Tagged With "Cracked Up"
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New strategy may place more social workers in schools by September [thenotebook.org]
More than 20 additional social workers could be assigned to District schools this fall under proposals being discussed by District officials, Community Behavioral Health, the Department of Human Services, and Mayor Kenney's administration. The discussions have been strongly encouraged by several City Council members and by the newest School Reform Commission member, Estelle Richman. Under the program, the social workers would become part of school staff, helping educators recognize the...
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NKCDC is incorporating trauma-informed practices into its community development work [generocity.org]
New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) has spent the last few years hearing community residents’ needs from Lehigh to Allegheny avenues via meetings and door-to-door surveys, and letting that input shape its work. Last month, the Kresge Foundation awarded NKCDC a two-year, $150,000 grant to take its community development work to the next level. The funding is part of Advancing Health Equity through Housing , a new Kresge Health Program initiative that addresses harmful ways...
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North Philly to Oxford [philly.com]
On a sunny afternoon in early September, so hot the public schools dismissed early, Hazim Hardeman strolled into the neighborhood where he grew up, wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with “North Philly” in large red letters across the front. It was here, in the Raymond Rosen housing development, that Hazim fell in love with sports, music, clothing. Here, where he spent hours each day on the basketball court, indulging boyish dreams of stardom, and nights at his best friend’s house nearby.
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OPPORTUNITY: Philadelphia Parent Innovation Institute
The Philadelphia Parent Innovation institute will bring early childhood organizations and the families they serve together to learn human-centered design so they can strengthen family engagement in early literacy and language programs for Philadelphia’s youngest learners. Between April 2020-May 2021, organization representatives and parents they support will work collaboratively in small teams and identify a challenge they would like to solve together. The teams will be guided through a...
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Ordinary Magic-Resiliency Research - The Power of Connection
Resilience and Positive Psychology The message from three decades of research on resilience underscores central themes of the positive psychology movement (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Snyder & Lopez, in press). Psychology has neglected important phenomena in human adaptation and development during periods of focus on risk, problems, pathology, and treatment. Attention to human capabilities and adaptive systems that promote healthy development and functioning have the potential...
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Organizations develop a Funders Guide to Trauma-Informed Practice
Responding to the overwhelming demand of funders in the Delaware Valley to better understand the impacts of trauma on our region and how they can apply trauma informed practices to their own work, Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey partnered to produce this hands-on resource that will help funders : Understand the science behind trauma, adverse childhood experiences,...
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Pediatrician struggles to help patients through Philly's 'terrible lottery of birth' [philly.com]
Every day in our clinic at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in North Philadelphia, I see upwards of 25 children, ranging from newborns to teens. I spend as much time as I can talking with parents about their infants' feeding patterns, their toddlers' development and their adolescents' maturing bodies. I try to provide helpful advice, appropriate medical care and positive assurances. But as I listen to the questions and concerns of the families I care for, I know that whatever we do,...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
© Elliot Gilfix/Flickr . What happened to Jasmine? . Photo © Jinx!/Flickr When you look...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
Photo credit Max Klingensmith at flickr . Jose was one of the calmest, quietest, most peaceful boys in the classroom. The kind of boy everybody loves. ...
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47 Philly Gun Violence Prevention Groups Get $700K [patch.com]
PHILADELPHIA — Forty-seven community-based organizations in Philadelphia that offer violence prevention services and support were given each a cut of more than $700,000 awarded by the city. Efforts being funded include job training in areas such as culinary arts, barbershops, and entreneurship; "Peace Pop Up Shops" that offer trauma-informed care for those affected by violence; grief support programming for impacted families; and training for young adults to become "Peace Ambassadors" in...
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ACE Billboard in Philadelphia?
Last year the Philadelphia ACE Task Force created a work group to focus on how to educate the community about ACEs and resilience. Over the last few months this work group has been working with some local and and national experts and community...
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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 Meetup: Influencing and Implementing Public Policy
Come to this informal gathering at the Friends Center (1501 Cherry Street Philadelphia) on Thursday 11/13 at 5 P.M. to meet others in the Philadelphia region who are interested in ACEs, trauma, resiliency, and creating a city that is truly...
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ACTION NEEDED: Expanding Access to School Breakfast in Philadelphia
As the nation’s poorest big city, it is common knowledge that tens of thousands of students struggle with food insecurity. The federal Community Eligibility Program makes it easy to provide every student in Philadelphia with free breakfast and lunch. Unfortunately, too many of Philadelphia’s students attend schools that don’t prioritize increasing access to these meals. Students who eat school breakfast perform better in school than children who don't, yet: Only 39.6% of public school...
