Senator Book and Rep. Mariano File Bipartisan Bill Paving Way for Early Childhood Courts Tallahassee, Fla. – Senator Lauren Book (D- Plantation) and Representative Amber Mariano (R- Port Richey) have teamed up to file legislation creating a new section of Florida Statutes to support an Early Childhood Court (ECC) program for cases involving children under the age of three. This innovative system is considered a “problem-solving court,” operating with a goal of improving child safety and...

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...

“The agenda for the third annual “Creating a Resilient Community Conference (Virtual Event)” reads like an all-star cast of trauma-informed experts coming together to share the best of what they know, and offers myriad opportunities for communities at all stages of becoming trauma-informed to learn about best practices, in many instances, by people who created landmark trauma-informed programs,” said Rachel C. Allen, PJI Director. The two-day conference, which starts April 20th, features...

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...

Please join us for a new series entitled: Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice. This monthly virtual Zoom series will feature conversations facilitated by Porter Jennings-McGarity, PACEs Connection’s criminal justice consultant, with special guests to discuss the need for trauma-informed criminal justice system reform. Using a PACEs-science lens, this series will examine the relationship between trauma and the criminal justice system, what needs changing, and strategies being used in this area...