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From Turnaround for Children, December 2020 Introducing the Well-Being Index Science demonstrates what the best educators have always known: All students have unique strengths and needs that vary over time and are expressed differently. When schools recognize and personalize experiences for individual students and remove barriers to learning, they create the conditions that support thriving. But, if a student’s experience and how they feel and function is variable, how can educators capture...

By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, December 9, 2020 Responding to a surge in student anxiety and depression — exacerbated by the pandemic — a state commission has called for California schools to move quickly to become “wellness centers” addressing mental and physical health needs among K-12 students and their families. Through agreements with nonprofits and government health agencies, schools would offer psychological services, basic medical care and other services to help families navigate trauma...

Survivor Stories Online - Friday, December 11, 2020 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM GET YOUR FREE TICKETS for this Zoom event at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/survivor-stories-online-tickets-129044969979 Survivors of sexual abuse and assault are invited to read a poem, tell a story, sing a song, share in any way they see fit. Survivors of sexual abuse and assault are invited to read a poem, tell a story, sing a song, share in any way they see fit. Speakers and performers include: Musician, Advocate,...

The Wisconsin Trauma Project has developed an 8-week virtual workshop from the National Childhood Traumatic Stress Network's (NCTSN) this Trauma-Informed workshop helps adults understand the impacts of trauma on children's brains, bodies, and behaviors. This curriculum was designed for biological parents, adoptive or foster parents, kinship caregivers, social workers, and community members to partner and understand how to support a child who has experienced trauma. It is a powerful workshop...

Anxiety travels in families. As children become more anxious, so do their parents and family. When this happens, the anxious parent often fuels their child’s anxiety disorder through overaccommodation. This occurs when parents insulate their child’s distress and discomfort entirely. In turn, the child does not learn how to cope with anxiety or learn tools to manage it in the long term. Over time, this can lead to depression or even suicide as untreated anxiety will branch off into other...

There have been some truly remarkable research papers written about complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) in the past few decades. Some of the research focuses exclusively on CPTSD while others can apply to any mental health disorder. In this article, I’m going to break the ice in the series about complex post-traumatic stress disorder and new research findings. A Definition of CPTSD I realize that many reading this article are familiar with the definition of CPTSD. However, for the...

By Jamila Perritt, New England Journal of Medicine, November 5, 2020 As uprisings continue around the United States in response to police violence against Black people, we have reached a moment of reckoning for many Americans. As a nation, we are struggling to find a way forward. Many organizations have issued statements of solidarity and made promises of support, as first steps. Individual clinicians and physicians’ organizations have joined the efforts, speaking out against police violence...

By Kenyon Lee Whitman and Brianna M. Harvey, The Imprint, December 2, 2020 Black foster youth are caught in a nexus of incarceration which is formed by their engagement with child welfare, education and policing. Our recent brief published by UCLA’s Black Male Institute on Los Angeles County public schools serves to elucidate these grim realities. California public schools educate over 46,000 K-12 students in foster care, and about a third of them attend Los Angeles County public schools. An...

By Diana Williams, California Health Care Foundation, December 1, 2020 At the big city charter school she ran, Ashley Edwards was surrounded by future artists, writers, and engineers who radiated talent and grit. Many of her students were driven to succeed despite encountering racism, poverty, and community violence on a routine basis, she said. “I’d generally describe them as survivors,” Edwards said of the young people at Newark Prep Charter School in New Jersey. In communities nationwide,...

SACRAMENTO – The Office of the California Surgeon General today released the first California Surgeon General’s Report - Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General's Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. The report serves as a blueprint for how communities, states, and nations can recognize and effectively address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress as a root cause to some of the most harmful, persistent, and expensive societal and...

JOIN US TOMORROW FOR A SPECIAL WEBINAR DISCUSSING THE FIRST SURGEON GENERAL'S ANNUAL REPORT Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General's Report on Adverse Childhood Experience, Toxic Stress, and Health Thursday, December 10, 2020 Noon - 1:30 p.m. Register Now! California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris set a bold vision to cut ACEs and toxic stress in half in one generation through a strategically deployed, coordinated public health initiative designed to raise awareness,...

This month many of us are heading into a holiday season whether it be Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or another notable day. It is traditionally a time when we get together with family and friends, open our hearts, and put our absolute best foot forward in hospitality and grace. The pandemic has changed the physicality of our lives but not the meaning and intention that lies beneath this very special season. The origin of the word season comes from the Latin word ‘satio’, meaning ‘sowing’ and...