Tagged With "Health Federation of Philadelphia"
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Supporting Resilience Skills in Children
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Supporting Resilience Skills in Children
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Systemic Trauma: How Helping Systems Sometimes Hurt
Calendar Event
Systemic Trauma: How Helping Systems Sometimes Hurt
Calendar Event
Systemic Trauma: How Helping Systems Sometimes Hurt
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Dr. Lee Pachter gives introduction to ACEs and Protective Factors ["Another Thing" with Larry Mendte]
Representing the Philadelphia ACE Task Force and Drexel University , Dr. Lee Pachter, pediatrician, shared an introduction to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), the difference between healthy stress and toxic stress in childhood, its impact on lifelong health and well-being & the universality of ACEs in so many of our children's lives. He also discussed the protective factor and buffering value for a child that unconditional love and support from an adult - parent, teacher or neighbor...
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Drexel gets $6 million to help seven Philly schools [philly.com]
The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday awarded $6 million to Drexel University to improve opportunities and outcomes at seven schools in West Philadelphia. The grant came as part of the department's Promise Neighborhoods competition, under which $33 million will go to support children and families nationwide. The city schools - a mix of traditional public and charters - are West Philadelphia High; Science Leadership Academy Middle School; Locke, McMichael, Powel and Martha Washington...
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Education's Mr. Fix-it [The Christian Science Monitor]
Mike Lamb, Washington, DC Executive Director of Turnaround for Children , alerted me to this interesting Cover Story in The Christian Science Monitor about how Scott Gordon, chief executive officer of Mastery Charter Schools comprised of 21 charter schools in Philadelphia, has shifted his “no excuses” approach to a “trauma-informed” approach to discipline. The article by Sarah Garland reports: Classrooms and hallways are still orderly, but suspension is now a last resort. Mastery instead...
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End the cycles of trauma and poverty for Philly families | Perspective [philly.com]
A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry is shedding light on intergenerational trauma, adding to the growing body of evidence that the impact of trauma can be passed down from one generation to the next. While the research stems from Scandinavia more than 75 years ago, it has critically important implications for Philadelphia, a city challenged by high rates of deep poverty and violence, contributing to trauma exposure among its residents. During World War II, tens of thousands of children...
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Explaining behavior: Professionals seek to address students' trauma [thenotebook.org]
The biological mother of "Jailyn" had turned her over to her cousins when she was several months old and they became her custodial parents. That is, until the custodial father fatally shot the mother while the girl was in the house. Now living in foster care, she has angry outbursts in the classroom that include screaming at her teacher and kicking objects. When she hears a loud noise, she thinks it’s a gun. Her 6th-grade teacher says she is slow to complete schoolwork, appears disorganized,...
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“Family-Centered Health”- New Jersey Pediatrics Brings Together Child Development & Care Resources to Address Trauma
Spurred to create a response to the impact of trauma on children and families from post-Superstorm Sandy, The New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics gathered training and other resource material in order to support pediatricians and...
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Fighting the trauma that afflicts too many Philly children [philly.com]
Warm weather often brings a rise in crime and violence to Philadelphia, just as students and families head outdoors to enjoy a brief respite from the rigor of the school year and winter’s cold. The dichotomy of this phenomenon is upsetting, yet unsurprising. The reality is that so many children in our city do not reach their potential. It is undoubtedly a struggle to grow up in a city with the highest poverty rate of the nation’s 10 largest cities, persistent violent crime, and poor...
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Focusing awareness, understanding on helping traumatized kids heal [NewsWorks.org]
The goal is a lofty one — to transform the city of Philadelphia. Organizers of Greater Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference are going about it one professional at a time. The event, which wraps up Friday at Thomas Jefferson University, is intended to help those in different professional fields become more aware of how to work with children who've experienced trauma. The 450 or professionals who attended Thursday's session represented the juvenile justice world, health care and education,...
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FREE SCREENING: "CRACKED UP" film in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
If you will be in Philadelphia, October 11, 2019, Don't miss it!
Tickets are going quickly. Reserve your free seat (at the EventBrite link below) now!
The film "Cracked Up" features Darrell Hammond's childhood struggles with trauma and their lifelong impacts. From IMDb, It's the "incredible story of actor, comedian, master impressionist and Saturday Night Live veteran, Darrell Hammond."
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From Awareness to Action, with Voices of Lived Experience: Wisconsin’s Collective Impact Initiative
Perhaps it wasn’t the optimum time to update the network’s vision and values statements: a virtual meeting held in the midst of a global pandemic. But a record number of people—51, compared to the typical 30—tuned in for the May 1 Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health (OCMH) Collective Impact Council, and they gave the new values statement, which highlights inclusivity and collaboration, an enthusiastic thumbs-up. At the virtual table were members from key state departments—Children...
