Tagged With "Anti-poverty"
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To Zoe’s Mom: I See You
I am not even sure where to start. But, I know I need to write about this. I need to give this to the world. Perhaps to another mother who is facing the darkness and can’t see her way out. Perhaps she is watching her children caught in the cyclone that is her life. I think she is who I am writing this for. And maybe for me too. I am doing some amazing work with a community that is fast becoming dear to my heart. I look at the people who keep showing up that are trying to wrap their heads...
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The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Where to begin... My heart is full of hope and joy as I watch the trauma-informed schools movement swell across our nation and planet. The science of ACEs is mind-bending to say the least and we are now able to open up a much deeper dialogue about human behavior and health. Ultimately this work is about healing… All. Of. Us. A new consciousness is taking root around ending the “us vs them” construct. The idea is growing that we’re all on this journey together and that no matter where our...
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The Beautiful Darkness: A Handbook for Orphans
I became a professional reader long before I was a writer when I was living in homeless shelters, subsidized housing, and welfare hotels with my mother in New York City. Most of the middle class and affluent black folks I would come to know in the future would wince and give me a look I couldn’t read when I would tell the story that I outline in my new memoir, The Beautiful Darkness: A Handbook for Orphans . All some intolerant, ignorant bigots need is to continue to hear about the...
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Rwanda's Plan to Reduce Poverty by Harnessing Father's Love [qz.com]
By Annabelle Timsit, Quartz Africa, October 8, 2019 Like many three-and-a-half year olds, Odille Igirimbabazi loves to sing and dance. On a recent morning in her home, wearing her favorite blue and yellow dress and clutching a doll that her dad, James, made for her, she sings religious songs and sways energetically as James watches, claps, and smiles, tapping his feet. When she finishes, he scoops her up into his arms to tell her how proud he is. “Bravo!” If this seems a common family scene,...
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Progress Stalls on Child Poverty, According to New Data [datacenter.kidscount.org]
By Kids Count Data Center, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, September 27, 2019 In 2018, 13 million children in the United States — 18% of all kids — were living in poverty, and for the first time since 2014, the percentage did not decrease compared to the previous year. This is discouraging news; all children should have the economic security that provides them the opportunity to thrive. However, the share of children in poverty remains significantly lower than its recent peak of 23%, seen in...
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Child poverty and education
Child poverty and education The National Education Union (NEU) has published a report looking at the extent to which poverty is damaging the educational opportunities for children from poor families. Findings from a snapshot survey of 908 NEU members including heads, teachers and school support staff working in England, Wales and Northern Ireland finds that: 87% of respondents said that poverty is having a significant impact on the learning of their pupils and students; and 60% believe that...
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Re: The Beautiful Darkness: A Handbook for Orphans
Thank you for posting this here, Joshunda. Now I must go check out your website!
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A Statement from the Center for Community Resilience
Being Anti-racist is the first step in taking steps to end racial trauma as an adverse childhood and adverse community experience. In the Building Community Resilience Networks and in the work of the Center for Community Resilience we are dedicated to confronting the root cause of racial trauma in our country and across the globe-- the belief in White supremacy that is empowered by structural racism to produce the outcome of White supremacy. This is the vicious cycle of American life. To...
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Transforming Trauma Podcast: Post-Traumatic Growth in Communities of Color and NARM in the Classroom
Transforming Trauma Episode 015: Post-Traumatic Growth in Communities of Color and NARM in the Classroom with Giancarlo Simpson Transforming Trauma host Sarah Buino and guest Giancarlo A. Simpson, MS, reconnect in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the nationwide protests against racial violence and systemic oppression, providing real-time context to their previously-recorded conversation about NARM’s ability to address complex trauma and support post-traumatic growth in communities of...
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Resources to Support Children's Emotional Well-Being Amid Anti-Black Racism, Racial Violence and Trauma [childtrends.org]
By Dominique Parris, Victor St. John, Jessica Dym Bartlett, Child Trends, June 23, 2020 Most Black children in the United States encounter racism in their daily lives. Ongoing individual and collective psychological or physical injuries due to exposure and re-exposure to race-based adversity, discrimination, and stress, referred to as racial trauma , is harmful to children’s development and well-being. Events that may cause racial trauma include threats of harm and injury, hate speech,...
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Federal Legislation would reduce poverty & fund caregiving
The Worker Relief and Credit Reform Act, WRCR HR5271, introduced by Reps Gwen Moore (WI) & Marcia Fudge (OH), would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to make it fully refundable and available to more people, including mothers and other unwaged primary caregivers, and get cash directly into mothers’ and families hands
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"How to talk policy and influence people": a special series of Law and Justice with Cissy White
In this extended "How to talk policy and influence people" interview with Christine "Cissy" White, a writer (see healwritenow.com), mom, trauma survivor (including child sexual abuse) and staff member of Aces Connection, we discuss the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science and the importance of attachment and a felt sense of safety for health and human flourishing. We explore some criticisms of the ACEs framework, the benefits and risks of ACEs screening and problems with the concept...
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Equity Talks videos for parents and educators
First Steps Kent seeks to dismantle structural racism and improve the outcomes for people of color. This video series, entitled Equity Talks , provides tools to guide future educators and parents when having discussions about race and bias. By offering this to higher education, we can bring lasting change. When we are intentional and willing to be a part of difficult conversations, we can imagine a more inclusive anti-racist, and anti-bias future. The videos are conversational more than...
