Tagged With "Trauma Brain"
Blog Post
Trump Will Appoint Caren Harp to Lead Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (socialjusticesolutions.org)
President Trump announced his intention to appoint former Arkansas prosecutor Caren Harp to serve as administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the division of the Justice Department that oversees federal funding and standards related to juvenile justice. Harp has been an ardent supporter of the community prosecution model, which eschews adjudication as an end goal. According to Harp’s own work on the issue , community prosecution is defined by three things:...
Blog Post
Two New Grant Opportunities for Youth Development and Diversion Services
In 2019, more than $40 million will become available to fund community-based, culturally rooted, trauma-informed services for youth in California as alternatives to arrest and incarceration. Thousands of California youth are arrested every year for low-level offenses. Youth who are arrested or incarcerated for low-level offenses are less likely to graduate high school, more likely to suffer negative health-outcomes, and more likely to have later contact with the justice system.
Calendar Event
2018 National Conference on Juvenile Justice (San Diego)
Blog Post
7 Investigates: Adverse Childhood Experiences [WSAW 7]
(WSAW) -- "I grew up in a kind of stair step with some of my cousins,” Shannon Young said, “and if we were growing up now, all of us at some level would have been labeled at risk," “At risk,” is a term Young, the principal of Enrich Excel Achieve (EEA) Learning Academy in Wausau said she does not like because all teens are prone to be more impulsive and at risk of making more mistakes. But she uses that term now to refer to some adverse childhood experiences in her past. "When I was 9, I had...
Blog Post
7 Ways to Help a Child Deal with Traumatic Stress
Traumatic stress feels awful. Thankfully, there are small things we can all do to help relax a hyperaroused nervous system.
Blog Post
A Trauma Primer for Juvenile Probation and Juvenile Detention Staff
A Trauma Primer for Juvenile Probation and Juvenile Detention Staff August 12, 2015 Juvenile justice probation and detention workers play an important role in helping system-involved youth and families navigate justice and social service...
Blog Post
Balancing science with justice for violent teens [Tennessean.com]
As research emerges about the impact of trauma on a child’s developing brain, state leaders are grappling with the thorny problem of how to balance science with justice when dealing with violent and criminal teens. The development issues are commonly referred to as “adverse childhood experiences” – and they impact just about every public entity that encounters children – from public schools to the Department of Children’s Services to hospitals and the criminal justice system. Lawmakers this...
Blog Post
Beyond Paper Tigers is Back!
Back for the second year, Beyond Paper Tigers conference will take place June 28th and 29th in Walla Walla, WA. Featuring Dr. Ken Ginsburg from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as the keynote speaker, BPT builds on the story of one community and how they've learned that embracing trauma-informed care and implementing ACEs science truly takes a village. Operationalizing the latest in brain science, BPT will provide concrete strategies for intervention with youth, families, and communities...
Blog Post
Burnout Risk for In-Prison Educators Could Jeopardize Programs for Incarcerated Students
Sustaining Futures will strengthen education programs for incarcerated individuals by training California Community College faculty and staff on trauma and resilience.
Blog Post
Charging Youth as Adults has Public Health Impact, Report Says (socialjusticesolutions.org) 56 page report
Advocates in California say that for too long the hazardous health consequences of incarcerating juveniles in the state’s justice system have been obscured by overly punitive rhetoric around public safety. The authors describe a court process that offers few opportunities for youth to deal with childhood trauma that often leads to involvement with the justice system. When it comes to transfers of youth to the adult system, racial disparities are widespread . As a result, they say, high rates...
Blog Post
Chat Live with Sebern Fisher on ACEs Connection
"Evidence with neurofeedback suggests that trauma-informed treatment should also be brain-informed treatment- and not just to know that the brain is an issue, but to work with it directly.” Sebern Fisher, Neuofeedback in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma: Calming the Fear-Driven Brain. Neurofeedback for ACEs: Chat with Sebern Fisher Oct. 10th (10 AM PST / 1 PM EST) Chats are live, online discussions - not webinars. We gather and connect, via chat messaging to share stories, resources,...
Blog Post
Childhood Trauma and Its Effects: Implications for Police
This is important information regarding childhood trauma and policing. Includes reference for:
Blog Post
Column: I Went Through the Juvenile Justice System. It Isn't Working [qctimes.com]
By Jeff Wallace, Quad-City Times, February 2, 2020 Juvenile crime is at an all-time high in the Quad-Cities. Unfortunately, however, how juvenile crime is handled in the Quad-Cities isn’t the most proactive and solution-focused. Juvenile justice often focuses on juveniles after they have committed crimes rather than providing an intervention before the crime is ever committed. In our community, we know that poverty, trauma and lack of resources are high indicators of whether a youngster will...
Blog Post
Disrupting the "pipeline to prison" . . . better understand the impact of historical and trans-generational trauma
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/02/how-to-challenge-the-school-to-prison-pipeline/ There is an abundance of research that has been focusing on the "pipeline to prison" pathway. Policymakers need a clearer understanding of how historical and cultural trauma directly impacts generations of indigenous communities. I applaud Senator Dela Cruz as he is a champion for the cause, but we need more lawmakers to understand that we need to travel "further upstream" of ACEs to address the impact of toxic...
