Blog

Chloe Yang, 3/24/21, positiveexperience.org/blog Our first annual summit is less than a month away! Please register at this link , which you can also find on the Summit landing page (registration closes at 5:00 pm ET on Monday, April 5th). Our virtual summit seeks to inspire a group of leaders who will, together, champion a movement to shift how we support children and families, creating systems of care based on understanding, equity, and trust. Morning plenary sessions will feature Dr. Bob...

At the heart of any healthy relationship is trust. We instinctively understand this fact. Yet, we sometimes allow our own insecurities, weaknesses, and selfishness to rob us of trust which, in turn, robs us of the joy and peace we could be experiencing with other people.

Thank you to Aidan Phillips from the WAVE Trust for his excellent and engaging presentation for attendees of our monthly Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) call for March. The information he shared is invaluable as we continue our work to influence change at the national level through the National Trauma Campaign . If you were unable to join, would like to watch again, or want to share with others, you can find the call recording here . Additionally, if you would like...

Of the $1.9 Trillion in the American Rescue Plan Act, there are several pots of money that can be leveraged for trauma-informed and resilience-focused initiatives. You can find such areas in the Act in this CTIPP analysis. What is needed now is advocacy at the state and local level to leverage these funds for trauma-informed supports. The National Trauma Campaign has advocates in all 50 states helping to mobilize around these pots of money to help bring about the trauma-informed society we...

By Noah Kline, Community Commons, March 2021 Although the #BlackLivesMatter protests of 2020 were ignited by high-profile police murders, the movement’s demands address a much broader array of issues. Indeed, there can be no end to police violence, and no racial justice, without a complete upheaval of the system of racism that lies at the foundation of the United States. Although truth, reconciliation, and conversation play a role in this process, Black organizers from across the country...

By Lindsay Braman, LindsayBraman.com, March 11, 2021 By now, most counselors, pediatricians, teachers, and other people who work with children know about ACES: The “Adverse Childhood Experiences” scale. ACE’s predict , based on measuring the number of traumatic or adverse events experienced, which kids are likely to struggle developmentally and emotionally as they mature. (You can take the ACES quiz here ). New results from a survey based on a study of 6188 adults at Johns Hopkins shows that...

By Rebecca Vivrette, Child Trends, March 23, 2021 Parents and caregivers across the United States are facing unprecedented challenges, role shifts, and hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic that may negatively impact their parenting and their relationships with their children. Emerging research shows that parents and caregivers are experiencing more significant increases in stress during the pandemic than non-parents. For parents with unresolved histories of adversity and trauma —resulting...

By Mark Guarino, The Washington Post, March 22, 2021 The nation's first government reparations program for African Americans was approved Monday night in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, action that advocates say represents a critical step in rectifying wrongs caused by slavery, segregation and housing discrimination and in pushing forward on similar compensation efforts across the country. “Right now the whole world is looking at Evanston, Illinois. This is a moment like none other that...

From Every Family Forward, March 2021 OVERVIEW As America rapidly evolves into a more racially and ethnically diverse country, we see that future in our children. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation commissioned an in-depth research study to explore the experiences of parents and caregivers today as they raise the next generation of children. The project began with interviews and focus groups, culminating in a survey of approximately 2,000 parents and caregivers to hear directly from them...

While opioids and alcohol get a lot of the attention when it comes to addiction problems, and rightfully so, there are still other drugs of abuse causing harm and leading to death. Cocaine remains the third-most prevalent drug of abuse in the United States and in 2012, over 1 million U.S. adults met the criteria for cocaine dependence or abuse . Research has also found that there is an overlap between cocaine use and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, up to 43% of cocaine user s...

[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site — abuseresearch.info — that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she posts the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs. Thank you, Harise!! -- Jane Stevens] CHILD ABUSE Flannigan K, Kapasi A, Pei J, et. al. Characterizing adverse childhood experiences among children and adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure and Fetal...

California can support children and youth by tackling the state’s — and the country’s — legacy of White supremacy and replacing it with a trauma-informed approach of love, empathy, and support.