A year after 85 people died in the wildfire that swept through Paradise, CA, and nearby towns, one of the town’s survivors will talk about how she and others are using resilience practices in their recovery from the trauma. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Paradise resident Kelly Doty will have a conversation with Elaine Miller-Karas, who developed the Community Resiliency Model (CRM). Doty, who lost her home in the fire, and Miller-Karas will discuss resilience education skills designed to help...

YWFC sponsored Sister Warriors meeting When she was 15 years old, Lucero Herrera was put in a rehab program by San Francisco’s Juvenile Court because she was getting drunk regularly. And in doing so, the court failed to explore the root of her drinking. Had they done so, she said, they would have found that anger and trauma were lurking underneath, driven by her ACEs: adverse childhood experiences. Lucero Herrera "Why did they put me in a drug program when I had an anger problem? I went...

It was almost a ritual, but one that regularly disrupted the parenting class at a San Francisco-based child abuse prevention organization. Every time a siren blared in the streets below, a female participant bolted out of the room to seek safety in the windowless interior rooms of the multilevel labyrinthine white Victorian that houses Safe & Sound . Molly Jardiniano And it didn’t just happen in the parenting class. “When she heard the fire trucks, she said she would become paralyzed,...

In a house called “Johanna’s House” on a tree-lined side street in Vallejo, Calif., four women are filling out the adverse childhood experiences (ACE) survey given to them by Maria Guevara, the founder of Vallejo Together, an organization that serves homeless residents in Vallejo. The house was named for Johanna Dilag, a homeless woman who was found dead along with her dog.

To view the document, click on the following link:  http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/toxic-stress-behavioral-health-and-next-major-era-public-health      

Eighteen-year-old Kia Hanson has always enjoyed her time as a youth leader at the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC). She’s worked mostly with five- and six-year-olds since she began in 2016. Recently, she tapped into new skills, especially if the kids were having a meltdown. Kia Hanson “If they’re off, we ask them, ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘Do you want to talk about anything?’,” she explains. “Basically asking before assuming they’re mad at the world for no reason.” What made the...

As I was considering the children sheltering-in-place this morning and reflecting on lessons from my own childhood, I wondered: Can we heal-in-place too? I was born after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, another collective trauma affecting everyone. Yet, it was nevertheless passed on to me by the adults in my life in the form of constant reminders that the U.S. could be blown into bits any second. When I started school, there were constant “hide under the chair” earthquake drills I took to be...

by Nina Martin and Bernice Yeung April 1, 1:30 p.m. EDT Pregnant nurses and doctors say they are being forced to go to work with no formal accommodations or extra protections to keep them safe from the coronavirus, even though they are immunocompromised and data is still emerging about the risks of fetal transmission. Dozens of pregnant medical workers reached out to ProPublica, saying they were weighing whether to stay in jobs they view as dangerous or quit, which could add to the burdens...

Bay Area Early Childhood Funders have released a new brief, “The Power of Play for Addressing Trauma in Early Years,” available in both English and Spanish . The brief provides families, teachers and caregivers an easy-to-read, one-page online brief about the importance of play for addressing trauma in young children and tips for helping children cope. Additional materials on the importance of play are available here .

When the question of screening patients for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) was first raised a couple of years ago, Santa Barbara pediatrician Andria Ruth had mixed feelings about it.

By SUSANNE RUST STAFF WRITER JUNE 27, 2020 MENLO PARK — As Bay Area communities adopt resolutions supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, one Silicon Valley county this week voted to stockpile its Sheriff’s Department with nearly $1 million in new Taser guns. On Wednesday, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a budget that includes the purchase of 310 new Tasers. The approval of the Taser purchase is coming under fire, in part because it occurred just minutes after the...

We are excited to announce our new brief jointly released by BARHII and the Public Health Alliance of Southern California titled “ Embedding Equity into Emergency Operations: Strategies for Local Health Departments During COVID-19 & Beyond. ” The brief outlines case studies, resources, and priority recommendations that counties and cities can take to explicitly and intentionally embed equity staff and practices into their emergency operations structures and throughout the public health...

For resources and activities to help kids feel safe and comforted, visit: https://cdn.sesamestreet.org/sites/default/files/media_folders/Images/SupportAfterEmergency_Printable_Fire_FamilyGuide.pdf?_ga=2.91031322.1860374799.1600088181-1279904627.1598558329

Among PACEs Connection initiatives around the country, it’s well known that our social network is something like a bustling, giant town square where people share ideas, resources and any number of conversations about how to prevent childhood adversity and promote positive childhood experiences. On May 14, PACEs Connection assembled a virtual town square gathering of PACEs initiatives in California, where we have 58 initiatives sparking action all across the state. Speakers at the gathering,...