Tagged With "Central Florida"
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Florida will require mental health education for students in sixth grade and above (CNN)
By Lauren M. Johnson , CNN July 18, 2019 Florida will become the third state in the US to require students to learn more about mental health, behind Virginia and New York. The Florida State Board of Education voted on Wednesday to require public schools to provide students in grades six and above a minimum of five hours of mental health education annually. The announcement comes as studies reveal more about how screen time and social media impacts teenagers mentally. According to the...
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Former Youth Corrections Officials: We Want to Help Close Youth Prisons [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
A juvenile detention facility in Alabama. Photo: Rob Carr/ The Nation It’s time to close this nation’s youth prisons. They don’t serve their purpose: keeping our neighborhoods safe and helping young people turn their lives around. They fail to fulfill this core mission despite costing $150,000 per youth per year. In New York State, starting in 2008, we closed 26 juvenile jails. This came after Human Rights Watch and the ACLU, the state Inspector General , and the United States Department of...
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Free 2-Day Course on Community Resiliency Model
August 15-16, 2019 , 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Valencia College School of Public Safety 8600 Valencia College Lane, Room 149 Orlando, Fl., 32825 NO COST Registration Link: https://web.spcollege.edu/survey/28951 The Community Resiliency Model® (CRM) introduces participants to six wellness skills to help create “trauma-informed” and “resiliency-informed” individuals and communities that share a common understanding of the impact of trauma and chronic stress on the nervous system. Resiliency can be...
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Highlights from Resilience Screening & Workshop for First Responders
On October 11th, nearly 100 people gathered at Valencia's School of Public Safety in Orlando, FL for a workshop and screening of the documentary film Resilience. This event was largely attended by individuals in the public safety sector and was a partnership between the Peace and Justice Institute and the School of Public Safety at Valencia College. Dr. Jeffrey Goltz, Executive Dean at Valencia's School of Public Safety shared this message following the event: The School of Public Safety...
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Hope for the Opioid Crisis--Community Meeting
The Central Florida community continues to look for solutions to the ongoing opioid crisis. Join Project Opioid's leadership team as we convene business and faith leaders from across Central Florida to learn how they can make a difference and help stop the opioid crisis. Registration Link: https://hope-for-the-opioid-crisis.eventbrite.com/ With special guests: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis At this free event, you will learn about: The current status of...
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Hurricane Michael: Children Face Stress Of Upended Lives [health.wusf.usf.edu]
When Tiffany Harris and her two children emerged from their hotel after Hurricane Michael roared past, her 3-year-old son pointed to a sea of fallen trees and shattered buildings. "It's broken. It's broken, Mommy, fix it," she recalls her little boy Amari begging. Harris, who lives with her boyfriend, two children, plus her sister and her four children near Panama City, soon learned their town house was uninhabitable. Everything was a total loss after Michael powered inland across the...
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Invitation to Join Common Read Group
Valencia’s Peace and Justice Institute has started a common read Facebook group to focus on books related to the theme of the most recent conference Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing . We are starting with Nadine Burke Harris' book, The Deepest Well. We hope you and members from your organization, family, or community will join in the conversation! The first discussion question was just posted today and it would be wonderful to have a robust ACEs Connection Central...
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It Makes Sense
I felt inadequate and ill-prepared to speak to licensed mental health professionals about ACEs. But when I was asked to attend the 40th Annual Training Institute on Behavioral Health & Addictive Disorders in Clearwater, Florida to represent ACEs Connection, I was honored and eager. My background is in health planning, not mental or behavioral health. I review health data and look for gaps and inequities. My time is spent looking for and addressing the health needs of a community. So,...
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Join a New National Grassroots Campaign to Address Childhood Trauma and Build Resilience by Engaging and Educating Congress.
