Tagged With "Sexual Assault Awareness Month"
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Weekly Highlights
Neighborhood conditions associated with children’s cognitive function November 4, 2020 U.S. National Institutes of Health A study published today in JAMA Network Open shows that children from poorer neighborhoods perform less well on a range of cognitive functions, such as verbal ability, reading skills, memory, and attention, and have smaller brain volumes in key cognitive regions compared to those from wealthier neighborhoods. While multiple studies have shown that household socioeconomic...
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Weekly Highlights
Native American Heritage Month When COVID-19 hit the Navajo Nation, it limited students’ educational opportunities after schools closed, eliminated essential school services, exposed ongoing inequities, and made health and economic hardships families face worse. Navajo health officials said COVID-19 started spreading across the nation after a tribal member attended a basketball tournament in early March then went to a church revival the next day in Chilchinbeto, a small community south of...
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NJ medical school program requires all first-year students to learn about ACEs science
In 2015, Dr. Beth Pletcher, a pediatrician and associate professor specializing in genetics, was at the annual conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Washington D.C. when she heard two speakers that forever changed her work with medical students. Dr. Beth Pletcher “I went to two talks on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that were so mind-boggling to me that I decided on my drive back to New Jersey that I had to do something about it,”says Pletcher, director of the Division...
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The Turrell Fund is proud to present the first Turrell Town Hall featuring Dave Ellis, Office of Resilience, NJDCF discussing ACEs.
Welcome! Thank you for your interest in the first-ever Turrell Town Hall, a virtual discussion series for Turrell grantees, partners, and networks. Hosted and moderated by Evan Delgado, Vice President of Programs at the Turrell Fund, this Town Hall will feature Dave Ellis, Executive Director of the Office of Resilience at the New Jersey Department of Children & Families to discuss statewide developments around Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the key role of Turrell affiliates...
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U.S. Coast Guard honors Black veteran, NFL great
Above is U.S. Coast Guard photo of Emlen Tunnell, who served in the Coast Guard during and after World War II, was the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Before he became the first Black player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell served in the U.S. Coast Guard during and after World War II, where he was credited with saving the lives of two shipmates. Now, a Coast Guard cutter and an athletic building on the Coast Guard Academy campus are...
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PreventingACES.pdf
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Black history explains why COVID-19 has ravaged that community | Opinion
By Star-Ledger Guest Columnist By Hamid Shaaban Black History Month is often observed by commemorating Black excellence and honoring the remarkable achievements and contributions of Black people in the United States and around the world. This month, I propose to all my colleagues in healthcare and medicine to promote and advance education about the history of medical racism. That history is Black history and it is often neglected and remains largely unacknowledged. It’s important to...
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New Jersey's Own Whitney Houston
Today marks nine years since we lost an icon, the indelible mark Whitney Houston left on this world continues on today! With over 200 million combined album, singles and videos sold worldwide during her career with Arista Records, Whitney Houston has established a benchmark for superstardom that will quite simply never be eclipsed in the modern era. She is a singer’s singer who has influenced countless other vocalists female and male. Music historians cite Whitney’s record-setting...
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New Jersey's Underground Railroad
Lawnside, New Jersey The Peter Mott House is the oldest known house to serve as a station on the Underground Railroad in New Jersey. Elizabeth and Newark New Jersey Jersey City - The last stop Before the Civil War, Jersey City was the last stop on the New Jersey Underground Railroad route for many runaway slaves seeking freedom. The quest for freedom prompted an estimated 100,000 19th century black slaves to make the dangerous journey along the Underground Railroad. That term refers to the...
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Elijah McClain - The Association Between Abusive Policing and PTSD Symptoms Among U.S. Police Officers
"I'm an introvert, I don't do those things. You all are beautiful and I love you. Please try to forgive me" were the last words spoken by Elijah McClain. He would have been 25. The Association Between Abusive Policing and PTSD Symptoms Among U.S. Police Officers Objective: Initiatives to curb police abuse in the United States are often viewed as “antipolice” or politically unpopular. Efforts to address police violence may be more acceptable if abusive practices are shown to have an adverse...
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John Lewis | American Civil rights Leader and Politician
John Lewis, in full John Robert Lewis, (born February 21, 1940, near Troy, Alabama, U.S.—died July 17, 2020, Atlanta, Georgia), American civil rights leader and politician best known for his chairmanship of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and for leading the march that was halted by police violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, a landmark event in the history of the civil rights movement that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” A brief history of...
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Private First Class James Anderson, Jr.
