Blog

All with the beautiful intention of helping kiddos who need a sprinkling of Sammie hope in their lives. As a child who experienced ACEs and the resulting anxiety, it can feel overwhelming and scary. I am so very happy our Sammie's Bundles of Hope can help alleviate a little bit of that scariness and bring a smile to those kiddos needing hope the most.

Brett A. Loftis, JD, is co-founder of The Center for Trauma Resilient Communities and is also Crossnore’s Chief Executive Officer. Crossnore School & Children’s Home is pleased to announce the opening of the Center for Trauma Resilient Communities. The Center’s focus is to provide training and consultation for building trauma resilience within an organization or community. Start-up funding for the Center has been provided by an anonymous private foundation that is committed to healing...

Dr. Sharon Portwood, a valued member of Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence Leadership Team, is now serving on the American Psychological Association's Committee for Children, Youth, and Families and is helping to raise awareness of ACEs. Dr. Portwood, who also teaches at UNC Charlotte, has opened this recent newsletter with an article on research and policy implications. The newsletter continues by highlighting four different articles regarding ACEs across domains from education to...

Editor's Note: RSVP to join us at Brookings on December 5 for an event focused on this report’s findings, Homeownership while black: Examining the devaluation of assets in black neighborhoods . Homeownership lies at the heart of the American Dream, representing success, opportunity, and wealth. However, for many of its citizens, America deferred that dream. For much of the 20th century, the devaluing of black lives led to segregation and racist federal housing policy through redlining that...

A mother brings her 8-year-old son to the pediatrician after his teacher repeatedly asks her to have him evaluated for ADHD. The trauma-informed pediatrician knows that childhood trauma exposure can resemble hyperactivity associated with ADHD. The pediatrician asks the mother to privately complete an adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) questionnaire and asks to do one with the son as well. The questionnaire reveals that the son had witnessed his mom being physically abused by her last two...

In new pre-clinical research, scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), led by Scott Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology, have identified changes in brain activity linked to the pleasure and reward system. The research, published in the journal, Nature, provides news insights into how the brain processes rewards, and advances our understanding of addiction and depression. The research, which was conducted by Tara LeGates, Ph.D., a Research Associate in the...

A new initiative to combat domestic violence in California is supporting several high-risk populations — including refugees, immigrants, low-wage workers, Native Americans and rural residents — to develop their own community-based strategies for prevention. Safety Through Connection, a program by the Oakland nonprofit Prevention Institute, is providing $50,000 to five coalitions of community-based organizations that have not previously worked on reducing domestic violence — but that have...

RALEIGH - A new report looking at security in North Carolina schools is challenging the belief that putting more police officers in schools will make them safer. The study of North Carolina middle schools found no relationship between increased funding for school resource officers and reduction in cases of reported school crimes. Kenneth Alonzo Anderson, the report’s author and an associate professor at Howard University, said legislators across the country should consider the findings...

“When a child displays a behavior problem, the first place to look for the cause and for the solution is to the child’s environment.” Maria Montessori We cannot truly separate the child from the community. In our efforts to “fix” child behavior or heal the child from the traumatic impact of adverse childhood experiences, we need to relate to the community as an extension of the child’s physical and psychological constitution. An organic unity operates here. There is more than just a...

Cissy's note: Melissa Merrick, PhD (pictured above), is a Senior Epidemiologist with the Surveillance Branch in the Division of Violence Prevention at CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. She will be the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Essentials for Childhood summit and share about new ACEs data (see below) about which populations have the highest levels of ACEs on average. An excerpt from this article published on the JAMA Network can be found below. Please follow...

The new Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center offers a one-stop information hub for health care providers and other stakeholders interested in learning about and implementing trauma-informed care.

DAYTON, Ohio — Dr. Randy Marriott clicked open the daily report he gets on drug overdoses in the county.Only one in the last 24 hours — stunningly low compared to the long lists he used to scroll through last year in a grim morning routine. “They just began to abruptly drop off,” said Dr. Marriott, who oversees the handoff of patients from local rescue squads to Premier Health, the region’s biggest hospital system. Overdose deaths in Montgomery County, anchored by Dayton, have plunged this...