Tagged With "Aligning Systems for Health"
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Hospital, Prison to Address Mental Health, Stress, Trauma [usnews.com]
AUGUSTA, MAINE (AP) — Maine 's corrections agency is working with a Massachusetts hospital to address mental health, stress and trauma impacting staffers and inmates. The Maine State Prison will hold wellness meetings Tuesday for staff members led by McLean Hospital clinicians. Such trainings will help staff manage and reduce the stress and trauma of their jobs and develop emotional regulation skills. Female offenders will also receive help advocating for their wellness needs. [For more on...
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How Can Massachusetts Become A Trauma Informed State?
On Monday, March 2, 2020 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in the Hogan Campus Center at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester Massachusetts state legislators will gather with community partners, families and professionals to learn how gateway cities can lead Massachusetts to becoming a trauma-informed state.
To register for this free event, complete the brief form at this link: https://form.jotform.com/DCStraining/building-resilient-communities-
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How to Implement Trauma-informed Care to Build Resilience to Childhood Trauma [childtrends.org]
By Jessica Dym Bartlett, Kate Steber, Child Trends, May 9, 2019 Children who are exposed to traumatic life events are at significant risk for developing serious and long-lasting problems across multiple areas of development.[1],[2],[3],[4] However, children are far more likely to exhibit resilience to childhood trauma when child-serving programs, institutions, and service systems understand the impact of childhood trauma, share common ways to talk and think about trauma, and thoroughly...
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Improve Birth and Perinatal Outcomes with a Trauma Sensitive Approach
The Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health is excited to bring together 10 talented practitioners to explore the Trauma Informed Practices that help improve birth outcomes and support human development right from the very start. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (1998) launched the importance of trauma and trauma informed care in our health and educational systems. We suddenly had a measure of how early experiences in childhood could correlate with adult disease.
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New report from the Alaska Children’s Trust addresses impact of ACEs on the state’s economy and workforce—present and future
The Alaska Children’s Trust (ACT) just released a data and image-packed 11-page brief “ Vibrant Economy, Strong Workforce, Thriving Families: A Guide to Trauma-Informed Policy Decision-Making.” The document was developed as a tool to educate a broad range of state and local policymakers about the impact of ACEs on health and social problems. The primary audience is state legislators and their staffs, government administrators, and county and municipal policymakers. Advocates have already...
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Northeast and Mid-Atlantic trauma leaders share successes and challenges at May 1 networking meeting
Leaders in ACEs/trauma/resilience movement from nine states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and the District of Columbia gathered for a networking call on May 1 to learn about flexible funding opportunities for states under the CARES Act, ways to get involved in advocacy, and share their successes and challenges in building statewide coalitions. The meeting of leaders was organized by ACEs Connection and the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) in response to COVID-19...
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Parent who listens is key to helping kids overcome trauma (www.upi.com)
Excerpt from article by Dennis Thompson in United Press International. To read the rest of this article by Dennis Thompson published in United Press International, go here . Cissy's Note: it's rare to find articles on the healing impact of parents, after ACEs, or in general. There's so much advice to parents but not enough listening and learning from parents. This article shows just how parents can best support kids after trauma. Of course we need safe and supportive schools, systems, and...
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Plymouth County's (MA) Drug Endangered Children's Initiative
The Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative in Plymouth County, Massachusetts is now accepting referrals to help children impacted by the opioid crisis. Children who live in a home where a parent, sibling or other family member struggles with addiction are likely experiencing trauma. Grandparents increasingly find themselves raising grandchildren, and some children end up in the foster care system. The DEC Initiative seeks to help those families. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office...
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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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Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences From the 2011-2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 23 States (www.jamanetwork.com) & Note
Cissy's note: Melissa Merrick, PhD (pictured above), is a Senior Epidemiologist with the Surveillance Branch in the Division of Violence Prevention at CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. She will be the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Essentials for Childhood summit and share about new ACEs data (see below) about which populations have the highest levels of ACEs on average. An except from this article published on the JAMA Network can be found below. Please follow...
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Racial Equity in Multnomah County: Ben Duncan (Part Two)
This is the second post in our two-part series about the session led by Dr. Flojaune Cofer and Ben Duncan, each from a public health background with a focus on health disparities. They addressed ACEs in the context of health equity at their panel entitled ACEs, Race, and Health Equity: Understanding and Addressing the Role of Race and Racism in ACEs Exposure and Healing. The panel occurred at the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access co-hosted by ACEs Connection and the Center for Youth...