The first African American U.S. Marine to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, Private First Class James Anderson, Jr. died on February 28, 1967 during an unconscionable act of heroism. he Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration was posthumously awarded on August 21, 1967 to Anderson for sacrificing his life for his fellow soldiers by grasping a grenade and shielding the explosion with his body to protect their lives. The official Citation was: “For conspicuous gallantry...
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N.J. teachers, child care, transportation workers to become eligible for COVID vaccine, Murphy says By Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
New Jersey teachers, child care and transportation workers will be eligible starting March 15 for the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday morning. The governor, appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said it’s “an imperative” to have those people vaccinated and hinted he would provide additional details at his regular COVID-19 briefing in Trenton at 1 p.m. Murphy followed with a Tweet indicating the new group would includes “additional public safety workers.” “We’re phasing...
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Adverse Childhood Experiences: Inside NJ's Plan to Address a Perennial Harm
Last month New Jersey unveiled a unique action plan to help families and communities protect against and heal from the effects of adverse childhood experiences that can cause harm to individuals and families for generations. After a year of living under intense pandemic pressures, the need has likely never been so great. Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, impact four of ten youngsters in New Jersey across racial and economic lines according to a 2019 report . These traumas – such as...
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Trauma Informed Care
Trauma Informed Care Newsletter | Issue 4, February 2021 Do you remember your first job as a helper? Mine goes back more than 25 years when I was hired as a Treatment Foster Care therapist for Community Impact Programs in Racine, Wisconsin. Transforming Systems of Care: What's Going On in Racine County, Wisconsin By Tim Grove, Senior Consultant Do you remember your first job as a helper? Mine goes back more than 25 years when I was hired as a Treatment Foster Care therapist for Community...
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Breonna Taylor - One Year Later - No Accountability
Before Breonna Taylor's name became synonymous with police violence against Black Americans, she was an emergency medical technician in Louisville, Ky. The 26-year-old Black woman's friends and family say she was beloved, and relished the opportunity to brighten someone else's day. Exactly one year ago, Louisville police gunned her down in her home. Now, her name is a ubiquitous rallying cry at protests calling for police reforms, and many social justice advocates point to her story as an...
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Loretta Perfectus Walsh
FIRST FEMALE TO ENLIST IN THE U.S. NAVY. SIGNIFICANT DUTY STATIONS NAVAL SHIPYARD, PHILADELPHIA SIGNIFICANT AWARDS WORLD WAR I VICTORY MEDAL SERVICE MEMORIES FIRST FEMALE TO ENLIST IN THE NAVY The U.S. Naval Reserve Act of 1916 permitted the enlistment of qualified “persons” for service in the Navy. When the Secretary of the Navy asked whether this applied only to males and was told that it did not, the Navy began enlisting women less than a month later. Historical records reflect that on...
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Recy Taylor
Although it was very dangerous for African Americans to speak out against white people during the Jim Crow era, Recy Taylor refused to remain silent about sexual violence. She bravely testified against the group of white men that kidnapped and raped her. Decades later, her story has been told in both a book and a documentary film. Recy Taylor was born as Recy Corbitt on December 31, 1919. She grew up in Abbeville, Alabama to a sharecropping family. When she was 17 years old, her mother died...
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Advocates push for yearly screenings of NJ students for drugs, depression
Not many young students will volunteer information, unprompted, about feelings of depression or their recent experimentation with drugs. That's why advocates, school employees and lawmakers are pushing for regular screenings of students at the middle- and high-school levels, as long as their parents consent. With a caseload of 400 students, counselor Cristina Puri at Lincoln Park Middle School typically wouldn't end up seeing a troubled student until someone else sensed an issue or the...
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In the Child Welfare System, Black Families Should Matter
Steve Volk | NextCity.org Reimagining a foster care system that errs on the side of protecting children, but disproportionately investigates and punishes Black families more for economic hardship than harm. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part One of a two-part series in the “Our Kids” reporting project. Our Kids is a project of the Broke in Philly reporting collaborative that examines the challenges and opportunities facing Philadelphia’s foster care system. (See also Part Two, “Can Racial Bias Be...
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Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM)
April is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). Currently, the Division on Women (DOW) supports statewide community-level primary prevention efforts to prevent sexual violence. To advance these efforts, we work with non-traditional partners and consider them as experts in their own lives and community pillars for change . We believe that impactful primary prevention efforts begin with community engagement and providing tools to communities so they can empower themselves. As such, our...
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Federal Grant Opportunities
Environmental Regulatory Enhancement The Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Native Americans announces the availability of Fiscal Year 2021 funds for community-based projects for the Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE) program. The ERE program provides funding for the costs of planning, developing, and implementing programs designed to improve the capability of tribal governing bodies to regulate environmental quality pursuant to federal and tribal...
