Tagged With "NACCHO Joy in Work"
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Unprecedented childhood trauma hearing in U.S. Congress on July 11 to feature data from new state fact sheets on ACEs prevalence, impacts
A hearing of unprecedented scope and depth (this link will take you to a list of witnesses and all of their statements plus an overview memo on the hearing from committee staff) on ACEs science and childhood trauma — " Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Childhood Trauma: A Pervasive Public Health Issue that Needs Greater Federal Attention " — will be held today in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. You can watch the live stream at 10:00 am ET through this link . Eleven witnesses...
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Using Data to Support your ACEs Work (EFC Goal #2)
Increasing awareness of the need to develop and support safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments is most effective when the discussing includes factual information about the size and nature of the issue in your organization, neighborhood, or community. Enter the CDC’s Essentials for Childhood Goal #2: Use Data to Inform Action. Using the information that you have available not only helps to build the case for action, but also helps to identify needs and gaps, to direct...
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What's in your soil? - Communities moving to action
Many of you may be familiar with the “Pair of ACEs” from the George Washington School of Public Health and the natural question that comes from this model – “What’s in your soil?” (If you aren’t familiar, learn more here .) Communities across the State of Kansas are starting conversations around, not only the impact of ACEs, but also the larger issues of Prevention, Health Equity, and Trauma-Informed Systems of Care. In June, the TISC team at WSU CEI had the opportunity to facilitate and...
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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A Call for "Kindness"
As I’m writing this, Kansas has confirmed its 15 th case of the novel coronavirus and our teams have switched to telecommuting for the foreseeable future. At the same time, our public health and healthcare partners are working tirelessly to protect our families, friends, and neighbors – some bravely putting themselves in harm’s way to keep others safe. This also likely means they aren’t the most popular people in our communities as we are asked to institute “social distancing” and stay away...
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A note of reflection and gratitude
I can’t believe that this month (…year…decade?!) is nearly over. Like many others this week, I’m doing a lot of reflecting about what I’m thankful for. In the month of November, our TISC team has had the privilege of talking to and learning from people across Kansas who care about building resilient residents, organizations, and communities. In a time when the world seems more than a little chaotic, intolerant, and just plain unkind – I’m grateful to be in a position to have witnessed the...
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Building a Resilient Health Department and Community (Part 2)
As a follow up to last week's post from the Barton County Health Department, Shelly Schneider shares their journey to move the work into the community through RiseUP Barton County. "Barton County is experiencing an exciting opportunity with community members uniting together as a group of unusual voices meeting weekly to develop and launch an effort for not only building but executing a Trauma Informed Community of Resilience. Our efforts started 2 years ago when the Barton County Health...
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Building a Trauma-Informed - and Resilient - Health Department (Part 1)
One of the reasons that our team wanted to create this online community was so that we can share the stories of our amazing partners from across the state who are learning more about how traumatic stress impacts their organizations and the people who they work with and alongside. The team at the Barton County Health Department in Great Bend, KS started their journey back in 2016. Over the next couple of weeks, Health Department Administrator, Shelly Schneider, shares their experiences both...
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Building Resilience - A Kansas PreventionTalKS Podcast
Building individual and community resilience is a cornerstone to most community coalition efforts - whether you are working to prevent substance use and abuse, addressing social and health disparities, or creating healthy environments for people to live, work, play, and pray. In this month's installment of their monthly Kansas Prevention TalKS podcast, our friends and partners at the Kansas Prevention Collaborative kindly invited me to talk more about what "resilience" means and what it...
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Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) launches new grassroots initiative to engage and educate Congress
From Elizabeth Prewitt (ACEs Connection Staff) CTIPP (Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice) today announced the launch of the National Trauma Campaign , calling for federal action to prevent and address childhood trauma and build resilience through educating and engaging Congress. Its widely circulated communication invited people from around the country to join the new grassroots initiative. The campaign provides ways for everyone to get involved by joining the effort, becoming...
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Create the Context for Healthy Children and Families through Policies (EfC Goal #4)
We are going to wrap up our series on the Essentials for Childhood Framework with perhaps one of the toughest parts of the work – influencing policy. One of the best ways to assure that all of our great work doesn’t disappear when the winds change is to have it be embedded in our infrastructure, but it isn’t easy. The CDC suggests that there are two steps to inform policies that might support safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Identify and assess which policies may...
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Creating Safe and Supportive Meeting Spaces
Some of you who know me, know that I am a huge fan of seeing movies in the theater. This week, I had the opportunity to see The Best of Enemies - which focused on the question of school integration in 1960s era North Carolina. As interesting as the true story was of the unlikely friendship that developed between community leaders with polarized opinions - I was particularly fascinated with the process that they used to get there. Here at CEI, we have the opportunity to work with a wide...
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Helping Families Stay Regulated during a Pandemic
As our communities struggle to do what is needed to keep people safe and families work to find a new a “normal” while caring for and educating children at home full time – it can be a lot to handle. Child psychologist and trauma expert, Dr. Bruce Perry offered 8 tips for helping children stay regulated in this recent article from Psychology Today . Dr. Perry was also a part of this video resource for parents, Staying sane while Parenting with Shelter-in-Place! For service providers who would...