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Social policies to prevent adversity -- see Open Access link (until July 1) to “A Critical Assessment of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study at 20 Years”— in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
The ACEs research by Drs. Felitti, Anda and colleagues focused attention on the important consequences of childhood adversity for adult health. Of course, as many in the resilience-building movement recognize, adversities affect children’s health and life trajectories as well. When we recognize the powerful impacts of harsh life circumstances for children and families, it becomes clearer that social policies to strengthen household and community resources are needed as well as...
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Summit
Note from Deb: Please join Massachusetts Essentials for Childhood Summit as we launch our second phase with a new five-year round of CDC funding. The Summit will be an interactive day designed to get your input into strategies to reach our new goals to promote health equity, community social connection and family economic self-sufficiency. We will be seeking your feedback on a tool to promote municipal resources that have been proven to enhance family well being in communities, and a video...
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Supporting Evidence Building in Child Welfare Project Evaluation Opportunity Announcement
The Supporting Evidence Building in Child Welfare Project , a five-year project of the Urban Institute, to support the Administration for Children and Families, is increasing the number of evidence-supported interventions for the child welfare population by conducting rigorous evaluations and supporting the field in moving toward rigorous evaluation. The project focuses on evaluating interventions that already have some evidence of effectiveness and are currently operating or those that will...
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The A-List with Alison Lebovitz, Episode 1105: Dr. Bruce Perry [pbs.org]
By Alison Lebovitz, Public Broadcasting System, November 22, 2019 Join Alison Lebovitz as she interviews Dr. Bruce Perry. Dr. Bruce D. Perry is an American psychiatrist, currently the Senior Fellow of the Child Trauma Academy in Houston, Texas and an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. A clinician and researcher in children's mental health and the neurosciences, from 1993-2001 he was the Thomas S. Trammell Research...
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The Hello It’s Me Project comes to Pittsfield: Dr. Claudia Gold at the helm of initiative to create healthy bonds between parents and infants (www./theberkshireedge.com)
Cissy's note: I am a huge fan of the way @Claudia Gold works with those of us Parenting with ACEs . The first time I read her writing I relaxed. She was speaking with and for parents not about or at us. Unfortunately, her approach is rare. Fortunately, she just launched a new project she's been dreaming of for years. I love the way she supports all families and how she centers the role of all parents in the lives of all children - especially those - not all except those...
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"They Know My Name": Parents Help Make a Collective Impact
Kimberlee Coronado recalls listening to a presentation of statewide data on children, poverty and trauma, and feeling acutely aware of the survey’s missing piece. It was a meeting on trauma-informed care; around the table were social service providers and representatives of local and county agencies. Coronado felt her anger rising. “I said, ‘What’s not even on your radar are kids with disabilities; you’re missing a whole category of kids who experience daily trauma,’” she recalls. Coronado...
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‘This is not a child safety crisis. It’s a poverty crisis, a racism crisis.’ – A social worker and former foster youth featured in HBO’s ‘Foster’ shares her vision of societal and system change (www.risemagazine.org)
Excerpts from article by Sarah Harris from Rise Magazine . Q: What led you to work in the foster care system? A: I am a former foster youth and I’ve been a social worker at the L.A. Department of Child and Family Services for 5 years. I entered foster care through probation, and I got into probation through survival. I was breaking the law for clothes and food. In foster care, I bounced around a lot. For the most part I was AWOL. I was in group homes but I stayed with family or friends.
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Translating Child Adversity Data into Actionable Information [NACCHO] Sept 2018
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative launched a new set of child adversity and resilience data indicators on Kidsdata.org Furthermore, the initiative created state and local dashboards to bring together sources of data that represent a broader set of life experiences than originally reflected in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, such as living in poverty or dangerous neighborhoods. The goal was to make these data widely available and provide training on how...
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Translating Trauma-Informed Values in ACTION Workshop
There are still spots available in this upcoming workshop in Boston: TIMBo for Compassionate Organizations Translating Trauma-Informed Values into ACTION Led by Suzanne Jones, creator of the TIMBo Method and innovator in building stress-responsive social networks . March 28, 2019 | 10am - 3pm The Non-Profit Center, 89 South Street, Boston MA Register Now $300 per person ** $250 Early Bird extended! Must register by 3/15/19 ** 4 CEUs for eligible professionals ($35 fee payable at event) The...