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Today is Denim Day - Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Denim Day, established in 1999, is a campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign began after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped the person who raped her remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. This...
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Marking National Mental Health Awareness Month, Governor Murphy Signs Legislation to Cover Expenses for Adolescent Mental Health Screenings
TRENTON – In advance of National Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Governor Phil Murphy today signed A3548 into law, which will require private insurers, the State Health Benefit Plan, and School Employees' Health Benefits Program to put into place policies and procedures to ensure coverage of expenses in mental health screening of a major depressive disorder for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18. “The effects and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has put the mental health of...
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Mental Health Awareness Events in NJ 2021
Monday, May 17 – NAMI NYC-Metro invites you to their free online event: Family & COVID – No One Said It Would Be Easy. A conversation about families, lock-down, and mental health, focused on how families can support and have supported each other, how communities and workplaces factor in, and where we go from here. Presented by María Bautista, LCSW, and Pam Berman, Chief Talent Officer at Publicis Health on family relationships, COVID-19, and mental health. At 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Register...
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is celebrated annually in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots, and works to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) Americans. In June of 1969, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City staged an uprising to resist the police harassment and persecution to which LGBT Americans were commonly subjected. This uprising marks the beginning...
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Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope
In honor of National Foster Care Month, National Reunification Month and the League’s continuing mission to bring advocacy to young people within and who have aged out of the foster care system, the Junior League of Montclair Newark, in partnership with New Jersey's Office of Resilience, proudly present a virtual screening of the highly acclaimed documentary: Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope Researchers recently discovered a dangerous biological syndrome caused by...
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Think you know something about historical trauma? PACEs Connection's 'Historical Trauma in America' series promises to be an eye-opener
Per: Jane Stevens , PACEs Connection staff. The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 unleashed hundreds of articles, books, podcasts, film and online documentaries. It’s not that the roots of racism and inequity in historical trauma hadn’t been known about or written about previous to his death (Frederick Douglas, James Baldwin, anyone?), but the pressures of hundreds of years of injustice began a near explosive untangling from the massive twisted and angry knot they’d formed over generations.
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PACEs Champion Dwana Young navigates community-driven ACEs healing centers in New Jersey
In 2020, New Jersey, a state with about 9 million people spread over the rural countryside and dense urban areas like Newark, launched a new entity: the NJ Office of Resilience (NJOR). The NJOR is unusual because it is a public-private partnership. It brings together three private foundations as well as the NJ Department of Children and Families to provide community-driven strategies for preventing, treating, and healing from ACEs. Like a ship’s navigator laying out a course on charts, Dwana...
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Finding Peace in the Midst of Brokenness: Anonymous Blogger
In honor of mental health month I ask myself this question: What is something you need to start saying “yes” to? To most individuals the answer is very simple; minute. Unfortunately for an over thinker and self-doubter like I this is a loaded questions which constitutes a complex answer. My old self wants to run as fast as I can and hide until the question goes away, but the new me is ready to face it head on. So here it goes. I need to start saying yes to MYSELF! Over the past few months,...
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2021 National Community Leadership Summit - Virtual
We invite you to join us for the 2021 National Community Leadership Summit , hosted by Vital Village Networks. We seek to connect with and learn alongside a national assembly of visionary and collaborative leaders, like you, who are dedicated to the fundamental social transformation necessary to ensure that all children succeed and that families are welcomed as partners and change agents. The summit features two signature conference days, on Monday, October 18th, and Friday, October 22nd,...
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Bolstering Police-Youth Trust Program
PUBLIC NOTICE LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Notice of Availability of Funds Bolstering Police-Youth Trust Program Take notice that, in compliance with N.J.S.A. 52:14-34.4, the Department of Law and Public Safety (DLPS), Office of the Attorney General announces the anticipated availability of the following grant program funds: a) Name of the Program: Bolstering Police-Youth Trust Program. This program is supported by the Federal Fiscal Year 2020 (FFY20) Edward Byrne...
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Suicide Prevention Resources
Experts agree that the best way to prevent suicide is to talk about it, but people are often afraid to bring it up. Stigma plays a big role in our reluctance, but it’s also scary to acknowledge that someone you love might be feeling suicidal. People are understandably afraid of saying the wrong thing, too. In recognition of Suicide Prevention Awareness month, this week on childmind.org we share resources for families worried about suicide. Teenagers are notoriously prickly and teenagers...
