Tagged With "Mind Matters"
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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.
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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...
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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...
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Crime and Punishment in America
This book--a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize--is for readers interested in the criminal justice system and how poverty, abuse, and neglect early in life shape our future citizens and can predict, in part, whether or not they will become the perpetrators of violent crime. According to author Elliott Currie, to prevent violent crime and create a more peaceful society, the first priority is to address the roots of violence and invest resources in the prevention of child abuse and neglect. He...
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Ella Baker Truth and Reinvestment Justice Teams underway in 8 CA Counties
There are various forms of emergency preparedness for natural disasters. From an early age, one learns how to put out a fire, board up their home if a hurricane or tornado is coming, or drop under a desk if an earthquake hits—but low-income communities of color have little to no response to more frequent incidences of state violence in the streets and inside of jails. The Justice Teams for Truth and Reinvestment will be the local rapid response networks inside of eight different counties...
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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.”
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"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...
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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,...
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L.A. Supervisors Demand Plan to Help “Crossover Kids,” Young People Failed by Two Juvenile Systems [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
We know that, statistically speaking, kids who spend time in Los Angeles County’s foster care system — or any foster care system, for that matter — have worse outcomes when they reach adulthood than youth who’ve never wound up in the child dependency system at all. Over the past few years, new California state laws that are sensitive to this problem, along with community-based programs and dedicated child advocates, have helped to ameliorate those bad stats to some degree. Yet there is...
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National Black parents take their kids to school on how to deal with police (www.washingtonpost.com)
This is a gut-wrenching quote. “I am faced with a situation that you really cannot speak about and manage as a parent, as you feel that you should as a citizen,” Tucker said. Keith Pemberton, a social worker from High Point, N.C., is a member of Omega Psi Phi — a historically black fraternity with more than 700 chapters worldwide — and the father of three boys, ages 11, 8 and 6. “My wife and I really want to build into them a sense of possibility, of purpose. So, it is beyond disheartening...
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Part 1 (of 3) Do you want an answer to ACEs?
I am sitting on it. Really. Not just me, but a corps of some 5000 people around the world. We have been fostering recovery from ACEs and Trauma for over 40 years – long before the ACEs study developed the term. We have served over half a million people worldwide – but almost no one knows we are here. Like you, many of us have been angry and frustrated that it has taken decision makers and policy setters over 20 years to learn about ACEs and incorporate trauma informed care into practice and...
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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...
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States That Raise the Age See Less Recidivism, Cost Savings, JPI Report Says [JJIE.org]
More states are getting rid of laws that automatically bump teenagers from juvenile courts when they reach a certain age, abandoning a model of punishment proven to be expensive, ineffective and not flexible enough to improve outcomes for offenders or society, a new study says. The Justice Policy Institute focused on national trends and on what it called positive results in states that have most vigorously adopted policies designed to help teenagers and not send them to adult prisons.
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Stopping School Pushout for: Girls Involved in the Juvenile Justice System (nwlc.org)
Girls are the fastest growing population in the juvenile justice (JJ) system, with girls of color, LGBT and gender nonconforming youth, and girls with disabilities being overrepresented relative to school enrollment or share of the overall population. For instance, Black girls make up 15 percent of girls enrolled in public schools but 30.8 percent of girls in juvenile justice center schools. Girls who enter the juvenile justice system are likely to have suffered sexual abuse, violence, and...
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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...
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Policymakers, Time To End Juvenile Life Sentencing [jjie.org]
By Buta Biberaj, Carol Siemon, and Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, October 12, 2020 A viral video in August showed an 8-year-old boy being arrested at his elementary school in handcuffs that slid off his tiny wrists. A police officer can be heard telling the child, “You’re going to jail.” Sadly, this is just the latest disturbing example of the uniquely American phenomenon of vilifying and overpolicing our nation’s children. America incarcerates more people under...
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New Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager (English & Spanish!)
English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance have co-created a newly developed resource, “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe...
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Mississippi judiciary trains on the power of hope, inspiring Youth Courts judges and staff
Dr. Chan Hellman, leading researcher in the power of hope to improve lives of impoverished children and families who have experienced abuse and neglect, Justice Dawn Beam, and Christopher Freeze, co-chair of Mississippi ACEs Connection , on day three of presentations by Hellman to judges and staff members of Mississippi's Youth Courts. “Hope is a better predictor of college success than the ACT or the SAT score” was one of the startling comments made by Chan Hellman, Ph.D., in the first of...
