Blog

By Matt Fuchs, The Washington Post, July 13, 2021 If you’re interested in staying healthy as you age — and living longer — you might want to add a different set of muscles to your workout routine: your creative ones. Ongoing research suggests that creativity may be key to healthy aging. Studies show that participating in activities such as singing, theater performance and visual artistry could support the well-being of older adults, and that creativity, which is related to the personality...

By Jocelyn Gecker, The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 19, 2021 When classrooms in California reopen for the fall term, all 6.2 million public school students will have the option to eat school meals for free, regardless of their family’s income. The undertaking, made possible by an unexpected budget surplus, will be the largest free student lunch program in the country. School officials, lawmakers, anti-hunger organizations and parents are applauding it as a pioneering way to prevent the...

By Mari McNeil, The Buffalo News, July 18, 2021 O ne recent morning I called the E-ZPass customer support line to resolve improper fines on my account. I know that E-ZPass New York has had a lot of technical problems lately, and they have been in the news. I expected a protracted tangle of a fight. I called early in the morning, but still had to wait 25 minutes to talk to a human – this after wading through a confusing menu of options. Finally, “Donna” answered the call. Though it was only...

By Thomas Koskovich, The Marshall Project, July 15, 2021 When I became a teachers’ aide for a basic adult education class here at New Jersey State Prison, I learned much more than I ever expected. I had already been incarcerated for nearly 10 years by then, and, as a mid-sized White guy, I survived those years by staying mostly under the radar. Now I was taking on a job that basically called for people to focus their attention on me. I was inexperienced, to say the least; I had not even...

By Kathryn Stewart, Shauna Olsen, Lisa Tadlock, and Sue Grinnell, Northern California ACEs Collaborative, July 2021 Executive Summary Communities across California are impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress, although regions are affected differently. This paper focuses on the six-county region in Northern California served by Public Health Institute's (PHI) Population Health Innovation Lab's (PHIL) Northern ACEs Collaborative (NAC) where exist some of the highest...

We Need You! The Mount Sinai Parenting Center - in collaboration with partners like Zero to Three, HealthySteps, the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Reach Out and Read, and many more - is embarking on a project to recruit families across the country to create a video series that reaches parents at each of their primary care visits. And we need your help to make sure all parents are heard. Click on the buttons below to download a flyer you can hang in your clinic for families or submit your...

From Fostering Media Connections, July 19, 2021 AN ONLINE CONVERSATION What Youth Wish Foster, Adoptive & Kinship Parents Knew Join us for a conversation with former foster youth who are sharing their lived experiences and wisdom gained after navigating the child welfare system. What are caregivers doing right — or wrong? What do youth see in the foster care system that caregivers don't? And how can caregivers help youth on the journey toward healing trauma? Our panelists: Alexis...

I have been deeply concerned about the growing lack of kindness that individuals are displaying when engaging with those providing them with services. This occurs in restaurants, airplanes, healthcare facilities, stores and educational institutions. It is not enough to say: Be Kind to others. Words are not enough. Deeds matter. Below is a link to an essay I wrote explaining why I believe that kindness has taken a vacation and what we need to do about it -- which will strike many as...

There's a new webpage for the VA TICNs ! You can find a PDF of the full list of networks, an interactive map, the eNote archive, resources, and more. We will continue to update and add to the page and ask that you please share any resources, updated information, or additional info! -send to ceure@grscan.com or mmcginn@grscan.com- Advocacy Opportunity! The RISE From Trauma Act provides a unique opportunity to help launch a new federal grant program of up to $4.8 billion over eight years ($600...

By, Felicia Nelson, Christina Velez, and Mark Egan 7/19/21 A pioneer in the field of internal medicine, Dr. Vincent J. Felitti has over 50 years of experience with extensive knowledge in the areas of childhood trauma, the genetic disease Hemochromatosis, and obesity. Here at The Relationship Foundation, Dr. Vincent Felitti is our mentor and an inspiration to us all. He has spent a greater part of his life, serving as a co-principal for the ACEs Study. ACE stands for “Adverse Childhood...

From UMass Medical School Communications, July 15, 2021 The American Academy of Pediatrics has published Childhood Trauma & Resilience: A Practical Guide , written by UMass Medical School child trauma and treatment experts Heather Forkey, MD, and Jessica Griffin, PsyD, along with co-author Moira Szilagyi, MD, PhD, president-elect of the AAP. The new resource for clinicians and caregivers provides guidance on trauma-informed care and the protective power of resilience. It details the ways...

By Lindsay Vansomeren, Yes!, July 14, 2021 C ameron Macias bent down to examine a small pile of sawdust-filled scat on the floor of the former Lake Mills on the Elwha River in the northwest corner of Washington state in 2016. It was a sign that beavers were moving into the area after a 100+ year absence . “There’s very small dam-building activity in some of the side tributaries,” says Macias, who was working at the time as a wildlife technician for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, of which she...