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Generational Poverty: Trying to Solve Philly’s Most Enduring Problem [Philly Mag]
Mattie McQueen was about five years old when her mother offered a surprise: “Let’s all go for ice cream.” McQueen and three of her siblings scrambled out to Mom’s old blue station wagon. They talked, on the way, about what flavor of ice cream they’d get, till Mattie noticed they weren’t traveling the usual route to Dairy Queen. “Don’t worry,” her mom replied. “We’re going for ice cream.” Minutes later, she parked and led them into an office waiting room. “I’ll be right back,” she said. She...
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Good Parenting vs. Bad Neighborhood
Hello my name is Julius Patterson. I am currently a intern at Hopeworks N' Camden. I am twenty three years old and i am also a student at Camden County College. I found this article very intriguing because of past situations that i have encountered and i feel like i can relate on a personal level. Growing Up In Disadvantaged Areas May Affect teens Brains, But Good Parenting May Help By: Sarah Whittle, Julian G.Simmons, Nick Allen Summary & Analysis by: Julius Patterson Growing up in...
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Healing 10: Catalyzing a Movement in Camden, NJ
James Williams, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, addresses the Take Back Our Health Conference in November 2018. Photo courtesy of Kate Daugherty. In 2017, two youth-focused Camden, NJ, organizations were angling for the same pot of grant money—funding for a youth-led initiative to learn about community health concerns and develop projects to address them. But instead of scrabbling for the grant as rivals, Hopeworks and UrbanPromise became one another’s cheerleaders. In phone...
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Healing 10 Film Festival
Hi, everyone! The Healing10 wants to make sure to invite everyone from Philadelphia, particularly those who could not get to the ACES Task Force Film Festival, to our event May 9th! Healing in Action Film Screening and Discussion May 9th, 2016, 3:30 PM, Rutgers Camden Register at www.healing10.org The Healing10, a “Community of Communities” planned as a cross sector approach to bring a trauma informed paradigm to Camden, NJ. is pleased to announce the Spring Healing in Action Film Festival!
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Healing Hurt People - Philadelphia ER's & Behavioral Health Connect to Help [cleveland.com]
The " Healing Hurt People program, or HHP, an ER-based violence intervention program. HHP works on the public health-based notion that violence, like other diseases that spread, can be prevented. It targets services to those at highest risk, patients...who are being treated for violent injuries in the city's emergency rooms" Supported financially by Dr. Arthur Evans , commissioner of the city's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, this model brings trauma...
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Hiring Trauma-Competent Asst. Prof
I'm excited to report that we are hiring an Assistant Professor (to begin July 1, 2015) in the Community and Trauma Counseling (CTC) Masters Program at Philadelphia University. The CTC program is a 60-credit, NBCC approved MS degree program that...
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How committed are we to improving our nation's mental health? [philly.com]
Ruth Shim, MD, MPH, is vice chair of education and faculty development in the Department of Psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. She
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How do we end the cycle of childhood trauma passed from parents to kids? | Brain Trust [inquirer.com]
By Abraham Gutman, The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 9, 2019 Growing up in Philadelphia can be a traumatizing experience. Poverty, hunger, gun violence, evictions, and mass incarceration are just some of the difficult experiences that bear down on children here. Over the last couple of decades, public health researchers and policymakers have increasingly recognized that the body "remembers” childhood trauma, and these experiences at a young age can predict illness, risky behavior, and...
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How One Philadelphia After-school Program Works to Be Trauma-informed [youthtoday.org]
On an afternoon in October, kids in the Sunrise of Philadelphia after-school program made tissue-paper marigolds, assembled little altars and created masks. It was the Day of the Dead celebration held by Sunrise partner, Fleisher Art Memorial . They wrote poems about people who were no longer with them, either lost to death or simply separated across distance — a possibility in this largely immigrant and refugee community. The activity gave them a chance to explore loss and sadness, which —...
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Philadelphia has a gun violence epidemic. What if it were treated like any other contagious disease? [inquirer.com]
Robert Warner and his crew don’t have medical degrees. But in the midst of Philadelphia’s gun violence epidemic, they are in the business of saving lives. Day or night, Warner and his outreach workers are on North Philly streets mediating disputes, organizing basketball games between youth factions, dissuading folks from violence, and helping young people find jobs. When someone gets shot, they’re in the hospital, helping the victim’s family, and on the street, preventing retaliation. “I...
