Tagged With "ACE Impact Team"
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Teaching artists as agents for resilience building
Art can be used to heal. This was the overarching message of the event “Artists Plus Trauma-Informed Practice for Youth”. The event brought together teaching artists and professionals from the behavioral health field to discuss how trauma-informed practice can be used to build resilience and encourage healing through use of the arts. Teaching artists from all over the city – ranging from poets to photographers to painters – came to learn about the science of ACEs and trauma from founder of...
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The Camden story: A physician and a priest plant seeds of repair
Simultaneously making changes at the organizational level and building alliances across sectors for larger system change, Father Jeff Putthoff, SJ, and Dr. Jeffrey Brenner realized they had to dig deeper — beyond symptoms to root causes —...
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The connection between trauma and the dropout crisis [The Philadelphia Public School Notebook]
When reflecting on the factors that derailed them academically, Quad’ir Ford and Nalik Lark-Hightower didn’t mention living in poverty or exposure to trauma as factors. But experts have said that these two distinct yet intertwined conditions in children’s lives can go far in explaining the root cause of the dropout crisis. “Trauma is not a singular event; neither is poverty,” said Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend, executive director of the Philadelphia Youth Network and co-chair of Project U-Turn.
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The National Crittenton Foundation Releases Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey Toolkit for Providers
Philadelphia ACE Task Force member Dr. Roy Wade was recognized as significant contributor to The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACES) Survey Toolkit For Providers . NEWS RELEASE ...
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The Philadelphia story: Education and activism converge in "ACEs epicenter"
The women and men gathered for a training on trauma and resilience were recovery counselors and social workers, charter-school teachers and prison administrators. But to Stephen Paesani, the child and adolescent training specialist who was leading the...
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The Question I Never Want to Hear: The Story Behind Storiez
https://safekidsstories.com/the-question-i-never-want-to-hear-430577e096de#.z5sai487j The caterers bustle about in the luxurious conference room, arranging utensils and igniting food warmers. I drop my bags beside the media cart and acquaint myself with the electronic equipment, fiddling with buttons and cords. My presentation slides appear on the massive projection screen. I smile. I have never presented in a room this large. I look around at the vacant tables that will soon be filled with...
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"The Raising of America Project": New Documentary That Highlights ACEs
Born out of PBS' "Unnatural Causes" documentary , "The Raising of America Project" looks to explore health disparities that exist in a child's development and how this impacts America's future health and prosperity. Episode Four, called...
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Therapist Resource Guide - Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress
Working with children and families experiencing medical traumatic stress: A resource guide for mental health professionals What do mental health professionals need to know about pediatric medical traumatic stress? How can mental health professionals improve their collaboration with medical providers around pediatric medical traumatic stress? What resources and tools are available for professionals working with children and families who have experienced pediatric medical traumatic stress?
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This shamefully ignored school shooting is why kids should walk out for 18 minutes, not 17 [philly.com]
It was a moment of sheer terror that surely none of the hundreds of kids flooding the corridors for the end of the school day will ever forget. One moment, 17-year-old Courtlin Arrington — already accepted to college for the fall, with dreams of becoming a nurse — was seen with another teen student, a wide receiver on the football team. Then came a loud pop as a bullet went right through Courtlin’s heart , ending her life way too short of adulthood. “The last thing I told them was ‘I love...
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Trauma & Resiliency Summit in the Columbia River Gorge
Hello all! The Columbia River Gorge is hosting a Trauma & Resiliency Summit on October 20th & 21st, 2016 in The Dalles, OR. Registration is made free to attendees through MARC Grant funding. If you are in the area please join us! And please note that registration is only available prior to the event as we have a limited amount of space. Claire
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Trauma Awareness Tour in Philadelphia - November 14, 2017
Trauma Awareness Tour in Philadelphia - November 14, 2017: CLICK HERE for the details The purpose of this five-city tour is to raise awareness of how childhood trauma impacts the development of 1 in 4 children in the U.S. and how these often-overlooked experiences can adversely impact children’s development, physical and emotional health. November is National Adoption Month, an important time to recognize that adoptive children and those in foster care are at significant risk for...