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After reversing more than 100 overdoses, the trauma is starting to take a toll on me [kensingtonvoice.com]
As a citizen who has reversed more than 100 overdoses, every now and then I have a cry that is so uncontrollable, and painful, and deep, that I wonder if I will ever stop crying. Recently, I experienced one of those cries. It was after reversing a young man who was overdosing who looked just like my son. He was 16 or 17 years old, still with his school ID around his neck. It took three doses of Narcan — the overdose reversal medication — to bring him back. Surprisingly, he wanted me to call...
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Alive and Well: Moving Missouri Toward Grass-Roots and System-Wide Change
On the eastern edge of Missouri, leaders of the Alive and Well network had generated a robust media campaign to help people understand the impact of trauma and toxic stress on health and well-being. There was a monthly column in an African-American newspaper, spots about toxic stress and resilience on urban radio stations and weekly public service features on the NBC affiliate, with physicians, clergy and teachers advocating ways to “be alive and well.” Two hundred and fifty miles to the...
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Academic Pediatrics publishes case study on Philadelphia ACE Task Force
On Tuesday, September 5th, 2017, Academic Pediatrics released a special issue highlighting a comprehensive research and policy agenda for addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting well-being. The issue features an article, Developing a Community-Wide Initiative to Address Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress: A Case Study of The Philadelphia ACE Task Force." Authored by the Task Force's three co-chairs, Lee Pachter (lead), Sandra Bloom, and Joel Fein, along with staff...
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Artists in the ACE and Resilience Movement: Creative Avenues to Change
They began with a song and ended with a poem. In-between, there were photographs and giant graphic renderings, movement exercises and a “human pulse” formed when 90 people stood in a circle and squeezed each other’s hands. At a June summit in Whatcom County, Washington, titled “Our Resilient Community: A Community Conversation on Resilience and Equity,” the arts played a starring role. Kristi Slette, executive director of the Whatcom Family and Community Network, one of two Washington sites...
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As awareness of childhood trauma rises, new free therapy program launches for Philly students [whyy.org]
The fire that destroyed her dad’s third-floor apartment is the scariest thing that’s ever happened to 8-year-old Dakota Johnson. It was five-thirty in the morning. Someone on the first floor of the building had fallen asleep smoking. Dakota and her dad, Kenneth Johnson, woke up to the sound of the fire alarm. First it seemed like it might be just a small blaze, but when Johnson opened the door to the apartment, smoke and soot rushed in. Dakota was too scared to crawl out into the hallway, so...
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Be part of a breathtaking tipping point !
. Education Equity for trauma-impacted children: from failing funding to fair funding. Be part of the solution! Background A heartfelt tip of the hat to the Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) of...
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Calling All Social Work Professionals
I had the good fortune of meeting a Temple University Social Work student at a recent event. Her name is Lydia Lynes and she is looking to briefly interview professionals in the field. Below is her description of what she needs. If you have a few...
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Case Statement on Trauma Informed Approaches
Attached is a Case Statement on Trauma Informed Approaches--it is a review of the Greater Harrisburg Area's and beyond's ACE scores, the outcomes of these ACEs and some ideas of how to resolve the negative consequences of this crisis of epidemic proportions. Please use it to advance the cause of moving from the bad news of ACEs towards the good news of becoming trauma informed and resilient. I would also welcome your comments, questions and recommendations! Thank you.
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Child Abuse and Epigenetics
"Increasingly, scientists are coming to realize that people’s experiences exert a strong influence on their biology by silencing genes or turning them back on, significantly changing the way a cell functions without changing its DNA sequence....
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Child Homelessness: WHYY Radio Times Segment
Child homelessness is more of an issue than ever with a recent report by The National Center on Family Homelessness citing that 1 in 30 children in America were homeless during 2013, an 8% national increase from 2012. While many...
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Childhood Trauma makes Policy discussions on a National & International Scale
In an effort to become more educated about adverse childhood experiences , trauma , and resilience and what is happening surrounding those topics in current events, I registered for Google Alerts for each of the aforementioned headings. As a...
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Chronic Stress Early In Childhood For Women Could Cause Premature Birth Later On: Study
By Kristin Magaldi Excessive stress has a variety of different health repercussions , but researchers are finding that, for pregnant women, stress can affect the quality of life of their baby. In a new study , David Olson and a...
