Tagged With "Mental Health"
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Baby courts: A proven approach to stop the multigenerational transmission of ACES in child welfare; new efforts to establish courts nationwide
The organization Zero To Three estimates that in the U.S., a child is taken into the child welfare system every six seconds. “Many of society’s most intractable problems can be traced back to childhood adversity. Being in the child welfare system increases the likelihood of more adversity and criminality. Baby court is a proven approach to healing the trauma of both child and parent, and breaking the cycle of maltreatment,” says Mimi Graham, Ed.D ., director of the Florida State University...
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A Shadow ACE in Christian Babycare
As a former La Leche League Leader I became familiar with the teachings of Gary Ezzo (“Raising Kids God’s Way,” "On Becoming Babywise") in the early 1990’s. Leaders in my area began getting a lot of phone calls on our warm line that followed the same basic story: a baby not thriving and a case of very low milk supply despite the Mom’s exclusive breastfeeding and a strong desire to breastfeed. It gradually emerged that a local church had begun promoting a rigid rules-based practice of baby...
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Does VP Candidate Kamala Harris know about ACEs? You bet!
Nadine Burke Harris, California’s Surgeon General, has a lot in common with the vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris—Jamaican heritage, surname, home state—and a commitment to addressing ACEs and toxic stress. As reported in the New Yorker article by Paul Tough, “The Poverty Clinic,” Dr. Harris told Kamala Harris, then San Francisco district attorney, about ACEs in 2008 and in response, she offered to help. District Attorney Harris then introduced her to professor of child and...
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Does racism make us sick? Amid a national reckoning, the question gains new importance [sfchronicle.com]
By Tatiana Sanchez, San Francisco Chronicle, August 24, 2020 Elaine Shelly has lived with multiple sclerosis for 30 years. But she said she still panics whenever she has to see a new neurologist because of racial discrimination she’s experienced in the past. Even getting a proper diagnosis for her illness was a battle. “I’d go to these neurologists who would tell me that Black people don’t get M.S. and that I must be mentally ill,” said Shelly, 63, of San Leandro. A former print journalist,...
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NIHB Launches Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Hub
The National Indian Health Board, in collaboration with CDC, has launched a new resource hub! Many Tribal individuals, families, and communities have been impacted by childhood experiences causing physical and mental health adversities throughout the lifespan. However, with understanding and effort, individuals and communities can confront Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) for positive health outcomes. This information hub, launched by the National Indian Health Board includes a "resource...
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New ACEs initiatives learn about strategic plan development from from New Hanover (NC) Resiliency Task Force executive director Mebane Boyd
The desire to see other ACEs initiatives grow and flourish was evident at a recent meeting of the Resilient Columbus County (North Carolina) ACEs initiative when Mebane Boyd, executive director of the New Hanover Resiliency Task Force (also in North Carolina), shared with the Columbus County and neighboring Pender County groups how New Hanover created and works on its strategic plan. In the spirit of sharing, Boyd agreed to let ACEs Connection post the strategic plan and the video of the...
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The Best for our Children: Considering ACEs in Voter Engagement.
The presidential race is a big-ticket item, but hundreds of other state and local races will impact critical issues like school funding, childcare and early education, nutrition programs, and health care. Every seat in the NC General Assembly is on the ballot, along with the Governor’s race, a US Senate seat, congressional races, and more. When it comes to elevating the importance of racial equity, voting is vital to make marginalized voices heard. Policies and systems can be changed by our...
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Hope and Progress, No Matter What! — an ACEs Connection/Cambia Health Foundation “Better Normal”, Oct. 22, 2020
The election is upon us. In two short weeks, we voters in this country decide who will lead us for the next four years. We have the opportunity to embrace — as a national priority — the tenets of understanding, nurturing and healing that underlie the science of adverse childhood experiences and move in a direction that embraces cultural and racial equity and anti-racism. Or not.
What is clear is that no matter what, the ACEs movement will continue.