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Trauma in the Wake of Tragedies
The National Council for Behavioral Health created two resources in response to trauma post the Orlando massacre. TIP SHEET: Trauma in the LGBTQ Community: What Practitioners Should Know in the Wake of the Orlando Shootings FACT SHEET : LGBTQ Mental Health: How the Orlando Shootings Can Broadly Impact This Community
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Trauma Informed Policy Change in New Jersey [www.njtvonline.org]
New legislation in New Jersey will now require police officers to get sexual assault training every 3 years. Efforts to enact this legislation were spearheaded by the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NJCASA) and based on applying a trauma informed lens to sexual assault. In an interview about the legislation, Patricia Teffenhart, Executive Director of NJCASA explains: Sexual assault is highly traumatic thing that happens to people. It’s actually recognized as the second most...
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Trauma-Informed Social Justice: Q&A with Dr. Bukuloa Ogunkua
Cissy's Note: I work with people who challenge systems and policies, who reform or start non-profits, and who see hope and promise where others see despair or destruction. While some folks shake their heads or shrug indifferently in the face of injustice and suffering, others organize, mobilize, and channel their time and energy towards making a change. Maybe a physician hosts an annual conference bringing trauma-informed approaches to medical practice. Perhaps a woman shares ACEs 101...
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Trauma-Informed Workforce Development
The Workforce Development Work Group of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force met on Wednesday, December 16, 2015. The group discussed next steps with regard to upcoming projects for the group. The group discussed possible steps to support for the School District of Philadelphia’s Action Plan 3.0, Action 7 - Recognize, respond to, and support the social- ‐ emotional and behavioral health needs of our students. 7a. Equip staff to recognize and appropriately address students’...
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Trauma Resilience Model Training Coming to Philadelphia!
Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) Training is a program designed to teach skills to clinicians working with children and adults with traumatic stress reactions. TRM is a mind-body approach and focuses on the biological basis of trauma and the automatic, defensive ways that the human body responds when faced with perceived threats to self and others, including the responses of “tend and befriend”, fight, flight and freeze. TRM explores the concept of resiliency and how to restore balance to the...
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One year after Parkland, Philly students, teachers say more counselors needed to deal with trauma from gun violence [whyy.org]
Thursday marks one year since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which set off a wave of activism across the country, as students and youth called for more gun control and safer schools. Young people in Philadelphia and other urban areas seized the opportunity to bring long-awaited attention to gun violence and trauma that impacts them on a regular basis. But some activists, students, and teachers say one year later, not much has changed in the way of...
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United Way to fund four-part Trauma Series: Apply Now!
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey is funding a four-part trauma series of college courses (graduate or undergraduate) leading to a certificate in Trauma Studies in Infancy and Early Childhood from Saint...
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Using the trauma narrative to share young people’s Storiez through art [generocity.org]
“Trauma-informed care” is a common theme in impact work. But after therapist Meagan Corrado completed her MSW degree, she looked for programs that could clearly explain how to help people share their “trauma narratives” and found none. So, in 2015, she made one herself . What she came up with is Storiez , an intervention that helps inner-city youth “reflect on their past experiences, positive and negative” and “creatively express them,” she said. The end goal is for the program participants...
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What can Pennsylvania schools do to address the prevalence of trauma among students? [pennlive.com]
Childhood trauma is a widespread issue. According to Child Trends, nearly half of children in the United States and in Pennsylvania have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, or ACE, which often leads to traumatic stress. Research is clear that traumatic stress in children can negatively impact cognitive, academic and behavioral outcomes. Yet schools are not equipped to address these problems. A recent ACLU report notes that 90 percent of U.S. public schools do not meet the...
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'What happened' vs. 'what's wrong': Recognizing how trauma impacts us all | Perspective [philly.com]
There is a toxin in Philadelphia that our children and families are being exposed to near constantly: trauma. Trauma lingers and isn’t just limited to a single incident, like a gunshot. Trauma manifests in hunger, housing instability, or living without utilities. It can include exposure to abuse, neglect, gun violence, police brutality, imprisonment, and domestic violence. And trauma can pass through generations as the result of historical violence, slavery, redlining, and mass...
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What If There Was a City Official Whose Only Job Was to Make Philly Better for Kids?
The case for a children’s czar in Philadelphia. This summer, the Scattergood Foundation — a behavioral health nonprofit — partnered with data analytics firm Azavea to produce a report on the well-being of children in Philadelphia. The project used a raft of public data to map risk factors that affect the city’s kids — exposure to shootings, family poverty, and educational attainment, for example — as well as the quality of local “assets” that help mitigate those risk factors, like schools,...
