Blog

Dear Friends and Allies, California is at a historic intersection of unprecedented new resources for children’s mental and behavioral health, and an opportunity to insist on equity in who receives, delivers, and is paid for children’s mental health services. On June 1st, the state released its draft Request for Proposal (RFP) which we hoped would clearly outline what is expected of Medi-Cal Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), including how they would be held accountable to provide required...

Heroin addiction is a powerful and devastating disease that affects the lives of millions of people. Sadly, it doesn’t just affect the person suffering from addiction - it also affects friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors, and acquaintances. While people who are stuck in the midst of addiction often fail to think about how their actions are harming those around them, the pain they cause is heart-wrenching. As a former heroin addict who now has several years of sobriety under her...

I can agree with that when it comes to life and especially to life with cancer. But I keep wondering what is hardship anyway? What’s hard? What’s easy? It’s so subjective and varies by person and circumstance. What I do know is I was uncomfortable and unprepared for my PleurX surgery procedure even though it was done at my request. A PleurX is a type of chest tube that can be used at home, allowing me to drain the malignant fluid that accumulates in my right lung due to #ovariancancer. As...

Wrestling Ghosts is the fourth and final film in the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival series and is available to all PACEs Connection member this weekend. To watch any time from Friday, June 11th through Sunday, June 13th, 2021: Join the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival interest-based community on PACEsConnection Go to this blog post to find the link and the password to stream Wrestling Ghosts. There will be a follow-up discussion on June 15, 2021 at 7 p.m.

By Jade Begay, Stanford Social Innovation Review, June 10, 2021 A colleague recently told me that climate justice is about building ties between people, their land, and their traditional, ancestral ways. In all my years of doing environmental work, this is one of most succinct ways I’ve heard to describe what climate justice means for Indigenous People and communities: Reconnecting to our land is an integral piece of addressing climate change, for both our Nations and our wider communities.

By Colin Gray, Adam Leive, et al., National Bureau of Economic Research, June 2021 Work requirements are common in U.S. safety net programs. Evidence remains limited, however, on the extent to which work requirements increase economic self-sufficiency or screen out vulnerable individuals. Using linked administrative data on food stamps (SNAP) and earnings with a regression discontinuity design, we find robust evidence that work requirements increase program exits by 23 percentage points (64...

By Cat Rakowski, Know Your Value, June 10, 2021 Here we are, at the cusp of summer. If your kids aren’t out of school yet, they will be soon. Their year has looked vastly different, and the idea of “normalcy” has been obliterated. As we stand at the frontier of hot days and hazy boundaries (especially for those who have kids under 12 who are not yet eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine) — there are so many looming questions about our kids and their mental health. As a mom of a 5-year-old boy, who...

Wrestling Ghosts is the fourth and final film in the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival series. The film can be watched, free of charge, on PACEs Connection from Friday, June 11th through Sunday, June 13th where it will be streamed all weekend. The streaming will be followed by a Zoom discussion with Wrestling Ghosts Director, Ana Joanes, and the co-sponsors of the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival (CTIPP, PACEs Connection, & the Relentless School Nurse) on...

By Chelsey Cox, USA TODAY, May 18, 2021 In an effort to foster productive dialogue, USA TODAY is partnering with the #ListenFirst Coalition for a two-day event creating one-on-one virtual discussions among thousands of Americans with different points of view. Participants 18 and older will be matched with a conversation partner for conversations over June 12 and 13. The #ListenFirst Coalition includes more than 300 organizations across the country. The event, dubbed "America Talks," comes as...

Free Virtual Cafe brought to you by the Philadelphia ACE Task Force - pass this invitation along! Wellness at the workplace in this time of change Real world story #3 - addressing workplace stress This cafe session shares the story from MATER (Maternal Addiction Treatment Education Program) at Jefferson University Hospital about how their workplace grapples with traumatic stress faced by staff, what's worked, and what hasn't and how they do it. Service to others is rewarding, but struggling...

This latest issue brief from Penn State’s Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center looks at how schoolwide social and emotional learning (SEL) and trauma-sensitive schools (TSS) can support a holistic approach to meeting student needs, particularly when focused on enhancing individual skill-building and environmental conditions that support student well-being and advance educational equity. The co-authors examine the ways in which TSS and SEL can be integrated and expanded— through...

Hi. I'm Alison Cebulla and many of you may know me as a Community Facilitator at PACEs Connection of the Northeast, Midatlantic, Southwest, and International Communities. I also produce our A Better Normal series and other live Zoom events. Many burgeoning community leaders ask me, "what can I do to make a bigger difference?" This is a big question with no one right answer. So I'm going to start writing small pieces with little tips that can help. Community Leader Tip #1 My life changed...