and wellness. They can even have consequences that affect entire families, communities, and our whole society. Thankfully, ACEs are preventable. This training will help you understand, recognize, and prevent ACEs. You’ll learn about risk and protective factors, outcomes associated with...
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Research & Evaluation Services (Child Care Resource Center)
(Child Care Resource Center) CCRC’s highly skilled and professional Research & Evaluation staff ensure optimal services for families and children by providing internal and external stakeholders with useful tools and information that can be used for program evaluation, forecasting and strategic planning, contract compliance, and advocacy. CCRC's Lessons Learned for the Statewide Emergency Child Care Bridge Program According to the All County Letter #17-109 , “One of the primary barriers...
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Resource: Guide for Early Childhood Development
Healthy development in the early years of life provides the building blocks for lifelong health, educational achievement, and responsible citizenship. What can we do during this incredibly important period to ensure that children have a strong foundation for future development? This guide explains how children develop in their earliest years, why that time period is so important, and the practical ways we can support early childhood development (ECD) and improve outcomes for children and...
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Resource: What is epigenetics?
How does epigenetics relate to child development? New resource from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child explains. Science tells us that the interactions between genes and environment shape human development. “Epigenetics” is an emerging area of scientific research that shows how environmental influences—including the experiences we provide for children—actually affect the expression of their genes. This means that the old idea that genes are "set in stone" has been disproven. Nature...
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School Discipline Practices: An Issue Brief on a Public Health Crisis and Opportunities for Reform [changelabsolutions.org]
Early childhood education sets the foundation for a student’s future well-being and success. However, the widespread use of exclusionary school discipline (ESD) aggravates pre-existing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and deprives students of essential opportunities for learning and growth. Examples of harmful and counterproductive ESD practices include suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, and corporal punishment. These practices can compound feelings of isolation and...
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Sesame Street's Traumatic Experiences Website / First 5 CA Care, Cope Connect Resource
Thanks to Alejandra Labrado from First 5 Sacramento for providing the links to these resources! Sesame Street's Traumatic Experiences: https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/topics/traumatic-experiences/ When a child endures a traumatic experience, the whole family feels the impact. But adults hold the power to help lessen its effects. Several factors can change the course of kids’ lives: feeling seen and heard by a caring adult, being patiently taught coping strategies and...
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Sesame Workshop and BTC Team Up to Help with Big Scary Feelings during the COVID-19 Crisis
Caring for Each Other: How to Use Sesame Street in Communities Resources for Health Emergencies with Families Now Wednesday, April 1, 2020 @ 3 PM ET We're all in this together, and that's why we're all coming together. Sesame Workshop and the Brazelton Touchpoints Center are partnering on a webinar series, beginning April 1st, to share online resources that can help us handle the sudden changes in our lives when we face health emergencies like the one that confronts us today. As a result of...
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Social-Emotional Development in the First Three Years [rwjf.org]
The Issue In the first three years of life, children achieve remarkable advances in social and emotional development (SED) that establish a foundation for later competencies. Yet even in the first three years, these achievements can be threatened by exposure to elevated stresses of many kinds. Family poverty, marital conflict, parental emotional problems, experiences of trauma, neglect, or abuse and other adversities cause some infants and toddlers to experience anxious fearfulness,...
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Strategies 2.0 Vehicles for Change Webinar Series
This four-part webinar series provides a comprehensive, deeper dive into the themes, messages, and frameworks presented in Family Resource Center Vehicles for Change Vol 1 and 2 . The series will focus on the elements that make FRCs unique platforms for strengthening families and communities and highlight organizations whose work exemplifies the topics. Each webinar will give examples and provide concrete tools and resources to enhance understanding, learning, and application. Family...
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Strengthening Families Framework TRAINERS
Thirty more individuals in the states of California, Indiana, and Alabama were just trained to be a trainer of the Strengthening Families Framework from the National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds. This is HUGE! That makes slightly over 1,000 total from the 50 states. But what happens now? We have newly trained trainers trying to reach out and converse with everyone and anyone, with local Health and Human Services Agencies, with local schools, fire departments and police...
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Supporting Young Children Experiencing Separation and Trauma [zerotothree.org]
Young children and their families can be tremendously affected by trauma, with significant implications for well-being well into the future. And while young children can be very expressive, they often do not have the skills or ability to use words to express how they are feeling. Adults may notice a variety of unexpected, atypical behaviors, and may need help understanding and nurturing infants and toddlers who have been affected. Fortunately, there are infant and early childhood mental...
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‘Teachers must look for physical signs of trauma’ [tes.com]
Teachers should look out for physical health problems among quieter, well-behaved children, as these could be the only signs that they have suffered trauma, a major conference in Scotland has heard. US paediatrician @Nadine Burke Harris said that, while there was a growing understanding that misbehaviour was a sign of trauma or “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs) , there were also other types of symptoms. “Behaviour is the canary in the coalmine,” said Dr Burke Harris at Making...
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Tell State Leaders: Do More for California's Babies
Check out this exciting opportunity to support babies and strengthen families! Please join hundreds of other organizations in signing on to this letter urging our state leaders to fund critical home visiting supports for babies and families living in poverty. Children’s earliest brain development is the foundation for their lifelong health and success. Yet too often families, especially those who are struggling to make ends meet, don’t have the support they need during the stressful time of...
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The Campaign to Heal Childhood Trauma is coming!
Maybe you have heard about this initiative on one of the social networks or you followed the tour last year. If not, The Campaign to Heal Childhood Trauma is a grassroots partnership between Calo Programs and three leading, national attachment, trauma and adoption nonprofits; The Attachment and Trauma Network (ATN), The American Adoption Congress (AAC) and Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh). The purpose of this collaboration is to increase compassion and...
