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FLINT, MI -- Trauma effects people differently and how leaders respond to people's reactions to trauma is important in building a resilient community. That's why a small group of decision makers gathered to learn trauma-informed skills they can pass on to their community at a Flint RECAST workshop Thursday at the Legal Service of Eastern Michigan. Flint RECAST is a project that teaches a Community Resiliency Model to inform community leaders about trauma-informed skills and approaches. The...

Gov. Jerry Brown must decide by October 1 whether to approve a bill that will expand up through grade 8 the current law that eliminated suspensions in grades K-3 for disruption or defiance of school authorities. In 2014, his approval of the law reflected a combination of his attention to research, as well as listening to superintendents, teachers, civil rights advocates and others. A new report that I co-authored shows that suspensions for disruption or defiance have nearly been eliminated...

The events at the Senate Judiciary Committee left many around the country feeling raw. Perhaps it is good that we can still be shocked, but shock is a state that does not lend itself to immediate mobilization, so we thought we would leave this space open today for a discussion of what our readers are thinking and feeling and what we each plan to do as a result of yesterday’s cultural spectacle.

So here is the harsh reality of ACEs. The child who enters kindergarten with an ACEs score of 3 or 4 will likely have that score double or more by the time they graduate from high school. For far too many students, adverse childhood experiences ARE life experiences. These life experiences affect everything from mental and physical health to relationships and academics. Our students can't simply be "fixed" with a temporary response. Trauma-informed/responsive education isn't a fad. This isn't...

Climate extremes are in the headlines yet again. From the devastation of typhoon Mangkhut in Southeast Asia to Greek wildfires earlier in the year, timely reminders of the importance of resilience-building can be seen everywhere. It’s therefore reassuring to see resilience quickly climbing to the top of the global development agenda. A $100 million investment by the Global Resilience Partnership and the British government’s £140 million commitment under the Building Resilience and Adaptation...

The allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh share the two themes of alcohol and how memories change over time. Christine Blasey Ford, who is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she consumed a beer at the party where a teenage Brett Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her; he and his friend Mark Judge had been heavily intoxicated, according to her account. Deborah Ramirez, who came forward Sunday, alleged that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her...

Darrell Hammond, who you’ll definitely recognize from his turns as Al Gore, Bill Clinton and President Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” was actually nervous to meet with lawmakers on the Hill earlier this week. It’s one thing to play a politician for laughs on TV and another to persuade one to back your cause. “I was a little awestruck,” said Hammond, who met with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to discuss...

Today, the science is clear – the effects of trauma and adversity build up over the human lifespan and contribute to negative outcomes in all aspects of individual, family, community, and societal life. Some effects can even pass from generation to generation. In the last two decades, we have come to understand trauma as pervasive and distributed inequitably among vulnerable populations and under-resourced communities. The good news is that trauma-informed practice can prevent and mitigate...

It's a popular myth that when disasters strike, people become looting, panicking, clown-trampling George Costanzas. In reality, we're more likely to rush in to help others than run them over to save ourselves—so much so that emergency managers have a name for it: "mass assault." Identified in 1969 by researcher Allen Barton, mass assault refers to the many people who flood a disaster area, including medical workers, profiteers, and families searching for missing relatives. Most, though, are...

Allegations of sexual assault and harassment have dominated the news this week. This edition of The Moment offers resources that can guide you through tough but necessary classroom conversations about consent and responsibility. [For more on this collection of articles, go to https://www.tolerance.org/the-moment/september-26-2018-teaching-about-sexual-assault-and-consent ]

When Marquita, a Memphis mother of six, became homeless, her children began to struggle in school. “The kids were just out of control,” she said. “Their grades weren’t the same.” “What people don’t understand is what adults go through, kids go through it too,” she said. “I didn’t know kids get depressed until I went through this situation.” Marquita, who asked that her last name be withheld to discuss her living situation and her children’s mental health, said she became homeless because she...

They had to have heard me screaming even above the cacophony of 200 children playing. Distress makes a different sound. It is not possible to ignore cries for help. You notice and then choose how you will react. You look up. You look in the direction of the noise. You decide. There were dozens of witnesses to my molestation. They decided to look away.