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Two studies shed light on state legislators’ views on ACEs science and trauma policy
New and returning lawmakers take the oath of office on day one of Washington state's 2017 legislative session. — Jeanie Lindsay/Northwest News Network As advocates prepare to see how ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) science, trauma, and resilience play out in the 2020 state legislative sessions — many beginning in January — they are undoubtedly asking: “What does a legislator want?" It may be a stretch to play on Freud’s question: “What does a women want?", but the query captures how...
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Why Kids With ACEs Shouldn't Get a Pass on Chores
Don't worry that chores are too stressful for kids with ACEs, says trauma researcher Bob Sege, MD. “You don’t want to coddle them,” Sege said, “because the message they will get is that they are damaged goods. They need to know that the adversity they suffered is only one part of them; it’s not all of them.”
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Windows of Opportunity: Providing a Warm handoff to Services in Oklahoma
As a follow-up to the " Are You OK? You Are Not Alone Anymore" Resource Poster , there have been important discussions in many local and statewide coalitions about "Windows of Opportunity" to build trust and provide a warm handoff to these critical services. However, as we know through research, individuals with untreated trauma may have difficulty trusting strangers, organizations or government agencies, even if they are wanting to help. Often times, these individuals are experiencing...
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YPD hosts specialized training for over 170 officers and advocates
I had the chance to attend a training for law enforcement and others, described below, in Yarmouth, MA, a few weeks ago. The presentation, "Trauma Informed Response Training for Law Enforcement & Multi Disciplinary Team Members," was given by retired detective Justin Boardman . Boardman was joined in the morning by the chief domestic violence prosecutor of the Cape & Islands, Michael Patterson. Here is a news story excerpt about the training from the Cape Cod newsletter (yes, the...
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2 New Communities Join ACEs Connection: March 2020
Please welcome these two new communities to ACEs Connection . ACEs & African Americans ACEs Connection at Boston University School of Public Health (MA) ACEs & African Americans This group is focused on the descendants of Africans dispersed throughout the Americas during the Transatlantic Slave Trades. Topics include adverse childhood experiences, historical trauma, intergenerational transmission of trauma, African American parenting practices, health disparities, the effects of...
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2019 State Trends in Child Well-Being [aecf.org]
By the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 30th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT® Data Book begins by exploring how America’s child population — and the American childhood experience — has changed since 1990. And there’s some good news to share: Of the 16 areas of child well-being tracked across four domains — health, education, family and community and economic well-being — 11 have improved since the Foundation published its first Data Book 30 editions ago. The rest of the...
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4 New Facts About ACEs Parents Need to Know [yahoo.com]
By Lisa Heffernan, Yahoo Lifestyle, January 24, 2020 Many Americans have at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) before the age of 17. These ACEs include child neglect and emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, household challenges like substance abuse, mental illness, incarceration, parental separation, or divorce, and witnessing intimate partner violence. A collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente San Diego, the original ACE...
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A community-based approach to supporting substance exposed newborns and their families
This information brief highlights a community-based approach to supporting families and newborns affected by substance use. MA EfC developed this brief to address the profound intersection between the Massachusetts opioid crisis, Federal mandates for the development of Plans of Safe Care for substance exposed newborns, and, the MA EfC focus on increasing social connectedness as a means to reduce child maltreatment.
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A Staffer’s Take On The Intersection Of Race, Trauma, And The Summit
Voices for Virginia’s Children held The Virginia Summit on Childhood Trauma and Resilience on April 25, 2019. The Summit featured an array of workshops, including The Intersection of Racial Inequity and Trauma led by The Southside Trauma-Informed Community Network . The presenters identified and discussed the challenges of racial inequities and how trauma may later present within people of color. The supporting organization of the Southside Trauma-Informed Community Network, the Crater...
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ACES Aware Webinar: Dec 13th, 12-1pm PT - Public Comments about soon-to-be-released Request for Proposal
The Department of Health Care Services and the California Office of the Surgeon General are hosting a webinar of the Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Advisory Committee’s Provider Education and Engagement Subcommittee. Subcommittee members will discuss a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) released for public comment as part of the ACEs Aware initiative. The draft RFP invites external organizations to apply for grants to support provider training activities, provider engagement activities...