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The Intersection of Systematic Racism, the Pandemic, and SDoMH: Reality Mandates Change
Systematic racism is at the core of mental health disparities and social determinants of mental health (SDoMH).Upstream factors obstruct patient access to needed and appropriate assessment, timely intervention, with treatment for these populations often reflecting poorer quality, and ending prior to completion of treatment. COVID-19 and the recent pandemic have only amplified meso and micro-level gaps in care. considered, provided, and reimbursed.
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"A Better Normal" Community Discussion Series- Our Reckoning with Race and Equity at ACEs Connection
Register for A Better Normal- Our reckoning with race and equity at ACEs Connection
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"A Better Normal" Community Discussion: Suicide Awareness and Community Cafes
Join us on Friday November 6, 2020 from noon to 1:00 PST as we come together and join Satya Chandragiri MD, Bonnie O’Hern RN, Denise PNP, & Michael Polacek RN for a discussion around the tender issue of suicide. Together we will discuss ways people and providers can support each other and encourage communities to take action to support one another around suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and the layers of culture and structural barriers to care. A special emphasis will be on...
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"A Better Normal" Community Discussion: Suicide Awareness and Community Cafes
Join us on Friday November 6, 2020 from noon to 1:00 PST as we come together and join Satya Chandragiri MD, Bonnie O’Hern RN, Denise Proudfoot RN, & Michael Polacek RN for a discussion around the tender issue of suicide. Together we will discuss ways people and providers can support each other and encourage communities to take action to support one another around suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and the layers of culture and structural barriers to care. A special emphasis will be...
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A New Hippocratic Oath Asks Doctors To Fight Racial Injustice And Misinformation [NPR]
First-year medical student Sean Sweat "didn't want to tiptoe around" issues of race when she sat down with 11 of her classmates to write a new version of the medical profession's venerable Hippocratic oath. "We start our medical journey amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and a national civil rights movement reinvigorated by the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery," begins the alternate version of the oath, rewritten for the class of 2024 at the University of Pittsburgh...
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The Gentle Art of Blessing (dailygood.org)
On awakening, bless this day, for it is already full of unseen good which your blessings will call forth; for to bless is to acknowledge the unlimited good that is embedded in the very texture of the universe and awaiting each and all. On meeting and talking to people, bless them in their health, their work, their joy, their relationships to God, themselves, and others. Bless them in their abundance, their finances…bless them in every conceivable way, for such blessings not only sow seeds of...
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The Pandemic Is Raging. Here's How to Support Your Grieving Students [edweek.org]
By Brittany R. Collins, Education Week, November 12, 2020 Over the past few decades, trauma-informed teaching has gained ground in the United States, yet rarely is grief included in the conversation. In the midst of a global pandemic, with teachers and students confronting loss in and outside the classroom in new and myriad ways, it is more critical than ever to apply a grief-sensitive lens to our conversations about curricula and trauma in the school system. We are not the people we were a...
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A Better Normal- Education Upended 11/19, with special guest Robin Cogan, The Relentless School Nurse!
Hi Everyone! Welcome back. I am SO very excited to announce our special guest for this Thursday 11/19 12-1 PST. Please join us as we discuss everything school health and school nursing with rock star school nurse Robin Cogan. Along with all her amazing achievements in her bio below she has recently been featured on CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, and the NYT commenting on school health and the invaluable role of school nurses during a pandemic. Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN is a Nationally Certified...
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Make “Giving Tuesday” your day to support the work of ACEs Connection. Help us meet our matching grant goal of $50K, and your gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar!
"This Giving Tuesday, and every day, we thank you for your support," said members of the ACEs Connection staff on a recent "all staff Zoom." L-R (top row) Laurie Udesky, Carey Sipp, Gail Kennedy, Lara Kain (second row) Cissy White, Rafael Maravilla, Donielle Prince, Jenna Quinn (third row) Ingrid Cockhren, (off camera) Alison Cebulla, Jane Stevens. Out that day, and grateful all the same, were Karen Clemmer, Dana Brown, Elizabeth Prewitt, Marianne Avari, and Samantha Sangenito Called “the...