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Helping Students Overcome Toxic Stress through Science-Based Teaching Practices (stresshealth.org)
“What our students really crave the most is predictability from the adults interacting with them,” says Roger Sapp, a student success teacher at KIPP. For that reason, the one-on-one session is not a reward for being “good” or withheld if something bad happens. The kids who need it can count on it – every day. The scene is from a video by Edutopia (aka the George Lucas Educational Foundation), which has produced a series of more than 20 powerful, engaging shorts on how children learn in...
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ICYMI: The 12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
Just in case you missed it, Jane Stevens has posted a great new article and infographic explaining the 12 Myths of the Science of ACEs . Reading it, I felt like Jane has been following our team around lately (in a good way!). We have these discussions on a regular basis within the communities and organizations we visit - and we are betting that you do too! For us, Jane's article reinforces (and validates!) what we try to share with others and gives us additional language to do that in a...
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New resource for Creating a "Mentally Healthy" Workplace
In our work across the state, we frequently connect with partners who want to share information about ACEs/Resilience with local business leaders but aren't sure how to respond to the inevitable question, "So now what?" A new resource released in January from Policy Research Associates may be able to support these conversations. Best Practices for Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace includes a framework and tools that businesses can use to improve their organizational culture to promote...
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New Resource: Measuring the Impact of TI Primary Care
As more and more organizations work toward trauma-informed, many struggle with how to measure the impact they are having on those they serve. In a new brief from the Center for Healthcare Strategies, leaders from the Montefiore Medical Group shares a proposed model to help organizations consider the critical question, “Is what we are doing working?” If you are an organization in Kansas, our Trauma-Informed Systems of Care team may be able to assist you in developing an infrastructure to...
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Positive Childhood Experiences offset ACEs: Q & A with Dr. Robert Sege about HOPE
Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...
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Share your community or organization story!
As we build this site, we will share stories of the organizations and communities that we are honored to support on their journeys to become more trauma-informed and trauma-responsive. However, we know there are many out there we have yet to meet! We would love to hear what is happening in your community or organization to prevent and respond to toxic stress and create more resilient places to live, work, and play! Send us a blog post, resource to share, or just "Ask the Community" - we are...
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Supporting Schools in Becoming Models for Trauma-Informed Practice
School districts across the state (and country) are working to find ways to become more trauma-aware, trauma-sensitive, and trauma-responsive. Many have started the process by implementing a variety of programs and practices school-wide from Restorative Justice to Capturing Kids' Hearts . Others are making small changes, one classroom at a time. All of it is good work – and the best way to make it sustainable is to have a written plan developed by leaders at all levels within the school or...
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Re: A Call for "Kindness"
Vanessa, Thank you for this beautiful reminder that our current challenges are golden opportunities to demonstrate what truly matters. As Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote, "Beauty will save the world." Kindness is a necessary element of that tremendous work.
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Resources for Assessing Staff and Client Readiness to Resume Services
The past few months have been a challenging time for everyone. New "norms" at home and at work continue to evolve while people balance all of the issues that relate to keeping our families, workplaces, and communities safe and healthy and attempting to address the many system inequities related to poverty and race that the pandemic has shone a light on. As things move forward, I hope that our team can share some of the resources that we see along the way. By themselves, these tools won't...
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California reaches milestone with ACEs initiatives pulsing in all 58 counties. Next: All CA cities.
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...
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Zero to Three releases new Mindfulness Toolkit for Early Childhood Organizations
As our communities look for ways to bring children safely back into structured, safe learning environments - whether that is child care facilities or schools - many staff, teachers, and children are likely going to be experiencing some stress and anxiety. This isn't new - transitions are always a bit stressful, but this time there are a number of added concerns that may be difficult to process for kids and adults alike. The best way to help keep children regulated and focused is to practice...
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Vanessa Lohf integrates ACEs science throughout Kansas communities, organizations and systems
A Kansas-licensed social worker, Vanessa Lohf was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, where she still lives and works in public health by facilitating the Trauma-Informed Systems of Care Initiatives (TISC) team at the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute. She also manages the Kansas ACEsConnection network , where she regularly posts about news and resources for communities and organizations throughout the state. Lohf says that Wichita is known as the “Aircraft Capital of...
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Mindfulness in the Virtual Classroom
In the past year, many of you may have been hearing more and more about “mindfulness” and instantly think of someone sitting cross-legged on the floor in flowing white clothes, with long hair and peace signs around their neck. Even the Oxford Dictionary describes mindfulness as “a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations…” Pretty “new agey”, right? Well, maybe, but it...
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Recognizing National Prevention Week (May 9-15)
The Kansas Prevention Collaborative (KPC) is about prevention AND the promotion of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). The KPC is in the midst of celebrating National Prevention Week (NPW) with communities across Kansas and the United States. NPW is a national educational campaign that promotes prevention year-round through providing ideas and resources to help individuals and communities make substance misuse prevention happen daily. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services...