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Educators share strategies to help students, staff heal from pandemic trauma
The stress, fear, grief and loneliness of the pandemic has weighed hard on school-aged children. Some 31 % of parents reported worsening emotional health among their children, according to a report by the JED Foundation . In addition, there was a 31% jump in mental health emergency room visits for teens between 12 and 17 from 2019 to 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . And it’s little wonder. At least 43,000 children have lost a parent to COVID,...
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National Hispanic American Heritage Month
We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic American champions who have inspired others to achieve success. Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President...
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New Jersey Hispanic Heritage Month Happenings
Dowdell Library On Sept. 27 , Dowdell Library will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Marcia Mercado by reading stories in Spanish and English, listening and dancing to traditional music and making crafts, including a Frida Kahlo mural created by the community. The online catalog makes it easy to search for resources focused on Hispanic history and lived experience. Jersey City Library The library will be honoring one of its own: Hugo Morales , an Ecuadorian-born artist who tragically...
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New Jersey News
NJ Sees Uptick In Calls About Kids Mental Health Due To Pandemic Alexis Tarrazi | Patch.com NEW JERSEY — "It is OK, not to be OK," Governor Phil Murphy stressed on Wednesday as he reported the state is receiving an uptick in calls from New Jersey parents concerned about mental health issues in their children associated with the COVID pandemic and returning to school. "We know that numerous children and families continue to live under tremendous stress caused by the past 19 months," said...
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National Coming Out Day - 10/11/2021
LGBTQ community members to 'celebrate who we are' with equality, love and healing in NJ New Jersey's LGBTQ+ Pride parade and festival isn't happening this year. But there is still be plenty of equality, love and healing to be found on the calendar this month. Event producers Jersey Pride announced in September that their 30th annual Asbury Park parade and celebration — canceled in 2021 and then planned for Sunday, Oct. 10 — has been postponed until June 5, 2022, due to COVID-19 concerns. But...
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October is Domestic Violence Awareness
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and while the unfortunate truth is that domestic violence occurs all year-round, this month offers us the opportunity to continue to engage others about the social, emotional and economic impact domestic violence has on individuals, families and communities. On Thursday, October 21 st , we’ll be raising awareness by wearing PURPLE , the color that represents support for domestic violence victims and survivors. Resources can be found here DCF...
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'Pandemic of mental health': Calls to children's hotline increase, especially before school hours
Mary Ann Koruth | NorthJersey.com Calls for help to the New Jersey children's mental health hotline have increased compared to last year as parents seek help, especially during the morning hours, said the Department for Children and Families (DFC) commissioner. The overall call volume to the Children's System of Care increased, with the most calls coming from parents as their children experience stress before school hours, Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer said during a state COVID...
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Lunar Year 2022
Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations of the year among East and Southeast Asian cultures, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean communities, among others. The New Year celebration is usually celebrated for multiple days—not just one day as in the Gregorian calendar’s New Year. In 2022, Lunar New Year begins on February 1. China’s Lunar New Year is known as the Spring Festival or Chūnjié in Mandarin, while Koreans call it Seollal and Vietnamese refer to it as Tết. Tied...
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A BLACK HISTORY MONTH CONVERSATION: WHAT IS CRITICAL RACE THEORY?
THURSDAY FEB. 17, 2022 6:30PM - 7:45PM Community Building Coalition invites you to a virtual discussion on Critical Race Theory by Dr. Delores Jones Brown, the founding director of the John Jay College on Race, Crime and Justice and co-editor of African Americans in Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia. REGISTER HERE
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Black Heroes and Inventors [libertywritersglobal.com]
Click here for cover photo credit Remembering The Historic Black Miami Community Destroyed To Build A Whites-Only School At least 200 Black towns and communities had been formed across the United States by 1888. According to a Washington Post article, several of these towns were modeled after Black communities founded during the American Revolution and during the antebellum period, which lasted from the late 1700s until 1860. Some settlements vanished completely as time passed. Others were...
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Happy Holi
Holi, also known as the festival of colours, is a religious occasion celebrated with much pomp. It is considered the second biggest Hindu festival after Diwali, and the celebrations last for two days - Choti Holi or Holika Dahan and Dhulandi or Rangwali Holi . It marks the celebration of the victory of good over evil. The festival falls in the Hindu calendar month of Phalgun, which usually falls between February and March. On this day, people play with colours, water, flowers and more,...
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Happy Arab-American Heritage Month
From: https://libguides.nhcgov.com/ArabAmericanHeritageMonth National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM) takes place in April and celebrates the Arab-American heritage and culture and pays tribute to the contributions of Arab-Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans. The Arab America Foundation launched the National Arab American Heritage Month initiative in 2017, with just a handful of states recognizing the initiative. Each year, the grass-roots network grows. Below are some points of...