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Liberty church helps trauma victims heal (The Vindicator)
By Bob Coupland, November 28, 2020, TribToday.com. LIBERTY — Members of New Life Christian Fellowship Church are working with local agencies to help any traumatized residents, especially those suffering through the coronavirus pandemic, achieve resiliency. The church recently held a four-week seminar with people of various professions — including clergy, teaching, administrative and law enforcement personnel — to discuss the effects of adverse childhood experiences to a person’s overall...
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Opportunity to sign on to “A Trauma-Informed Agenda for the First 100 Days of the Biden-Harris Administration”—Deadline Dec. 8th
The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice ( CTIPP ) is inviting individuals and organizations to express their support for a set of executive actions for the Biden-Harris Administration to take “to address trauma and build resilience throughout the country.” Most of these actions could be taken early in the Administration and would not require congressional action with the exception of some recommendations that could be included in a new stimulus package. The recommendations are...
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Whole People Watch Weekend on ACEs Connection (Dec. 11th - 13th)
The Transform Trauma with ACEs Sciences FREE Film Festival continues this weekend. Please join us to watch parts 1, 2, and 3 of the PBS Whole People series at your convenience, on ACEs Connection, by clicking play on the videos below: Whole People | 101 | Childhood Trauma | Episode 1 (27 min) Preview: Whole People | 102 | Healing Communities | Preview | Episode 2 Whole People | 102 |Healing Communities Episode 2 (27 min) Whole People | 103 |A New Response | Episode 3 (27 min) This is one of...
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ACEs Champion: The reintroduction of Michael Hayes — from ACEs awakening to ACEs community service
It wasn’t until his fifth prison term in a North Carolina county jail — his fourth conviction for driving under the influence — that Michael Hayes volunteered to take an ACE survey that changed his life. The 48-year-old father of six sons and one daughter had spent a number of years in and out of prison. During his last term, to get some time out of the cell where he spent 16 hours a day, he volunteered to attend a class offered by RHA Health Services, a nonprofit that incorporates the...
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Re: Committed: How a 6-Year-Old Revealed Florida's Dysfunctional System of Baker Acting Kids [centerforhealthjournalism.org]
I live in Florida and I have dealt with teens that have been Baker Acted. I do a ministry for kids of divorce (dc4k.org) at my church. It is ridiculous. If a teen says anything about indicating they don't want to live any longer, they are Baker Acted before even the end of the day. I had one 15 yr old girl tell me one night after our ministry at church that she had slept with her boyfriend and she felt so guilty. She felt she had betrayed her divorced parents. We talked for an hour. Teens...
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Committed: How a 6-Year-Old Revealed Florida's Dysfunctional System of Baker Acting Kids [centerforhealthjournalism.org]
By JacqueLynn Hatter, Center for Health Journalism, December 13, 2020 The number of children who are taken for involuntary psychiatric evaluations in Florida increases every year. This is the first story in a five-part series about how the state's Baker Act affects children. Each day in Florida, about 100 kids are involuntarily committed for psychiatric exams under the state's Baker Act. The law was not designed for children, yet over the past few years, the number of minors taken for mental...
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ACEs Connection/CTIPP Southeastern Leaders’ call: State updates, funding information, and “mind-blowing” information about helping people out of poverty
Southeastern ACEs Connection and national CTIPP leaders on the quarterly leader call welcomed guest speaker Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz (top left) for their quarterly call. Also among those present were (top row l-r) Carey Sipp, Jesse Kohler, Jesse Hardin, (second row, l-r) Patti Tiberi, Mebane Boyd, Jen Drake-Croft, Dan Press, (third row, l-r) Mimi Graham, Christopher Freeze, Margaret Stagmeier, (fourth row, l-r) Emily Marsh, Liz Peterson, Alyssa Koziarski and Janet Pozmantier. Also present was...
