Blog

Hey, how are you doing? That’s a question I ask or get asked daily. Family, friends or coworkers, the response is typically the same, “I’m fine, everything’s good.” Except that isn’t always accurate, is it? Sometimes we are not fine. Sometimes we know the person on the other end isn’t fine. But we go on asking, shielded by the conventions of social norms and polite conversation; we don’t expect people to give an honest answer. But what if we were honest. In January of this year, Elmo – the...

Youth Voices Rising New York Op-Ed Contest 2024 — Second Place. The women in my family have been experiencing trauma for centuries. We have a long history of domestic, racial, and physical violence without ever having the mental resources to heal. We inherit our families’ behavior, emotions, and environmental responses because of epigenetics. So, the child welfare system should focus on addressing generational trauma with children and families if they want to protect, heal, and serve them.

Dear ONA Stakeholders and Partners, The Welcome Fund has launched its third All of Us grant opportunity. The focus of this grant is to support community-based organizations in small and medium sized cities that are building strong volunteer programs to assist newcomers. By expanding efforts to deeply engage volunteers, they seek to strengthen the fabric of support for newcomers and build an enduring spirit of welcome. Details on the RFP can be accessed HERE . To be eligible, organizations...

Former PACEs Connection employees Dana Brown (L) with Vincent Felitti, MD, co-author of the 1998 Adverse Childhood Experiences study, and Carey Sipp (R) in San Diego in January, 2024. The last few months have been quite challenging, but we pushed, persevered, and didn’t give up hope. The “we” is Carey Sipp and Dana Brown. We were long-time staff members of PACEs Connection determined to reinstate the website and the resources and information we provide to communities after the platform went...

COVID-19 pandemic coincided with more adult diagnoses related to such trauma, report shows. The COVID-19 pandemic is frequently blamed for school learning loss and growing rates of anxiety and depression. Now a new study involving state hospital data shows the pandemic also coincided with an increase in childhood trauma. Admissions data analyzed by the New Jersey Hospital Association showed the percentage of hospital patients who experienced trauma as children — things like extreme poverty,...

New Jersey youth in foster care get the one-on-one advocacy they need because of volunteers. And right now, there's a call out to get more of these volunteers on board. Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, act as a voice for children in the state's foster system. Thousands of kids are in need of this kind of help on a yearly basis. "It's important during such a vulnerable time in a child's life, that they have a consistent person that is visiting them and looking out for them," said...

Artificial Intelligence -How Computers Learn Free TechGirlz workshop for girls in grades 5–8. Have you ever wondered how Alexa or Siri recognizes your voice, or how Facebook is able to automatically recognize your friends in pictures? The answer is Artificial Intelligence (AI), or also known as Machine Learning! In this workshop, students will learn about how machine learning techniques such as artificial neural networks learn from data to answer real world questions.. 575 Washington Blvd,...

Happy July! With “back to school” season just around the corner, this month’s CTIPP CAN call will discuss how and why trauma-informed schools can help create healing spaces that engage their communities to counter the daily stresses that young people experience so that all students can reach their full potential. This is particularly important for students who learn differently, many of whom traditionally have been served in separate—and often unequal—special education classrooms. Before the...

Not having secure housing is a huge stress for anyone. But when children experience this, especially in early childhood, it can affect their health years down the line. That’s the finding of a new study in the journal Pediatrics, which says that teens who experienced housing insecurity earlier in life were more likely to report worse health. “Pediatricians, for a long time, have suspected that housing insecurity is associated with negative health outcomes,” says Dr. Hemen Muleta, a...

Lawmakers push for court-ordered counseling. Children who have witnessed domestic violence could soon be eligible to receive court-ordered counseling under a bill that cleared a Senate committee last week. “This is going to be so life-changing for so many people, especially the children, because it gives the children an opportunity to have access to care and access to services immediately,” Darian Eletto, the chief clinical officer of behavioral health services at Bergen New Bridge Medical...

📞 NJ 211 helps provide NJ residents with the services and help they need 📞 A statewide campaign has launched to bring more awareness to NJ 211 📞The website also allows residents to self-search for assistance If you need help or certain services in New Jersey, do you know where to look or what number to call? The New Jersey Department of Children and Families and NJ 211 are spreading awareness about the wide range of help and services available to state residents. The initiative aims to...

Please join us virtually for the second meeting of the Resilient NJ Task Force on Tuesday, June 18 th from 1pm – 3pm. We will discuss the results of the survey we shared regarding the purpose and vision for the task force and we’ll share the new name. We will discuss social norms and a public education campaign around Positive Childhood Experiences (PCES); we need your input. We also are inviting you to share an initiative, resource or any updates you may have. We aim to build a...