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Hughes leads meeting on trauma in schools [PhillyTrib.com]
By Stacy M. Brown | September 7, 2018 State Sen. Vincent Hughes issued a passionate plea to experts at Temple University to help serve and protect victims of trauma in grade schools in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth. “Too many kids are walking into too many toxic schools, too many toxic situations — from domestic abuse to gun violence — to get an education in [an atmosphere] that’s toxic for educators to work in,” said Hughes (D-7) during a recent hearing at the university with...
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In Philadelphia and around the country, overdoses at public libraries are a daunting reality [philly.com]
Even in the digital era, libraries are high-traffic zones, hosting more than 1.5 billion visits annually. On any given day in Philadelphia, the Free Library welcomes a stream of visitors, who arrive early in the morning to use the computers, congregate after school for homework help, and join a rich range of programs, from story time, to job fairs, to classes for English language learners at the Culinary Literacy Center. Here and across the country, public libraries offer vitally important...
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Intergenerational associations of parent adverse childhood experiences and child health outcomes [ Pediatrics]
To what extent do parents' adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect ACEs and health status among their children? Linking data of 350 parents and their children from the 2012 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey (HHS) and the Philadelphia ACE Survey, researchers found statistically significant correlations between parents' ACE scores and their children's health status. "Our results suggest that the full scope of health effects of ACEs is not limited to the exposed individual.
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It’s As Simple As Following the Manual… Or Is It?
How implementing trauma Informed care is like building an IKEA shelf. I just moved across the country to the Philadelphia area to start working as an Americorp VISTA in Camden, New Jersey. I am working with the Healing 10 collaboration to bring a trauma informed paradigm to Camden, arguably one of the most traumatized cities in the US. At the moment, I am in the midst of both trying to understand my new job in trauma informed care and set up my apartment in a new city. Obviously, trips to...
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Its Jails Bursting, Philadelphia Seeks Bail System Changes [ABCnews.go.com]
More than 7,800 men and women sit in Philadelphia's overcrowded jails, three-quarters of them languishing while they await trial under a bail system that critics call outmoded and that cities — and the White House — are working to change. Hundreds in the nation's fifth-largest city would be free, including nonviolent and first-time offenders, if there were alternatives to bail, a recent tally of the daily jail population showed. People accused of crimes here have historically...
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JOB ANNOUNCEMENT - Coordinator - Trauma Informed School Practices SDP
The School District of Philadelphia deserves huge congratulations for creating a new position as part of its plan to be a trauma informed education system! They are seeking an excellent candidate to serve in this critically important and cutting edge role. Following is the job description Job Summary Develops, coordinates and implements trauma-informed practices in the schools. Works with administrative, instructional and non-instructional staff, to put into place evidence-based...
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JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: Violence Prevention Specialist for CHOP
The Violence Intervention Program (VIP) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is an innovative program that brings the medical home to the patient’s home. VIP establishes a direct and sustainable connection between the hospital and the community through individual and family-directed interventions. We employ a trauma-informed approach in working with 8-18 year old patients who recently received care in the CHOP Emergency Department (ED) or Trauma Unit for an injury due to...
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Job Posting: Social Workers - PT to work with Chester County Coalition
Chester Community Coalition (CCCC), which offers free trauma-informed programming in a group format to Chester children and their caregivers who have lost loved ones to violence, is seeking social workers to help provide the trauma-informed services to families experiencing violent bereavement in Chester. Part-time per diem: about 6 hrs/week for fall and winter/spring sessions of 12 weeks. 703 Central Ave, Chester, PA 19013 info@chestercommunitycoalition.org (610) 368-0714 For more...
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Join Feb. 18th webinar on addressing ACEs in public policy
Please join this ACEs Connection co-sponsored webinar "Making Meaningful Change: Addressing ACEs through Public Policy" on Feb. 18 (11:30 am-1:00 pm ET) presented by the Health Federation of Philadelphia and MARC (Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities). In this webinar, three nationally recognized experts will discuss policy and advocacy strategies on a local, state, and national level using evidence from studies they have conducted with legislators and the general public. Speakers...
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Kudos SDP for ending Kindergarten suspensions!
Last year 448 kindergartners were suspended from schools in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). Last week, t he School Reform Commission announced... that it has approved revisions to the Student Code of Conduct that will remove suspensions as punishment for Kindergarten students. The Philadelphia ACE Task Force applauds this change which is based on a growing awareness in the SDP that many of the challenging behaviors that precipitate suspension of young children have their roots in...
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Letters: Curtailing kindergarten suspensions is a good first step [The Philadelphia Inquirer]
Leslie Lieberman, staff to the Philadelphia ACE Task Force, wrote this letter to the editor about the end of kindergarten suspensions in the Philadelphia School District: Curtailing K suspensions a good first step The School District of Philadelphia will no longer use suspension to discipline some of its youngest and most vulnerable students ("SRC curtails kindergarten suspensions," Friday). The Health Federation of Philadelphia applauds this decision, which is grounded in a growing...