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COVID Relief law creates a $82 billion Education Stabilization Fund for local schools and higher education institutions
While the 5,000-page $900 billion COVID Relief Bill ( H.R. 133, Div. M and N) fell short on some fronts (e.g., did not provide direct fiscal relief to cash-strapped states and localities), it does provide $82 billion in Education Stabilization Funds for states, school districts, and higher education institutions—crucial support for education as students return to school after the holiday. Funding of this magnitude makes a trauma-informed COVID response possible, giving advocates the...
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Adverse Childhood Relationship Experiences Town Hall: The Connection Between Child Development and Chronic Illness
The League of Extraordinary People is excited to announce the free, February Town Hall! This town hall's topic is Adverse Childhood Relationship Experiences: The Connection Between Child Development and Chronic Illness. Reserve your spot at www.bit.ly/tloepfeb You can find more information about TLOEP at www.tloep.org! Alfred White is the founder of The League of Extraordinary People. After nearly 38 years of experiencing homelessness, Alfred swallowed a 1/4 ounce of crack cocaine in 2004...
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Join Special Guest Father Paul Abernathy for a Zoom Discussion on March 16th, at 7p.m. EST to discuss the Whole People Documentary Series and Trauma-Informed Community Development
On behalf of ACEs Connection , the CTIPP (The Campaign for Trauma -Informed Policy & Practice), and the Relentless School Nurse , we want to invite you to the streaming of parts 4 and 5 of the Whole People documentary series on the weekend o f M arch 12th through March 14th, 2021. We will stream both parts on ACEs Connection in the Transforming Trauma with ACEs Sciences Film Festival community. The documentary viewing will be followed by a discussion with special guest, Father Paul...
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Hope, Healing & Help - The Surviving Spirit Newsletter February 2021
“ Our fingerprints don't fade from the lives we touch.” - Judy Blume Hope, healing & help for trauma, abuse & mental health. The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php & here's the PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2021-02-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_February_2021.pdf “ Our brains developed along with music and singing as a survival mechanism.” - Tania De Jong To sign up for...
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The Disconnect of Trauma and the Lies We Follow
Honored to be part of the Survivor Stories event hosted by Michael Broussard of Ask a Survivor. Performing two songs of mine and sharing the back story to their creation - "Songs For The Keys To Your Life"and "When Your Heart Follows A Lie" “ Go to where the silence is and say something.” - Amy Goodman Survivor Stories- Michael Skinner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehkz2kkkIa4&t=40s Take care and share as you wish...Michael Skinner A diagnosis is not a destiny “ Our lives begin to...
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We’ve changed our name to PACEs Connection!
We have some very exciting news! As of today, ACEs Connection is now PACEs Connection. PACEs stands for Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences.
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A Better Normal Friday, March 26, 2021: PACEs and HOPE with Dr. Christina Bethell
Please join us for our next installment of A Better Normal, our live webinar series in which we imagine and create our society as trauma-informed! You may have seen we changed our name recently from ACEs Connection to PACEs Connection. Please join us to learn all about the groundbreaking research of Positive Childhood Experiences and how this is going to transform the work we are all doing. >>Click here to register<< PACEs and HOPE Live Event Friday, March 26, 2021 Noon PT / 1pm...
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The pandemic is changing how we think about domestic violence, new survey shows (centerforhealthjournalism.org)
Amid a pandemic that shined a harsh light on domestic violence , Californians are increasingly viewing these abuses as a pressing social issue, according to a new survey of nearly 2,000 adults. Two-thirds of Californians consider domestic violence a public issue rather than private family matter, and 91% of participants said domestic violence is a serious societal issue, the survey found. “This info has given some validation to things folks have been talking about for a long time...
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New devotional book, Hope for Healing, seeks to give trauma-informed ministry insight
I am proud/relieved/gratified at finally being able to share a labor of love with the "PACES" community. It has been a struggle, the book project--yes, but just life and ministry in general have been hard over the past year. My family and I, personally, continue to walk the path of navigating all the complexities that come from trauma and working through that trauma in the context of ministry. I understand that many of you are in the same situation and can understand. The book, Hope for...