Blog Post
Donna Jackson Nakazawa Chats Live with Jane Stevens & You: Nov. 14th
Featured Guest: @Donna Jackson Nakazawa Topic: Well-Being, Self-Care & ACEs Date: November 14th, 2017 Time: 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST Where: Here / Chats Donna Jackson Nakazawa is an winning researcher, writer and public speaker on health and family issues. She explores the intersection between neuroscience, immunology, and the deepest inner workings of the human heart. Her most recent book, Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal , examines...
Blog Post
Effort to Reduce School-Based Arrests Benefits Nearly 15,000 Additional Students This Year in Connecticut (cmhnetwork.org)
Eighteen Connecticut schools in six districts are participating in the Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) during the 2016-17 school year bringing the total number of schools served by SBDI to 37. SBDI is a school level intervention designed to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system by connecting students to community-based mental health services as an alternative to arrest. Among schools participating since 2010, the average reduction in court referrals...
Blog Post
From Trauma-Informed to Asset-Informed Care in Early Childhood [brookings.edu]
By Ellen Galinsky, Brookings Institute, October 23, 2019 The focus on “toxic stress,” ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), and trauma-informed care have been game-changers in the field of early childhood development. They have helped us recognize the symptoms of trauma, provide appropriate assistance to children, and understand that prolonged adversity in the absence of nurturing relationships can derail a child’s healthy development. Just look at the media’s and the public’s reaction to...
Blog Post
GENDER & TRAUMA Somatic Interventions for Girls in Juvenile Justice: Implications for Policy and Practice (40 pages - Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality)
The impact of gender on the experience of trauma is less widely discussed, though it is significant in scope. In multiple studies, girls have reported higher rates of adverse childhood experiences than boys in all categories, especially girls in the juvenile justice system. Girls report sexual abuse at particularly disproportionate levels and are more likely than boys to experience such violence within intimate relationships. Girls are also at greater risk of developing negative mental...
Blog Post
Graduations, non-linear paths, & the importance of getting started
With graduation season upon us, I have been thinking a lot about one of my favorite graduation speeches. It’s the speech that Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy, gave in 2014 at Dartmouth College. She references the typical expected advice from a graduation speech: “Follow your dreams. Listen to your spirit. Change the world. Make your mark. Find your inner voice and make it sing. Embrace failure. Dream. Dream and dream big. .." And then she says, “I think that’s crap.”
Blog Post
Holding Evil Accountable
When I worked in juvenile probation there were times youth were labeled with the diagnosis BAD. They were just bad kids. There are even maximum security juvenile detention centers for kids with the BAD diagnosis. Kids who seem to have been born evil. As a criminal justice academician, I have read details of some of the most hideous crimes ever committed. I have a PhD in criminal justice. Currently I teach criminal justice to undergraduate students eager to begin their careers in...
Blog Post
How Trauma Impairs Brain Function (The Best Possible Brain)
By Debbie Hampton, May 27, 2018, for The Best Brain Possible Trauma can actually alter the function of your brain during the stressful event and result in lasting changes in certain brain regions. These changes can impair cognitive function and memory encoding and recall at the moment and in the future. Recent neuroscientific findings in this area have real implications for the victims of crime and the legal system. The science of epigenetics is even showing that the effects of trauma can be...
Blog Post
Is There Any Correcting Going On in "Correction" Facilities For Juveniles?
Tear Down the Juvenile Jails; They Make Bad Situations Worse [JJIE.org] By: Judge Steven Teske| July 10, 2017 Summary and Analysis by: Julius Patterson| July 30, 2017 This article really hits home for me. Judge Steven Teske talks about how Juvenile prisons need to be torn down. This article also focuses on how there’s a difference between being unruly and being a criminal. Jail is not always the answer for these young men and women. Statistics show that youth that have been incarcerated are...
Blog Post
"Justice and Recovery" (2017) Pathways RTC
FOCAL POINT IS PRODUCED BY THE PATHWAYS RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTER (RTC) AT PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY IN PORTLAND, OREGON Research demonstrates that the prevalence of mental health conditions among justice system involved youth is alarmingly high, coupled with a strong likelihood of multiple traumatic exposures. Unfortunately, while the need for appropriate and timely treatment is acute, the juvenile justice system seems challenged in meeting it. The authors of this issue of Focal Point...
Blog Post
Juvenile Justice Reform - FrameWorks MessageMemo
This MessageMemo presents the Strategic Frame Analysis® that the FrameWorks Institute and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice conducted on behalf of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Tis analysis synthesizes existing research generously sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Rosenberg Foundation. It also draws upon FrameWorks’ decade-long investigation of children’s issues conducted largely in partnership with the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University,...