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I Grew Up Poor. How Am I Supposed to Raise My Middle-Class Kids? (nytimes.com)
By Esau McCaulley , The New York Times, November 24, 2021 Every year on Thanksgiving, my children experience something I rarely did when I was growing up. They see their father, mother and siblings all gathered around a family meal with plenty of food to spare. It is so utterly normal to them that they do not even note it. Thanksgiving is just another day of warmth and security. I have many happy memories of the meals prepared by my single mother and my extended family during the holidays. I...
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“What Happened to You?” by Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey: a book that resonates with us in the PACEs world
What do PACEs Connection and “What Happened to You?”, the new book by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Perry, have in common? Almost everything. That’s my conclusion after I finished listening to the book on Audible and re-reading parts of it on Kindle. In the book, Winfrey, a w orld-class connector, journalist, entertainer, author, thought leader, actor, and philanthropist, teams up with her longtime friend Perry, a child psychiatrist, neuroscientist and principal of the neurosequential model of...
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How to Raise Kids Who Won’t Be Racist (NY Times)
If race is largely a social construct, then teaching children about it will only perpetuate racism — right? Wrong: Studies show precisely the opposite. Open conversations about race and racism can make white children less prejudiced and can increase the self-esteem of children of color. If states ban the teaching of critical race theory , as conservative lawmakers in many are attempting to do , or if schools don’t provide consistent education about racism and discrimination, it’s imperative...
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Parenting for Social Justice (ZERO TO THREE)
This resource collection from ZERO TO THREE provides ideas for parents who are wondering how to raise children who will stand up against racism and injustice. There are books that parents can share with their child to nurture identity, anti-racist resources for parents to read, and ideas for those who want to raise children in a more just and inclusive world. Click here to learn more!
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Anti-racist KidLit resources you need now from EmbraceRace
Please see below for book recommendations from EmbraceRace , which shared the following in a recent email: "We're sharing a few book resources because it's all too obvious that we need them today as much as ever. Books are one of many tools adults can use to raise kids who are thoughtful, informed and brave about race. But it takes more than simply reading the books with kids to do this work. These archived webinars and action guides are less about which specific books to read and more about...
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What I Want My Kids to Learn About American Racism [nytimes.com]
By Eboo Patel, Image by Arne Bellstorf, The New York Times, May 10, 2022 I first heard the phrase “white supremacy” in my introductory sociology course at the University of Illinois in 1993. The image of men wearing white sheets and burning crosses came to mind, and I figured my professor was referring to ancient history. But I remember her continuing: “White supremacy is the assumption that the cultural patterns associated with white people — from clothes to language to aesthetic...
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16 Ways to Help Children Become Thoughtful, Informed, and BRAVE About Race [embracerace.org]
Children begin very early in life taking in spoken and unspoken messages about race; it permeates nearly every aspect of life—in the books read to them and those they read, the movies they watch, the music they listen to, the conversations around them, and the relationships and interactions they observe. A resource developed by EmbraceRace seeks to equip parents and caregivers with useful tips they can use to help guide and shape their child's education and perception of race. 16 Ways to...
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The Implications of Family Stress from Household Poverty for Children's Development
“The insidious effects of childhood poverty disrupt nearly every aspect of child development. The Adaptation to Poverty-related Stress Model posits that one of the key mechanisms through which poverty disrupts healthy development is a combination of heightened exposure to poverty-related stress and reliance on specific coping strategies to manage stressors that may contribute directly to symptomologies….”
Calendar Event
EmbraceRace Early Childhood Summit 2022 [embracerace.org]
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A Little Money for Mothers Improves Babies' Brain Development
The on-going Baby’s First Years research ( https://www.babysfirstyears.com/ ) examines the impact on mothers and babies of modest cash gifts as a model of poverty reduction. It turns out that a little money goes a long way and affects the development of babies’ brains. “Early childhood poverty is a risk factor for lower school achievement, reduced earnings, and poorer health, and has been associated with differences in brain structure and function. Whether poverty causes differences in...
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How much would the NAS poverty reduction packages reduce referrals to CPS and foster care placements? Would they reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare? (nasonline.org).
Because of a collaboration with Columbia University and UW-Madison, we have answers to these questions. By Peter Peter Pecora, Casey Family Programs, March 17, 2023 - Overview The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently released a “ roadmap ” to reduce child poverty by as much as half through the implementation of a series of social policy packages. The aim of this study was to simulate the reductions in Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement and foster care placements that are...
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Re: How much would the NAS poverty reduction packages reduce referrals to CPS and foster care placements? Would they reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare? (nasonline.org).
Great to see more evidence that reducing poverty helps people. (And therefore helps us all while saving money in the long term.) The NAS report includes poverty reduction packages that have "work" requirements and others that do not have "work" requirements. Our grassroots nonprofit organization, Family and Home Network, has been thinking about family policy issues for decades (and working closely with allies). We call for the adoption of basic principles of inclusion in family policymaking.
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Anti-poverty Policies Can Help Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect.
Two recent research reports suggest that anti-poverty policies can help prevent child abuse and neglect. These policies include providing economic support to families challenged by job loss and more generous state policies that reduce food insufficiency.
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Anti-Oppressive Approaches to Addressing ACEs Associated with Parental Substance Use
“While it is helpful to know which populations need additional support to address ACEs and build resilience among children, it is even more important to know why higher risk conditions exist and to address root causes of inequities that increase the risk of ACEs.” (Camacho, S; Henderson, S.C. 2022). Over the past three decades, research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has gained widespread recognition, catalyzing policies and programs, and mobilizing knowledge focused on applying a...
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