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Best Practices, Internationally Respected Experts Featured at ACEs Central Florida Conference. Registration Closes Monday!
Donna Jackson Nakazawa ( photo by Marshall Clarke ), award winning science journalist and author of Angel and the Assassin , will join Dr. Mimi Graham , director of Florida State University's Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy , Andrea Darr , creator of Handle With Care, Captain Lovetta Quinn-Henry , from the Orlando Police Department and many more featured at the conference. Help your community move the needle toward a trauma-informed, resilient community by learning from...
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Child Care Relief Funding in American Rescue Plan: State-by-State Estimates [CLASP]
March 10,2021 Editor’s note: This article includes CLASP estimates on child care relief funding each state, D.C., and Puerto Rico will receive of the $39 billion included in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP Act) For decades, our country has had a child care crisis fraught with inequitable access for communities of color, unaffordable care for far too many families, poverty-level wages for early educators, and razorthin margins for providers. This long-term crisis has been exacerbated by the...
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To solve the Black maternal mortality crisis, start with upending racist practices
It’s been all over the news for months: Black women in the United States are dying from complications during their pregnancies or in childbirth at alarming rates, and those deaths are preventable. Less well explored is how systemic racism and historical trauma have been at the core of what’s driven up these rates over several decades. A March 20 conference entitled The Impact of ACEs on Black Maternal Health took an in-depth look into why Black maternal mortality and complications during...
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The Struggle Is Real - The Church and Mental Health
Saturday, May 15, 2021 @9:00 AM/EST This transformational conference will enlighten and empower the faith community to become more aware, intentional, and engaging partners in the healing process to an existing population within every house of worship. In my 20+ years of experience, I've learned the core reason why more places of worship aren't prepared or equipped to minister to those struggling with mental health, is because they simply don't know how. This conference will instruct those...
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ACEs Parent Handouts & ACEs One Pagers & Link to GRC (UPDATED 4/28/21)
We have so many wonderfu https://www.acesconnection.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/508261416693856202/filePointer/508261416693856263/fodoid/507698389112989542/Coping%20With%20Stress%20During%20the%20COVID-19%20Pandemic%20One-Pager_Accesible_English.pdf l resources shared by members. However, a few of you have asked me for help in retrieving them. Here's several of the most commonly shared ACEs handouts, info graphics and one pagers, with links to download. PLEASE share yours! I'm working...
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North Carolina launches first-in-the-nation statewide task force on ACEs-informed courts
(l-r) Judge Andrew Heath, Chief Justice Paul Newby, District Attorney Ben David Plans to integrate practices and policies based on the science of adverse childhood experiences in North Carolina’s 6,500-person,100-county statewide judiciary were announced today by Chief Justice Paul Newby. The announcement featured a presentation by Ben David, district attorney for North Carolina’s 13th District, that focused on building community health, the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs),...
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PACEs Connection presents the "Historical Trauma in America" series
PACEs Connection's Race & Equity Workgroup will be examining historical trauma in the United States of America and its impact on American society in a series of virtual discussions. This series will highlight each unique region within the United States and outline how unresolved historical trauma has impacted every aspect of American life and directly shapes the socio-political landscape of today as well as the overall well-being of Americans. Discussions will make connections between...
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2011-2021—A decade of steady growth in ACEs and TI laws and resolutions in the states
In 2019 and 2020, dozens of states enacted nearly 60 laws and resolutions that reference adverse childhood experiences or trauma. In this post, there's an interactive map that shows them all.
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2021 Kids Count Data Book [aecf.org]
From The Annie E. Casey Foundation, June 21, 2021 SUMMARY The 32nd edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT ® Data Book describes how children across the United States were faring before — and during — the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s publication continues to deliver the Foundation’s annual state rankings and the latest available data on child well-being. It identifies multiyear trends — comparing statistics from 2010 to 2019. In addition, the report shares data on how...