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The Center For The Developing Child Presents: "Build My Brain" Online Course
Early experiences affect the architecture of the brain and determine long-term outcomes in health, learning, and behavior. This course connects the science of early childhood development to work in early childhood education, public health, and social services. No matter your role, you can be a change agent for children’s healthy brain development and lifelong well-being. Experience this 1.5 hour professional development training here.
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The Children's Advocates Roundtable - Screening of Resilience
RESILIENCE is a one-hour documentary on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the birth of a new movement to treat and prevent Toxic Stress. Extremely stressful experiences in childhood can alter brain development and have lifelong effects on health and behavior. However, as experts and practitioners profiled in this documentary are proving, what’s predictable is preventable . Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, CEO and founder of the Center for Youth and Wellness in San Francisco is featured in...
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TIC Training & Coaching E-News: April 2019
E-Newsletter Emergency Child Care Bridge Program Network Updates 2019 Join Network/CAPPA Conference: Call for Presenters The California Child Care Resource & Referral Network (Network) and the California Alternative Payment Program Association (CAPPA), along with our 2019 Joint Conference Committee are excited to announce the 2019 Joint Network/CAPPA Conference. The Joint Conference will be held October 2 – 4, 2019 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Sacramento. We look forward to an...
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TIC Training & Coaching E-News: February 2019
E -Newsletter Emergency Child Care Bridge Program Network Updates Trauma-Informed Care Training & Coaching Curriculum As mentioned in February's TIC Training & Coaching webinar , there will be a total of three core modules, with an additional module which covers historical and intergenerational trauma's impact on family dynamics. The Trauma-Informed Care Training & Coaching Curriculum Module One as well as Historical & Intergenerational Trauma is available for download on the...
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TIC Training & Coaching E-News: January 2019
Network Updates Trauma-Informed Care Training & Coaching Curriculum The Trauma-Informed Care Training & Coaching Curriculum Module One as well as Historical & Intergenerational Trauma are complete: Module One: Understanding the Impact of Trauma & Identifying Strategies to Promote Healing (Powerpoint) Exploring the Impact of Historical & Intergenerational Trauma on Family Dynamics Today (Powerpoint) Instructor and Participant Guides will be available on the new Bridge...
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TIC Training & Coaching E-News: March 2019
E-Newsletter Emergency Child Care Bridge Program Network Updates Announcing: Module 2 of TIC Curriculum We are excited to announce the completion of Module 2 of the Trauma-Informed Care Curriculum! The module, Understanding the Impact of Trauma & Enhancing Caregiver Resiliency , is available for download on the Bridge Program's TIC Training & Coaching Curriculum page . As mentioned in prior e-newsletters , the Trauma-Informed Care Training & Coaching Curriculum Module One as well...
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Toxic Stress: Issue Brief on Family Separation and Child Detention [immigrationinitiative.harvard.edu]
By Jack P. Shonkoff, Immigration Initiative at Harvard, October 2019 Background The separation of children from their parents and their prolonged detention for an indefinite period of time raise profound concerns that transcend partisan politics and demand immediate resolution. Forcibly separating children from their parents is like setting a house on fire. Preventing rapid reunification is like blocking the first responders from doing their job. And subjecting children to prolonged...
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Trauma Informed Care from the Baby's Perspective
The Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health is pioneering a model of care that includes the baby starting at conception. Our model also includes transgenerational and intergenerational trauma, prenatal experiences, birth and attachment and bonding. We have a conference on this topic October 5-7, 2018, in Denver, CO. See: https://birthpsychology.com/2018-conference/welcome I will be a the Zero to Three conference representing our programs for a poster session. If you are...
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Trauma-informed care in response to adverse childhood experiences
Adverse experiences in childhood have a negative impact on physical and mental health in later life. Using a trauma‐informed model of care helps to support adult survivors, parents and children. Abstract Nurses in all specialties will be aware how common adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are, but will often lack a framework that enables them to understand the effects of ACEs and how to support patients. In the 1990s, ground-breaking research in the US found strong links between ACEs and...
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Trauma Informed Principles through a Culturally Specific Lens (pdf)
This document attempts to define the core principles of trauma informed work through a culturally specific analysis. The content of this resource is primarily intended for culturally specific, communitybased organizations and seeks to provide practitioners with accessible language to describe the trauma informed/culturally specific overlap of their work. In our experience at Casa de Esperanza, as a national technical assistance provider, we come in contact with many culturally specific...
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Trauma-Informed Training & Coaching E-Newsletter August 2018
Contents Conferences & Trainings Trauma-Informed Care Two-Day Training, 8/28-29 Communities of Practice Early Childhood Mental Health Conference, 9/13-15 Webinars & Calls CDSS Bridge Program TA Call, 8/28 TIC Training & Coaching Learning Community Call, 9/11 How Boosting Emotional Intelligence Improves Your Ability to Effectively Lead Your ECE Program, 10/3 Resources ACEsConnection Monthly Highlights Staff Recruitment Resources Technical Assistance Contact Information Conferences...
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Trauma-Informed Training & Coaching E-Newsletter May 2018
Contents Updates Welcome to our new Bridge Program team members, Elgin Webb & Gemma DiMatteo! Webinars & Calls Bridge Program TA Call, 5/29 Bridge Program Webinar 6/11 TIC Training & Coaching Learning Community Call, 6/12 Resources Bridge Program Primary R&R Contact List Continuum of Care Reform and the Intersection with Child Care and Development presentation Tips by Text Call for Stories & Resources Staff Recruitment Resources Technical Assistance Contact Information...