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Letters: Relieve stress for Philly teachers, too [philly.com]
Kerri McGinley, PhD a former teacher and principal with the SDP, thoughtfully responds to my letter to the editor regarding the end of kindergarten suspensions with her own letter (below). Dr. McGinley urges all to consider teacher stress too. Thank you Dr. McGinley for raising this important point, reminding us that addressing employee stress and secondary traumatic stress is an imperative if we are to develop the trauma informed education and other systems we strive for. Ease teachers'...
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Link between ACEs and Animal Cruelty
Philadelphia ACE Task Force Member Risa Mandell, LCSW, has reminded us that it is important to understand that witnessing animal cruelty may be an adverse childhood event that has lasting impact and may also be indicative of other ACEs. She has...
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Local Philanthropic Organizations Collaborate to Form the Nonprofit Repositioning Fund
I know a lot of our group members work for, volunteer, and/or serve on the board of local nonprofits and I thought this may be of interest. Local philanthropic organizations have collaborated to form the Nonprofit Repositioning Fund ...
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MARC Booklet 2016: Features Philadelphia
Please find attached the 2016 booklet for the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) project, including Philadelphia and the other 13 communities that have been selected to participate in this 2 year learning collaborative. This is a great summary of the work happening in all 14 communities across the country. I look forward to working with you all as we share and build upon the great work happening in Philadelphia!
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Mayoral Primary One Week From Today
What do the democratic candidates for mayor in Philadelphia think about Trauma-Informed Care, Mental Health/Substance Use Reform, Transformation of the Child Welfare System? Watch the footage from the 2015 Health and Human Services...
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Meet Your Community Managers for Philadelphia ACEs Connection
What do the Philadelphia ACEs Connection Community Managers do? Keep the group information up to date and post articles of interest. We welcome you to the community – ask us if you have any questions and we will point you in a helpful...
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Mental Health Happy Hour
This is a good story about mental health. Let’s say a bunch of social workers, nurses, trauma specialists, philanthropists, non-profit professionals, writers, EMTs, and data crunchers walk into a bar. Knock knock, no joke, this actually happened in December 2019. Mental health professionals begin to schmooze over spinach mushroom rolls, cheese and hummus platters, and ginger brew. Sounds good right. There’s so many reasons to luv Philly. The event was sponsored by the Scattergood Foundation...
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Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities: A Highlight of 2015
Members of the ACEs Connection online community are well aware that experiencing significant adversity during childhood can lead to a myriad of negative health, mental health, social, and behavioral outcomes throughout the life course. The growing body of research around adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can, at times, leave us feeling overwhelmed. As advocates for child health and wellbeing, we may ask ourselves, “how can we treat individuals who have multiple ACEs?”,...
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Moore student uses her fashion designs to cope with PTSD and the effects of abuse [philly.com]
The first piece in Lilah James’ Moore College of Art senior fashion collection is called “Shame and Guilt.” About 50 yards of black tulle, including a cathedral-style veil, obscure the body. Faint metallic writing, excerpts from the designer’s journal, cover the fabric layers: Shame …. I really tried to be happy… James’ seventh and final look, “Flashbacks,” is a form-fitting black dress, low cut with a slit to the thigh, adorned with a flowing black cape. The covering is accented with fabric...
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New committee takes multi-pronged approach at tackling gun violence [phillytrib.com]
By all accounts, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson enjoys his job. But there is one aspect of it that he would love to be able to eliminate. “At least three times a month I have to speak at a funeral, console a mom of some young man who was murdered in the streets for some violence on social media or some disrespectful comment made to another young man,” he said. “I’m tired of that.” In yet another effort to quell the gun violence that plagues Philadelphia, Johnson, City Managing Director Michael...
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New Continuing Education Course for Nurses: "Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress and Working with the Child Welfare System"
Do you have clients with health concerns, injuries, or acute/chronic illnesses? According to NSCAW, 28% of children in foster care have a chronic health condition, and 12% have two or more. About 35% of children in child welfare have either a health condition or special need. Your clients with medical conditions will likely have frequent contact with the health care system. Since many have experienced prior trauma, when faced with medical issues they are at greater risk for illness- or...
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New federal report surprises: Philadelphia poverty down, income up [philly.com]
Philadelphia’s poverty rate, a stark and stubborn indicator of hard times that has long hindered the city’s reputation, dropped to its lowest level since 2008 — near the start of the recession. At the same time, median household income here rose. The findings, contained in a voluminous report from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday, showed that the city’s poverty rate declined from 25.7% in 2016 to 24.5% in 2018. The number of Philadelphia residents living in poverty dropped by 14,537...