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StrongBrains Coaching: Using PACEs and Brain Science to Coach Kids for a Lifetime of Good Choices
How can brain science help a Pop Warner football team of 10-year-olds win the big game, and avoid depression when they're adults? Join us for the August edition of the Up2Us Sports Lunch and Learn Series and find out. The monthly lunch and learn session, usually exclusively for UP2US member coaches, is now open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Register today ! The session is Wednesday, August 11 at noon CST, and features the Rev. Dr. Clifford Barnett, Carey Sipp of PACEs...
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The best way to start any meeting. Ever.
Following a brief mindfulness check-in, PACEs Connection staff meetings begin with the review of our Vision, Mission, and Values statements, as well as our Equity and Inclusion Statement. At a recent meeting, top row, L-R, Ingrid Cockhren, Carey Sipp, Donielle Prince, Jane Stevens. Middle row, L-R, John Flores, Porter Jennings-McGarity, Jenna Quinn, Gail Kennedy. Bottom row, L-R, Rafael Maravilla, Natalie Audage, Alison Cebulla, Samantha Sangenito. A couple of times last week I felt my body...
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Trauma-Informed Early Childhood Initiatives [CTIPP]
CTIPP CAN Call - Trauma-Informed Early Childhood Initiatives - September 15th, 2-3:30pm ET/11am-12:30pm PT - Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/742183645 Meeting ID: 742 183 645 One tap mobile +19292056099,,742183645# US (New York) Please join us for next week's CTIPP CAN Call, which will focus on building mental well-being for infants, toddlers and preschoolers and the adults who care for them. This month's presentation will feature Drs. Kaitlin Mulcahy and Gerry Costa, and Kelly...
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** NCTSN September 2021 Spotlight ** [mednet.ucla.edu]
While natural disasters can strike at any time with very little warning, families and communities can take steps to prepare in the event that a disaster does occur. With the devastation caused by ongoing events (hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, COVID-19) across the nation, this reaffirms the need for disaster preparedness. Our thoughts are with the families, children, and communities who have been affected by these disasters. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has resources...
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Supporting Mental Well-Being through Child Care Settings - 9/30, 1:30-3:00 ET
A webinar offered by the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) Thursday, September 30, 1:30 - 3:00 pm EDT Register today . Addressing the mental health needs of child care providers and children in care is vital in the face of the pandemic, a population-level traumatic event. CTIPP is offering a "plug and play" framework to ease the process of developing a continuum of training, reflective coaching, and consultation to build the capacity for supporting relational health...
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Historical Trauma in the American Midwest Event Recap
On September 16, 2021, PACEs Connection hosted our second event in our Historical Trauma in America series . This event was led by Ingrid Cockhren, the director of the PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities; and Porter Jennings-McGarity, our community facilitator of the Midwest Region. It featured guest speaker Agnes Woodward who is Plains Cree from Kawacatoose First Nation, Saskatchewan, Canada. To download the slide deck from this presentation, click here. Then click "download file".
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Path to a Just Society: Our new infographic shares common language and an aspirational path.
Our version of a “Path to a Just Society” is our first attempt at creating a common language and identifying points along the path to a just society. The Race and Equity workgroup of PACEs Connection started the project in early 2021, following a staff meeting where we realized that we, our organization and the movement needed this. We think it can help all of us gauge where we are, where we want to be, and what’s needed to get to the next level of integrating practices and policies based on...
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Learning with Indigenous communities to advance health equity [rwjf.org]
On Indigenous People's Day, we celebrate the values, practices and policies of Tribal Nations, which treat land and water as an ancestral gift to be preserved and protected. As we cope with oil spills, wildfires, and historic droughts, that worldview can help guide us to a sustainable, equitable, and healthy future. Now more than ever, we need that wisdom to help us reclaim the health of the earth > More RWJF resources: Connecting Indigenous Knowledge and Practices webinar : Learn how...