Karen Clemmer, the Northwest community facilitator with ACEs Connection, was already deeply interested in the CDC/Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study when she and a colleague from the Child Parent Institute were invited to lunch by ACEs Connection founder and publisher Jane Stevens in 2012. But that lunch meeting changed everything. Karen Clemmer “Jane helped us see a bigger world,” says Clemmer. “She came with a much wider lens. She didn’t look only at Sonoma County, she...

Iowa ACEs 360 released a new report that showcases progress made to address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), Iowa data on the challenges that still persist, and new opportunities to take action. “After a decade of working to raise awareness of ACEs in Iowa, we are seeing significant efforts to help Iowans heal from ACEs and to prevent ACEs with future generations,” said Nicole Beaman, president of Iowa ACEs 360s’ board of directors and vice president of Orchard Place Child Guidance...

The 2021 Iowa Legislative Session kicked off last week at a time when the needs of families are great. The pandemic and the inequities it furthers for low-income Iowans and Iowa communities of color and the systemic discrimination that continues to disenfranchise our neighbors all mean we have much work to do to create systems that prevent trauma to Iowa’s children and families. Over the past few months, Iowa ACEs 360 has partnered with local coalitions and organizations to hold advocacy...

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...

Did you know there was once a life-changing line running up the center of Iowa? Many people don’t. This line ran north from the Painted Rocks bluffs of what is now Lake Red Rock into Hardin County by Steamboat Rock. The line may not have created a physical barrier, but it did leave an unfortunate mark on American history, effectively dividing Iowa’s inhabitants in the mid-1800s into two separate groups: Native Americans and pioneers. Iowa’s pioneer settlers were not the original inhabitants...

Image - Center for Food Safety To read more of the Associated Press article, please click here. DES MOINES, Iowa -- A California law approved by voters that promises to get breeding pigs out of narrow cages that prevent them from standing or turning will finally take effect Saturday, after years of delays and warnings that the rules could lead to price spikes and pork shortages. But it will be six months before California grocery shoppers can be sure that pork chops they buy under the new...

Todd Noack is the founder and executive director of Rhonda’s House, a rural peer respite program in Iowa. Credit: Lisa Bartels To read more of Cheryl Platzman Weinstock's article, please click here. Aimee Quicke has made repeated trips to emergency rooms, hospitals, behavioral health facilities, and psychiatric lockdowns for mental health crises — including suicidal thoughts — since she was 11. The 40-year-old resident of Le Mars, Iowa, has bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. “Some...

In the world of family violence, the focus is on healing victims (survivors). This includes funding for domestic violence shelters, thousands of research projects, state and federal legislation, and changing the criminal justice response. But that’s providing help for only half the people involved in the problem.

Photo: Shutterstock To read more of Bill Browning's article, please click here. Students around the nation are pushing back on Republican attacks on LGBTQ+ rights. They’ve stood up for teachers and coaches , walked out en masse, and this week, a Missouri university reopened a student resource center after students protested. But high schoolers in Iowa are taking a different approach to defy the state’s laws. They’ve heckled the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ governor , and instead of relying on...

Vkulikov/Wikipedia To read more of Raymond Goldfield's article, please click here. Iowa has a rich educational scene, with its public colleges and universities being some of the most acclaimed state institutions in the country. The University of Iowa is even home to a writers’ workshop that has resulted in the city being named an official UNESCO City of Literature! Countless famous faces have visited the city – but most people don’t know what a huge role the university and state played in...

Top image: Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr talks to attendees at the Governor's Conference on LGBTQ Youth hosted by Iowa Safe Schools Bottom image: attendees and visitors in the hall at the Governor's Conference on LGBTQ Youth hosted by Iowa Safe Schools credit: Avery Staker To read more of Nikoel Hytrek's article, please click here. Being an LGBTQ+ student in Iowa right now is hard. Laws police which names and bathrooms students can use, and what words teachers can say in their classrooms.