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(At Least) 10 Things Educators Can Do to End the Prison Industrial Complex (edliberation.org)
Education for Liberation requires bold critique, creative acts, and, particularly for teachers, a willingness to take risks outside the status quo. Below we offer suggestions based on the ways many teachers and other youth advocates are building the capacity to challenge the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). We know teachers are already practicing, generating and sharing other interventions. This is not a checklist of must-dos, nor is it an exhaustive list or intended to apply to every...
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Los Angeles County Supervisors Approve Therapeutic Approaches to Youth Detention [imprintnews.org]
By Jeremy Loudenbeck, The Imprint, September 15, 2021 Citing the need for “repair and healing,” members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to expand therapeutic approaches to juvenile detention Wednesday, calling on department officials to create plans for mentorships with formerly incarcerated adults, restorative justice programs and more time outdoors. The unanimously approved plan presented by Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Sheila Kuehl also directs county officials to...
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These California Moms Demand Treatment, Not Torture (forbes.com)
#MomsAgainstTorture is a movement led by Gina Burns, Cheryl Canson and other mothers of vulnerable Californians who were incarcerated even though they were not restored to competence after being deemed incompetent to stand trial. In this conversation, they share the purpose and aims of their movement. Amanda Nguyen: How did you get started in this work? Gina Burns and Cheryl Canson: As a matter of survival. The impacted Black and Indigenous moms who founded #MomsAgainstTorture have been...
Member
Chuck Smith
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Free Webinar: Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience: Theories and Practices that Work!
The University of Louisville, Center for Family and Community Wellbeing study found that Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Increasing Resilience significantly reduced Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms and increased trauma coping skills. What makes Mind Matters so effective? In this webinar author Carolyn Curtis reviews the research behind Mind Matters’ effectiveness. She discusses the program’s theory of change as well as the individual lessons that bring results. Objectives: Participants...
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Fall Course Registration Now Open!
Announcing upcoming courses for educators! Kick of your school year with Trauma-Informed Education or Supporting Marginalized Students!
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“Caring for our own” theme emerges at May Meeting of North Carolina Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs Informed Courts
Ben David, co-chair of the North Carolina Chief Justice's Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts, shares plans to sustain the work done during the two-year term of the Task Force, to "care for our own" speaking of North Carolina's children, youth, families, communities, victims of crimes, members of law enforcement, the judiciary and court officers and staffers. He also shared Chief Justice Paul Newby's hopes of "getting ACEs-informed courts" into the culture, and said a national conference for...
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“Going Way Upstream” - Panelists at Resilient Pender County Conference report on current trauma prevention and healing efforts; look to future
Amy Read of Coastal Horizons introduces the panel following a viewing of "Resilience: The Biology of Stress, The Science of Hope", at the Pender Resiliency Task Force Mini Conference Thursday, June 8 ,at Heide Trask High School in Rocky Point. A "dream team" of subject-matter expert panelists (L-R) were Ryan Estes of Coastal Horizons, Ben David, district attorney for Pender and New Hanover counties, Judge J. H. Corpening, district court judge for New Hanover and Pender counties, Taylor...
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“Caring for our own” theme emerges at May Meeting of North Carolina Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts
Ben David, co-chair of the North Carolina Chief Justice's Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts, shares plans to sustain the work done during the two-year term of the Task Force, to "care for our own" speaking of North Carolina's children, youth, families, communities, victims of crimes, members of law enforcement, the judiciary and court officers and staffers. He also shared Chief Justice Paul Newby's hopes of "getting ACEs-informed courts" into the culture, and said a national conference for...
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Early Relational Health Innovators Partner In Program Supported by PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities Members in Twelve California Counties
Christina Bethell, Ph.D, MBA, MPH, founder of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), principal author of the groundbreaking study on positive childhood experiences, and creator of the free Well Visit Planner, among other innovations. Two internationally-respected leaders and innovators in complementary aspects of early relational health and childhood and maternal health equity recently launched a partnership they believe will benefit everyone from newborn babies and...
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New resource for caregivers who have been incarcerated [positiveexperience.org/blog]
By Laura Gallant, 4/8/24, https://positiveexperience.org/blog/ This new Four Building Blocks of HOPE resource was developed in partnership with and tailored specifically for caregivers who have experienced or are still experiencing incarceration. In recognition of the unique challenges faced by this community, this fact sheet offers practical strategies on how to access the Four Building Blocks of HOPE for families impacted by incarceration. From fostering relationships to creating nurturing...