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ACEs Community Spotlight Series: Dr. Richard Honigman, Central Nassau Pediatrics
For our second community spotlight interview, I spoke with Dr. Richard Honigman, a pediatrician at Central Nassau Pediatrics in Levittown and infant mental health advocate. We discussed the importance of addressing childhood adversity and the relevant work he is doing both inside and outside his practice. Please note that responses have been adjusted for length and clarity. Dr. Honigman is also the first recipient of the 2019 Ed Tronick Award for Distinguished Contribution to Infant-Parent...
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ACEs Connection launches Cooperative of Communities
The ACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities launches today. We want to continue to contribute to the ACEs movement for as long as it takes to create a worldwide healing-centered culture based on ACEs science. We want that to take hold in this world in the same way electricity has — we only notice it if it isn’t there.
First, a clarification: Nothing on ACEsConnection.com changes! Membership remains free! Everything our current 300+ communities use stays free, and remains free for new ones.
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ACEs Connection's Inclusion Tool makes sure nobody's left out
We developed ACEs Connection's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Tool — called the Inclusion Tool, for short — to ensure that ACEs initiatives across the world focus on being inclusive when forming a steering committee, recruiting leaders, providing education about ACEs science, recruiting members, or providing resources and services within their communities. The more inclusive your ACEs initiative is, the more diverse it will be, giving your initiative a real shot at achieving equity and...
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Adverse childhood experiences in the news: Successes and opportunities in coverage of childhood trauma (www.bmsg.org)
Please find excerpts from a piece published in Issue 24 of the Berkeley Media Studies Group about where and how ACEs are covered in the news. It was published a few months ago but I missed it and am thankful it was shared with me last week. and Click here to read full-length version and for a downloadable pdf.
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Aligning Systems for Health: 2019 Call for Proposals [rwjf.org]
By Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, November 1, 2019 Required Components Aligning Systems for Health will explore the degree to which health equity is impacted or results from current models of collaboration incorporating health care, public health, and social services. Gaps in health are large, persistent and increasing, and RWJF is committed to a system that meets people’s goals and needs and addresses these gaps that many populations face. Studies should include a focus on health equity by...
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An Introduction to NMT (Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics)
Do you feel like the “traditional ways” of helping traumatized children just aren’t working? You’re not alone and you no longer need to be frustrated. Recent discoveries in brain science has opened doors to new understanding and therefore, new approaches to helping traumatized children. HERE this NOW is thrilled to offer a 2-day affordable training workshop to introduce Dr. Bruce Perry's approach to assessing and treating trauma. An Introduction to NMT (Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics)...
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Announcing a New Parenting and ACEs Blog from Stress Health, an Initiative of the Center for Youth Wellness
Research shows that the right kind of support and care can mitigate the impact of toxic stress in children and help them bounce back.
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Because of Andres Perez, 10,000+ Latinx parents in Northern California embrace trauma-informed parenting
Andres Perez immigrated to San Jose, Calif., from Mexico in 1990. He was 24 years old, undocumented, knew little English, lacked job skills, and had a pregnant wife to support. He hit the ground running by completing an ESL program in San Jose City College, and, while working days at any job he could find, at night he earned an associate of science degree with specialization in electronics and computers in 2002. Fortunately for thousands of Latinx parents and their children, he never worked...
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Beyond the ACE score: Examining relationships between timing of developmental adversity, relational health and developmental outcomes in children (www.sciencedirect.com)
Highlights excerpted on Science Direct about a new study by Erin P.Hambrick, Thomas W.Brawner, BruceD. Perry, KristieBrandt, Christine Hofmeister, and Jen O.Collins published in the Archives of Psychiatric Nursing. Link to Science Direct about a new study by Erin P.Hambrick, Thomas W.Brawner, BruceD. Perry, KristieBrandt, Christine Hofmeister, and Jen O.Collins published in the Archives of Psychiatric Nursing.
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CDC's 'Connecting the Dots' Tool
Great new Resource from CDC shared with me from Dr. Kevin Sherin, Health Officer & Director of Florida Department of Health in Orange County, Florida. Welcome to the Connections Selector! This tool makes it easier for you to connect the dots and explore the relationships between multiple types of violence and the risk and protective factors they share at each level of the social-ecological model (SEM). A clear understanding of these connections can help you plan strategies to prevent...