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Coming Together for Kids
2020 was a year of many things – a year of fear and hope, a year of illness and health, and a year that has shined a light on many issues in our communities that have been hard to talk about. Issues like racial and other health disparities, mental health, and addictions. Bringing these issues out into the open means vast opportunities for conversations and healing – but how do we do this in safe, healthy ways? And how do we explain all of this to our kids so that they can learn...
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FREE WEBINAR: The Impact of Mind Matters: Preliminary Evidence of Effectiveness in a Community-Based Sample
Becky Antle, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work and esteemed University Scholar at the University of Louisville, won The Dibble Institute’s national competition to evaluate Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience in 2019. As a result, Dr. Antle and her colleagues have conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Mind Matters on a host of outcomes related to trauma symptoms, emotional regulation, coping and resiliency, and interpersonal skills for at-risk...
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Surgeon General Issues Advisory on Workforce Burnout
This week, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory on Addressing The Health Care Workforce Burnout . The advisory highlights the urgent need to address the burnout crisis impacting health care workers across the country. Notably, the Biden Administration emphasizes the mental health and wellbeing of health workers as a priority and promotes it as a core objective of the President’s National Mental Health Strategy . Some of the recommendations in the advisory include...
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A Promise for 2022: Be the Change You Want to See in the World
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi Becoming more trauma-informed and resilience-oriented in our...
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CTIPP: Developing SMARTIE Goals
The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) is a national organization whose mission is to create a healthy, just, resilient, and trauma-informed society where all individuals, families, and communities have the social, political, cultural, economic, and spiritual opportunities and support to thrive. CTIPP focuses on the root causes of our nations' most pressing challenges through open and collaborative engagement across sectors and systems and policy advocacy. The CTIPP...
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How to Create Lasting Change at Work: The Technical vs. The Cultural
Repost from PACEs Connection member Shenandoah Chefalo: Creating lasting change is no small task. Still, it’s frustrating when most organizations fail to create the sort of lasting change that is the hallmark of effective social justice and DEI work—and the reason why is complex. If we were to boil it down to the simplest answer possible, it would be that organizations hyper-fixate on the technical while leaving the cultural unaddressed. What does that mean, exactly? Let’s use a relevant...
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What Does Trauma-Informed Leadership Look Like in Practice?
Repost from PACES Connection Member, Shenandoah Chefalo (9/30/22): Trauma-informed leadership is crucial if you want to accomplish trauma-informed change in your organization. Here’s some expert advice on how you can become a trauma-informed leader. 1. Acknowledge that cultural change is just as important as technical change Our problem-solving brains often focus on technical change when we talk about organizational change. We ask, “What processes can we put in place to prevent this issue?”...
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New National Resources to Support Social Connection and Community
Today, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has issued an 81-page advisory on the epidemic of loneliness and isolation. In the report, Dr. Murthy outlines the public health concerns related to loneliness and isolation and how supporting social connection can reduce the risk of premature mortality, predict better physical and mental health outcomes and ease stress. In response, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office has issued a new website announcing a National Strategy for addressing the...
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Spread HOPE in your Community!
Positive experiences can ease toxic stress and help children and youth grow into more resilient, healthy adults. Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE) identifies ways that our communities and systems of care can better ensure that all children have more positive experiences and that all families have support to nurture and celebrate their strengths. The HOPE National Resource Center utilizes a national network of facilitators to collaborate with local partners to create a...
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Our Trauma-Resilient Educational Communities (TREC) Model's website launched on 1.25.24 with our Award Ceremony!
The culmination of thousands of hours from our Trauma-Resilient Educational Communities (TREC) team in developing our TREC Model, we launched TRECeducation.com website on Thursday, January 25, 2024. Craig Beswick, Vice-President, School Development Division, Lifelong Learning Administration Corporation (LLAC) opened up our exciting launch, which was hosted by the beautiful UCSD Park & Market in downtown San Diego. Craig warmly welcomed over 200 attendees to our Awards Ceremony and TREC...
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Plans afoot to bring stability to PACEs Connection
To all of you, who, like me, love this website and want to see it and its communities flourish as we work to prevent and heal trauma; build resiliency: please know there is a move afoot by a small group of strategic partners to find a suitable host for PACEs Connection. More will be announced in the coming days. In the meantime, friends, we are figuring out email addresses and other communications logistics and opportunities. PEACE! Carey Sipp, former director of strategic partnerships ...
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Message from our CEO, Ingrid Cockhren: PACEs is Sunsetting eff. April 26th
Hello partners, members, and friends, It is with mixed emotions that I am sharing that PACEs Connection will be sunsetting all operations effective Friday, April 26. While it saddens me to see this chapter of PACEs work come to a close, this work is too important to end, and efforts are underway to identify a new home for PACEs to continue its work. At the same time, this presents an exciting opportunity for PACEs to reemerge stronger than ever. Although we intended a seamless transition,...