Three hundred staff members of Buchanan County Virginia schools being trained in using trauma informed classroom approaches. Last week I was honored to be invited by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to participate as a presenter for the Senator Tommy Burks Victims Academy which was held on the University of Chattanooga campus. Aware of how Johnson City has created a trauma responsive community, I was asked by TBI to speak on creating Trauma Informed Multidisciplinary teams. Over...

Please join us in Northeast Tennessee on July 11th for the "Addressing ACEs - A Call To Action" event. Keynote speakers include best selling author, Liz Murray who will be sharing her "Homeless to Harvard" story, internationally recognized clinician, Dr. Stephanie Covington sharing, "Trauma and the Three “Rs”: Recognize, Respond, Recover", Dr. Andi Clements and Becky Haas presenting, "How to Create a Trauma Informed Community" based on the Johnson City model which has gained national...

Friday, April 12, 2019 marked an exciting, auspicious, and perhaps pivotal day in the history of Monroe County, Indiana. That’s a lot of adjectives—and pressure—to pile onto just another glorious spring day in Bloomington. But I think many folks who virtually congregate on a site that supports communities implementing trauma-informed and resilience-building practices grounded in ACEs science would agree that a county’s first-ever ACEs conference deserves a little ballyhoo. But this ACEs...

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the annual National Council for Behavioral Health Conference. I have been to my fair share of conferences but #NatCon19 was one of the best. First, I'm biased. It took place in my city, Nashville, TN . And the venue was the world renowned Opryland Hotel's Gaylord Convention Center . And, I love, love, love the Opryland Hotel ! As any seasoned conference goer, I had a strategy when it came to which sessions and events I wanted to attend. My game...

“What our students really crave the most is predictability from the adults interacting with them,” says Roger Sapp, a student success teacher at KIPP. For that reason, the one-on-one session is not a reward for being “good” or withheld if something bad happens. The kids who need it can count on it – every day. The scene is from a video by Edutopia (aka the George Lucas Educational Foundation), which has produced a series of more than 20 powerful, engaging shorts on how children learn in...

Child Abuse & Neglect Article of the Year 2017 Child Abuse & Neglect, The International Journal, is pleased to announce the winner of its ‘Article of the Year’. The papers shortlisted for this title have demonstrated outstanding contribution to research on child welfare and we wish to recognise these scholars and research topics within the community. The papers selected for this title were voted on by the editorial team and editorial board (33 votes) of Child Abuse & Neglect. For...

We hope you will join ther first annual Trauma Informed Schools Network Conference: Cultivating Connections coming to Nashville, TN in mid-July. Details to come soon. The RFP wil open this Friday.

Business is the toughest door to get in when it comes to ACEs work, but chambers of commerce hold (some) of the keys to government when it comes to shaping the local civic space. If you're inclined to leverage the profit world, this brief can serve as a sign post to find the sweet spot between ethical responsibility and economic prosperity. The Future of Work Begins with a City's Youngest Residents

Putting the E in SSNRE (safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments). Check out CityLab's assessment of programs looking to change the space for children in urban poverty. Also highlights UNICEF's "Shaping Urbanization for Children: A Handbook on Child-Responsive Urban Planning." Would anyone have an interest in starting an Architecture community here?

Moral imperative or financial gain? Preventing and mitigating ACEs is both.

Words like trauma-informed and resiliency get thrown around a lot these days. And for many, the visions they call up are a bit too glossy. You see resiliency and trauma-informed aren’t always pretty. Resiliency can look like closing the bathroom door and collapsing in tears… but then washing your face and going back into the world, carrying the belief that you can survive and the hope that things will get better. It looks like begrudgingly going on that walk with a friend, when the little...

The first session of the Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Online & IRL (In Real Life) was a success. Over 100 ACEs Connection members tuned in despite some issues with registration. I have embedded the video in this post. You have also find the video on the ACEs Connection site here . If you have any questions about the series, please contact Ingrid Cockhren , TN & Midwest Community Facilitator.