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What's technology got to do with it?
On Saturday 4/29, Michael O'Bryan, activist, artist, Youth Arts Program Manager at the Village of Arts of Humanities and PATF member will explore the role that technology can play in addressing the impact of trauma and physiological stress on individuals and communities. The event will also inquire about the opportunities for technology to aid organizations and people interested in cultivating human well-being. Mike will be giving a short presentation on the current science of how...
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Women's March on Philadelphia this Saturday
On Saturday, January 21, 2017, Philadelphia will unite with Washington, D.C. and over 150 cities around the world for the historic Women’s March. We stand together in the birthplace of our nation, united with our partners, friends and children for the protection of our civil liberties, civil rights, and equality. Regardless of race, gender, age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, political party, immigration status, sexual identity or orientation, we come together in Philadelphia to represent...
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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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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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Experiences with Childhood Trauma impact everyone, regardless of fame, fortune, beauty or status
The “lifestyles of the rich and famous” are often times a discussion piece for a variety of reasons – the latest celebrity fashion; who divorced who; what photo is “breaking the internet” this week. However, how...
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Failing Schools or Failing Paradigm ?
Yes, money matters in Education. Money is absolutely necessary, but money is Not sufficient. A key variable has been missing from the discussions about a new Education Paradigm: Childhood Trauma. Childhood trauma is broad in scope and...
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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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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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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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Helping Kids Succeed: The Power of Grit
Dr. Harold Kolepwicsz, President, Child Mind Institute presented on "GRIT" at the 2015 National Council on Behavioral Health conference today. Dr. Kolepwicz discussed "GRIT" the new hot topic in developmental psychology. He described what...
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Here are some "Aces" we can cheer about!
Kudos to Lower Merion High School Basketball Team, The Aces, for their demonstration of unity and tolerance! Arms interlocked, dressed in black t-shirts, Lower Merion presented a united front as the national anthem played Tuesday night at Marple Newtown High School. “I am a Muslim,” the shirt worn by all members of the Aces boys basketball team read in white script. “I am a refugee. I am an immigrant. I am an American. I am an Ace.” Read the full story by Matthew De George ...
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Holocaust survivor families yield new insight into trauma across generations [philly.com]
Thank you to ACEs Connection members Bea Hollander-Goldfein and Nancy Isserman for this story. In the 1980s, most of the research Bea Hollander-Goldfein was reading about how Holocaust survivors were faring psychologically focused entirely on the damage the Nazis had done. That didn’t ring completely true to Hollander-Goldfein, a psychologist whose parents were both survivors. She saw problems, but also successes. In 1988, she gathered a team of 16 — six were children of survivors — to study...
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How Do ACEs Impact Health Outcomes?
The original ACE Study from Kaiser Permanente began when two Medical Doctors were researching dietary habits and obesity concerns in southern California. As we now know, there was a direct correlation between a person's ACE score and the likelihood of...
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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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How Pittsburgh PA is mobilizing to create trauma informed communities [post-gazette.com]
The 2900 block of Webster Avenue in the Hill District doesn’t look like it’s suffering. Most of the properties are in decent shape, and day in and day out, it’s fairly quiet. Rhonda Lockett, a lifelong resident except for a stint in Washington, D.C., said most of her neighbors go to church and many are educated and employed. Yet 75 percent of the block — 36 households — have agreed to open their doors and their lives to community organizers, medical and behavioral health professionals and to...
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"How Stress Is Making You Lose Your Mind" and a Key way to Combat it!
With recent brain science research, specifically focused on trauma and toxic stress, we now know how much stress can impact the functioning of our brain. While there are multiple levels of stress, some actually being good for us, the ways...
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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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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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Leading Organizations Partner on a Campaign to Heal Childhood Trauma [prweb.com]
“Calo Programs partners with three non-profits, on a five-city, childhood trauma awareness bus tour, ending on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Calo Programs , innovators in healing the effects of early life trauma in young people, is partnering with three of the nation's leading authorities on attachment, trauma and adoption: the American Adoption Congress (AAC), the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) and the Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh). Together...
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Leaning into Conversations about Race and Trauma
As far back as I can remember the concept of race has played a significant role in my life. My mother has told me that one night while I was reading an American Girl Doll book about “Addy,” an African-American girl who was a slave on...
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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'...