Image: Source Since April, 2024, Dana Brown and I have been working as volunteers to keep your social networking site – PACEs Connection – up and running. Gratefully, your donations supported raising $14,859 to pay CrowdStack, the learning management system platform on which PACEs Connection operates, in November, 2024. We are deeply grateful that a longtime PACEs Connection member was able to direct the Langeloth Foundation to make a $10,000 tax-deductible donation toward the total. That...

Today, we recognize Psychologist Mamie Phipps Clark, a pioneer in child development and racial equity. Her groundbreaking research, which shaped Brown v. Board of Education, revealed the profound impact of racism and segregation on children's self-perception and well-being. At Positive Childhood Alliance NC, we know that how children see themselves—and how they are treated by the world around them—shapes their development and well-being. Mamie Phipps Clark’s work reminds us that nurturing,...

Full disclosure: I n case there are questions as to why I’m posting this personal post and then subsequent blog posts from an organization called CHC: Creating Healthier Communities (CHC) and its CEO and president, Jean Accius, PhD., please allow me to explain. (Fellow volunteers Dana Brown, Rafael Maravilla, and me on a recent Zoom call about revitalizing PACEs Connection.) In addition to my volunteer role with PACEs Connection alongside fellow volunteers Dana Brown and Rafael Maravilla, I...

By Mike Leach, The Imprint, Image: Unsplash via Crowdstack , February 17, 2025 When child welfare systems are scrutinized in the wake of lawsuits and investigations, the path to reform is often dictated by measurable outcomes such as caseload sizes, placement stability, health visits and timely permanency for children. These metrics are, without question, critical indicators of a system’s performance. But the fixation on quantifiable results often neglects a crucial, intangible factor: the...

Kennia Camacho, host of the radio show Crisis Communicator, outside the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory in Los Angeles. Photos by Isabel Avila. From a small station in Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights, 18-year-old Kennia Camacho talks with teens about anxiety, stress and depression. We should listen. By George B. Sánchez-Tello, Capital & Main, Photo: Isabel Avila , February 17, 2025 At the 30-minute mark of her weekly radio show, Kennia Camacho strings together a list of events that are...

Anti-abortion activists rallying in front of the Supreme Court in 2022. Credit... Shawn Thew/EPA, via Shutterstock *Editor's note: The full article is behind a paywall. However, certain publications allow a limited number of articles to be viewed per month. Thank you. The findings showed the highest mortality occurred among infants who were Black, lived in Southern states or had fetal birth defects. By Pam Belluck, The New York Times, Image: Shawn Thew/EPA via Shutterstock , February 13,...

How a therapy called CBITS helps children who have experienced trauma By Molly Hagan, Child Mind Institute, Image: Unsplash via Crowdstack , February 7, 2025 Research shows that childhood exposure to trauma is far more common than one might think, with two-thirds of kids having had at least one adverse experience and more than 1 in 5 having had three or more. Living through an upsetting event can feel isolating — even when that event is shared, like a school shooting or a wildfire. (Because...

By The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Image: screenshot from article , February 5, 2025 A new report iden­ti­fies proven and promis­ing approach­es for expand­ing access that teens and young adults have to the pub­lic safe­ty net pro­grams for which they qual­i­fy. Fund­ed by the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion, the Urban Insti­tute report, Strate­gies to Sup­port Young People’s Access to Pub­lic Ben­e­fits , ana­lyzes exist­ing evi­dence for what works to increase eli­gi­ble young people’s access...

From the Collaboration of Dr. Vincent Felitti and Dr. Brian Alman After decades of working with patients struggling with stress and trauma, We’ve observed a common thread: many carry their past like rocks in an invisible backpack. These "rocks" - our Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) - can weigh on us in ways we don't always recognize. Through my collaboration with Dr. Vincent Felitti at Kaiser Permanente on the ACE Study, we've experienced and observed how these early experiences can...

Developing Emotional Resilience in the Era of Climate Change, Stress and Trauma A Conversation with Leslie Davenport This is a free event All registrants will be given access to the interview recording https://www.tappingoutoftrauma.com/developing-emotional-resilience-in-the-era-of-climate-change-stress-and-trauma/ The impact of climate change on physical health are everywhere ranging from fires to floods to fire born respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Emerging documentation is...