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Clergy embrace trauma informed training in Greater Philadelphia region
An exceptional all-day “Trauma-Informed Training for Clergy” event was held in Philadelphia in May 2017, organized by JSR Educational Enrichment Strategies, Inc. Founder and President Doris Smith-Ribner, Retired PA State Appeals Court Judge. Judge Smith-Ribner recognized the need for this training particularly for those on the front lines of dealing with the impacts of trauma and its prevalence within Philadelphia—the Clergy. Here is her report from that meeting. Highly-regarded trauma...
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Developing a Trauma-Informed Public Policy Guide
On November 13, 2014 the ACEs Connection community managers held a casual ACEs Meet-Up to discuss with interested individuals: “ How do we build a trauma-informed city? “ The group of participants had a discussion around starting in...
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District finds that creating more trauma-informed schools requires a change of culture [thenotebook.org]
“The world of thinking about trauma, the importance of school climate and social-emotional learning is 20, 30, 40 years behind the world of instruction." Joanna Schwartz, a 2nd-grade teacher at Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary School, was about to take a scheduled break and desperately needed a place to have peace and quiet. But the only place she could find was a broom closet. A few years earlier, in another school, Schwartz said teachers were baffled by a 3rd grader who continually fell...
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Dr. Lee Pachter & Dr. Tina Cheng of Philadelphia ACE Taskforce Comment on Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases in JAMA
Dr. Lee Pachter from the Department of Pediatrics, St Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Dr. Tina Cheng from the Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, are both members...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Workforce Development Work Group Meeting
The Workforce Development Work Group met on Wednesday, January 20 th at Friends Center in Philadelphia, PA. The group began with updates of recent work, including work that had been done in 2015, which was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This work was focused on encouraging graduate level programs incorporate ACE-related information into their curricula. The work resulted in local and national environmental scans as well as a training in trauma-informed care for Temple...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Workforce Development Work Group Meeting
The Workforce Development Workgroup of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force met on Wednesday, May 18 th at the United Way. There were several members in the room who were either new or who have not been able to attend meeting recently so the group caught up on current work. The group began with an update from the subcommittee that is working to develop focus groups with teachers and administrators in from the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) to better understand how they are using...
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Philadelphia ACEs Connection Meet-Up
What is a Meet-up? A local get-together to converse on ACEs and Trauma Informed practices and events around Philadelphia. Meet-ups are informal and are either a round-table forum, panel discussion or a guest speaker Location :...
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Philadelphia ACEs Virtual Connection Meet-Up: "Education"
On Tuesday, August 19 th , 2014, the first day of my Advanced Level Field Placement as an M.S.W. Student at Temple University, I participated in the second Philadelphia ACEs Virtual Connection Group “Meet-Up” at the Friends Center...
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Philadelphia devotes $4.4 million to 'holistic' anti-violence programs [witf.org]
(Philadelphia) -- Mayor Jim Kenney announced on Thursday that the city would dedicate more than $4 million to "interrupting" violence on neighborhood streets. Flanked by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, members of City Council and anti-violence advocates, Kenny introduced a set of new programs that will focus on gun violence as a public health problem. He said the city would seek to promote a more data-driven and "holistic" approach to stanching the city's rising homicide rate.
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Philadelphia’s Homeless Deserve Better. So do SEPTA Police. [philadelphiaweekly.com]
Before that damp and rainy Tuesday night, most of the passengers waiting for their trains at Suburban Station had never met Kenny Solomon. We didn’t know about the car accident that permanently damaged his body, or his recent fall at Suburban Station down an entire flight of steps. We also didn’t know anything positive about Mr. Solomon or his likes and dreams. But his introduction to us, and anyone who happened to be in the vicinity that night was resounding. But the scene that unfolded on...
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Philadelphia's new Green Light Fund ED is not interested in reducing poverty. He wants to end it. [www.generocity.org]
Omar Woodard is staring at his palms as he sits quietly in a café chair. He knows what he’s trying to say, but he seems tangled up on a thought. The stretch of silence is very much out of character for the amiable young nonprofit director from 20th and Cecil B. Moore. He’s a lingo-savvy conversationalist who, in just six months as executive director of GreenLight Fund Philadelphia , has learned how to talk shop with the best of Philly’s impact intelligentsia. These lulls are typically where...