Blog Post
Meet the ‘Monsters:’ Documentary Looks at California Juvenile Debate [JJIE.org]
One’s kicking himself over an unrequited lifelong crush. One dreams of being a Navy SEAL. Another leads you on a mocking tour of his new home. They’d seem like typical teenage boys — if they weren’t awaiting trial for violent crimes. Juan Gamez, Antonio Hernandez and Jarad Nava are the youthful offenders at the heart of “ They Call Us Monsters ,” a new documentary that follows their lives in a Los Angeles juvenile detention center. They’re held in a special wing of the lockup reserved for...
Blog Post
Mental Health in Criminal Justice Resources
7 Common Characteristics of Juvenile Mental Health Courts Source: Gains Center, SAMHSA Description: Identifies seven common characteristics of Juvenile Mental Health Courts (JMHCs) as part of a National Institute of Justice – funded study,...
Blog Post
Positive Relationships Can Buffer Childhood Trauma and Toxic Stress, Researchers Say [bostonglobe.com]
By Kay Lazar, The Boston Globe, October 15, 2019 Traumatic events and toxic relationships during childhood can cast long shadows, often damaging mental health well into adulthood. But a growing body of research suggests sustained, positive relationships with caring adults can help mitigate the harmful effects of childhood trauma. And specialists say pediatricians, social workers, and others who work with kids should take steps to monitor and encourage those healthy relationships — just as...
Blog Post
Real Resilience is now a PODCAST
Women who support an incarcerated loved one finally has a place to share their stories on the Real Resilience P.W.L. Podcast.
Blog Post
Research Says Juveniles Need Their Own Miranda Rights [governing.com]
Anyone who’s watched a cop show on television in recent decades has a decent understanding -- or at least a memory -- of the rights accorded to those arrested: the right to an attorney, the right to remain silent and all the other protections given to the accused over the past half-century, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona. But juvenile offenders often don’t have a clear understanding of what those rights entail. Back in 2013, the American Academy of...
Blog Post
San Francisco cops go back to school to better understand teens (sfchronicle.com)
Seven teens loitered in a San Francisco park, and before long two police officers shuffled over and started grilling them. “Get over here,” a female officer yelled. “Sit your ass down.” Five of the kids stared at the officer with wide eyes and promptly planted themselves on the ground. Two others crossed their arms and ignored the officer’s commands. Suddenly, the officer burst out laughing and hugged the flustered kids. “Sorry,” she said, “sorry!” This was the first role playing exercise of...
Blog Post
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) speaks out about Community Violence and Introduces TIC Bill [chicagodefender.com]
It is noteworthy that in his press conference to introduce his new bill, The Trauma Informed Care for Children and Families Act, Senator Durbin (D-IL) speaks out about the impact of community violence. “As we work to address the root causes of violence, we need to focus on the impact that community violence and other traumatic experiences have on Chicago’s children,” said Durbin. “During a visit to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center last year, I learned that more than 90 percent of...
Blog Post
Shifting Gears on Juvenile Justice: FrameWorks Communications Toolkit
A collection of framing research, recommendations, and sample communications. This toolkit is designed to help reformers and advocates in the juvenile justice field increase public understanding of: * the science of adolescent development and the need to incorporate a developmental perspective into criminal justice policies designed for youth; * why the current approaches to juvenile crime aren’t working; * age-appropriate treatments and interventions that improve outcomes for those already...
Blog Post
Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
Blog Post
The Effects of Adolescent Development on Policing
This resource brief from the International Association of Chiefs of Police provides law enforcement with an overview of adolescent brain development, the impact on youth/police communications, strategies to improve law enforcement interactions...
Blog Post
The Importance of Connection | Alissa R. Ackerman | TEDxCSULB (www.YouTube.com) & Commentary
Cissy's note: The TedTalk below is given by one of my good friends, Alissa. When she first told me about the restorative justice work she was doing with Dr. Jill Levenson, speaking with convicted of sexual offending, where she shared about her experiences as a survivor of sexual assault, (aka, without her "professional shield," as she says), I was concerned. Was it safe, wise, and helpful? What would the impact be on her? Part of me felt that it's not the place of survivors to help...
Blog Post
The Road to Adulthood: Aligning Child Welfare Practice With Adolescent Brain Development
In 2011, the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative launched Success Beyond 18, a campaign to raise the age of foster care to 21 nationwide while making the foster care system better and more supportive of adolescents and emerging adults. The campaign began with the publication of a summary of n ew research on the remarkable period of brain development that occurs during adolescence and young adulthood , and the opportunity of that developmental period to help young people who have been in...
Blog Post
The U.S. prison system can harm young brains, scientist warns (sciencenewsforstudents.org)
A teen’s brain does not magically mature into its adult form the night before someone’s 18th birthday. In fact, brain development will continue into a person’s 20s . This neural fine-tuning has serious implications for young people caught in the U.S. justice system, argues neuroscientist B.J. Casey. The violence, stress and isolation that come from being in prison all have an effect. Other recent stories of immigrant children separated from their families and held in U.S. detention centers...