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Dr. Melissa Merrick Named New President & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America [preventchildabuse.org]
Prevent Child Abuse America, June 18, 2019. Chicago—Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America) announced today that after a nationwide search its board of directors has selected Dr. Melissa Merrick (right) as the organization’s next president and chief executive officer. Merrick brings more than 18 years of clinical, research and leadership experience related to the etiology, course and prevention of child abuse and neglect. Merrick currently serves as a senior epidemiologist at the National...
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A community-based approach to supporting substance exposed newborns and their families
This information brief highlights a community-based approach to supporting families and newborns affected by substance use. MA EfC developed this brief to address the profound intersection between the Massachusetts opioid crisis, Federal mandates for the development of Plans of Safe Care for substance exposed newborns, and, the MA EfC focus on increasing social connectedness as a means to reduce child maltreatment.
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Essential Agents of Change Award Recipients
Massachusetts Essentials for Childhood (MA EfC) MA EfC is a statewide public health campaign, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ), for the next four years, to prevent child abuse and neglect. It is focused on systems change, and on the level of shifting the culture and context in which child abuse and neglect currently exist. Toward that end, we are charged with shifting a norm (MA has chosen promoting community social connection) and improving economic support...
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Essentials for Childhood Award Recipients Announced (www.cdc.gov)
Cissy's note: In case you haven't seen @Deb Mutschler's email yet, let me share a line from it here. Deb wrote: "Dear current and former Essentials Leadership and Collective Impact Teams: Some of you have heard what is now official. Massachusetts has been funded for Phase II of Essentials for Childhood!" This is fantastic news! Please find the complete and official CDC announcement below:
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Essentials for Childhood Framework
From the CDC’s Injury Prevention & Control, Division of Violence Prevention: "Safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments are essential to prevent child abuse and neglect and to assure all children reach their full potential. The Essentials for Childhood Framework proposes strategies communities can consider to promote relationships and environments that help children grow up to be healthy and productive citizens so that they, in turn, can build stronger and safer families and...
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Five Things You Wish Your Community’s Early Childhood Programs Knew [CitiesSpeak.org]
By NLC Staff on May 10, 2019 Cities, towns, and villages are places of innovation and solution finding. If you want to improve early childhood wellbeing—local leaders are key partners. The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Learning Community is a program of Boston Medical Center’s Vital Village. The learning community’s goal is to support local early childhood coalitions and build their capacity to work together with the broader community to improve the wellbeing of our...
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Health, Health Equity & ACEs: Remarks from Dr. Melissa Merrick at MA Essentials for Childhood 3rd Summit
It's been over a month since the third Essentials for Childhood Summit on November 29th, 2018 and I can't stop thinking about remarks from the keynote speaker, Dr. Melissa Merrick, Ph.D. who is a Senior Epidemiologist at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in the Division of Violence Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Merrick, who recently published findings from the largest ACEs study to date, spoke about ACEs, the Essentials for Childhood framing to...
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Helping New Parents Make Room for Uncertainty
A new program for parents and infants, thanks to generous support from Mill Town Capital , is coming to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The Hello It’s Me Project shines a spotlight on these tender new relationships, investing resources around the birth of a baby with the long-term goal of building a healthy community from the bottom up. When world-renowned child development researcher Dr. Ed Tronick spoke in the spring of 2018 for an audience of a wide variety of practitioners in Berkshire County...
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Greater Richmond Trauma Informed Community Network, first to join ACEs Cooperative of Communities, shows what it means to ROCK!
In 2012, Greater Richmond SCAN and five other community partners hatched a one-year plan to educate the Richmond, Virginia, community about ACEs science and to embed trauma-informed practices. Eight years later, the original group has evolved into the Greater Richmond Trauma-Informed Community Network (GRTICN) with 495 people and 170 organizations. And they're just scratching the surface.
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Asking mental health to take a backseat during the coronavirus pandemic is a dangerous proposition
Understanding and limiting the spread of coronavirus has consumed our focus over the past few months. Physical distancing, child care and school closures, the persistence of masks, hand washing, have been essential steps to help protect each of us from the virus. However, this physical distancing has consequences that we need to talk about: isolation, loneliness, boredom, monotony, stress, anxiety, and fear. Mental health often takes a backseat when physical health is at risk. Health is both...