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Philadelphia’s New Top Prosecutor Is Rolling Out Wild, Unprecedented Criminal Justice Reforms [Slate.com]
Philadelphia’s newly minted district attorney, Larry Krasner, was meeting constituents in a packed church in West Philadelphia earlier this month to discuss his plans for the job. The meeting was unique in that it quickly revealed to community members what local civic leaders and officials have already learned about Krasner: He is making good on his promise to revolutionize the job of district attorney and, in the process, offering an extraordinary experiment in criminal justice reform at...
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Philadelphia Urban ACEs Research
This page lists research about ACEs in the Philadelphia area. If you know of any other research, please let us know in the comments section. Adverse Childhood Experiences of Low-Income Urban Youth (Philadelphia) Findings From the...
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Philadelphia will pilot a trauma-informed facility for arrested youth
The City of Philadelphia will begin testing trauma-informed facilities as an alternative to holding cells for arrested youth. Those facilities, which will be “child-centered” and “service-oriented,” will be funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ 2018 Mayors Challenge . Philadelphia’s city-led social enterprise incubator FastFWD was funded by way of the Mayors Challenge in 2013 . The 35 finalists for the 2018 challenge have received grants of “up to $100,000” to test public prototypes of their...
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Philly.com- Is Poverty a Crime?
I just posted this over in the larger ACEs Connection site but I wanted to link it here as well since Philadelphia ACEs Connection is linked in the Philly.com article! This is a fantastic piece written on Philly.com's the Public's...
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Philly District Attorney initiative is a 'one-stop' for jobs, social services [phillytrib.com]
Robert Mayweather wasn’t pressed to find a job Thursday night at the YMCA in West Philadelphia. However, he’s glad he satisfied his curiosity to “see what was going on.” Mayweather was one of a few hundred people who passed through the doors of the YMCA for the District Attorney’s Office’s One-Stop Job and Resources Hub. The hub opens up on the first Thursday of each month, in a different neighborhood each time. The goal of the event is to connect city residents in under-served neighborhoods...
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Philly entrepreneur uses mindfulness to turn own stress in to help for others [philly.com]
C a l m C la rity is a Philadelphia-based "mind hacking" start-up that aims to help everyone from corporate executiv es to stu dents learn mindfulness, reduce toxic stress, and boost productivity. Not surprisingly, its...
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Philly should reduce reliance on institutional placements for youth [philly.com]
October marked the second anniversary of the tragic death of 17-year-old David Hess, who was killed during an assault by staff in his bedroom at the now-closed Wordsworth residential treatment facility. Two years later, we continue to uncover examples of abuse, isolation, and substandard education in facilities that are supposed to provide treatment and supervision to youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Rather than provide trauma-informed care, institutional...
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Podcast Episode, "The Power of Peer Learning and Capacity Building: Improving Access to Quality Early Care and Education in Philadelphia"
The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) at Vital Village Network is excited to share the fourth episode of In the Arena with NOW , a podcast series that lifts up the voices of community leaders who are “in the arena” -- in classrooms, playgrounds, Congressional halls, hospitals, and neighborhood streets -- working to make sure that all children and families can live healthy, thriving lives. In our fourth episode, The Power of Peer Learning and Capacity Building , we speak with...
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Philadelphia ends practice of billing parents for the time their children spend in detention [WashingtonPost.com]
The city of Philadelphia announced Friday that it will stop billing parents for the cost of their children’s incarceration, just hours after a front-page Marshall Project story in The Washington Post highlighted the practice in the city and across the nation. Heather Keafer, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, said the decision to stop charging parents will go into effect immediately. The agency already said late Thursday it plans to end its contract with Steve...
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Request for Applications: Building Agency Capacity for Program Evaluation
PLEASE SHARE! THIS INITIATIVE IS OPEN TO ALL TYPES OF NON-PROFITS! The Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, The Barra Foundation, and The Philadelphia Foundation will support eleven nonprofit organizations to receive...
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Ripple Effect: Two Philly Activists Share ACE Knowledge Close to Home
Anthony Ballard grew up with multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) before those disruptive childhood experiences had a name. Ballard was raised, along with 11 siblings, in a North Philadelphia housing project by “a beautiful God-fearing mother and a loving father who suffered from alcoholism.” Ballard witnessed relatives who developed addictions or landed in prison; in his early 20s, he, too, abused alcohol. He got sober. He became a firefighter. And when he learned about ACEs a few...
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San Francisco Dept of Public Health Trauma-Informed Systems Initiative
I thought you might be interested in taking a look at the 2014 year in review from the SF Dept of Public Health's Trauma-Informed Systems Initiative. It's attached, below. The Department made the commitment to train all of its 9,000 staff...