Hope you’ll join the new national campaign to address childhood trauma. Here's the link to join the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP): Join a New National Grassroots Campaign . CTIPP was created to Address Childhood Trauma and Build Resilience by Engaging and Educating Congress . We are looking for local trauma leaders to help educate our congressional delegation on the impact of trauma and strategies for building resilience. Learn more details from webinar. (Note:...
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League of Women Voters Hot Topics: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
League of Women Voters Orange County - Hot Topics Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): The Biggest Public Health Crisis You've Never Heard of March 11th, 2020 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Sorosis Club: 501 E. Livingston St., Orlando, FL 32801 ACEs are traumatic experiences that occur in childhood (0-17 years) and are now scientifically linked to changes in the brain that lead to an astounding increase in a lifetime of poor life outcomes. Tragic outcomes include suicide, chronic diseases (cancer/heart...
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Local Org Helping Children Caught Up in Migrant Crisis Find Foster Homes [Faith Wire]
Bethany Christian Services has an office in Winter Garden, Central Florida, where they are the only local social-service agency that is actively partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help children find temporary homes until they find a U.S. sponsor. “ We’re doing a lot of trauma-informed care ,” Bethany’s executive director for Florida, Laurie Stern explained. “There’s going to be some anger and confusion. It’s wrapping your arms around that child and letting...
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Major decline in poverty rate for Central Florida children, report shows [Orlando Sentinel]
There’s some rare good news for Central Florida’s kids — the poverty rate dropped significantly from 2012 to 2017, juvenile arrests were down and more children were covered by health insurance. The findings were released Wednesday by the Florida Kids Count 2019 Child Well-being Index, produced by researchers at the University of South Florida and based on 16 measures of health, financial stability, education and social welfare in each Florida county. On the whole, St. Johns County — in the...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Meet Florida's Johnny Appleseed. She plants seeds of ACEs science!
Dr. Mimi Graham is Florida’s Johnny Appleseed, but instead of planting apple trees, she’s been seeding hundreds of ACEs-science-informed schools, courts, juvenile detention centers, hospitals, childcare centers, home visiting programs, mental health agencies, law enforcement agencies, and drug treatment centers. Graham, who has served as director of the Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy in Tallahassee since 1993, focuses on early childhood,...
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More Resources for Trauma and Resiliency for COVID-19 and Beyond. Register now to see Resiliency Documentary online 4/4-4/7!
What an opportunity to talk about trauma and resiliency! We’ve been compiling resources and would love any of your recommendations to add. See: https://cpeip.fsu.edu/ trauma/covid19.cfm Also, there is a national Campaign for Trauma Informed Policy and Practice that is seeking to educate congress about trauma will hopes for legislation at some point. http://www.ctipp.org/ nationaltraumacampaign/ They have compiled awesome ACEs resources. Go to the website. Then News and Resources. Then...
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NEMOURS CEO LARRY MOSS: LET'S INVEST MORE IN KIDS' HEALTH [HealthLeaders]
Medical care represents only a fraction of what we should consider when we think about health, Moss said. The rest includes things like social determinants of health, in their various forms, including education, literacy, housing, safety, freedom from adverse childhood experiences, and other social factors.
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New ‘Handle With Care’ system alerts Manatee schools to kids in possible trouble [Bradenton Herald]
This is not a "new story" but I think this program is critical to consider for Central Florida (as far as I understand we have not implemented this here). At a recent trauma-healing conference I was able to hear about the success of this program in Manatee County Schools and I believe this could be a model for what is possible her in Central Florida. Please see the article by the Brandenton Herald below: BY GIUSEPPE SABELLA APRIL 02, 2018 04:59 PM Detention may be the wrong option for a...
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Press Release: Central Florida’s Working Families Continue to Struggle - New United Way ALICE Report Reveals 46% of Households Fail to Cover Basic Needs [Heart of Florida United Way News]
Photo: ALICE Florida Report 2018/ United Way Orlando, Fla. (February 6, 2019) – Heart of Florida United Way announced that more than 350,000 households in Central Florida struggle to afford basic necessities such as housing, food, transportation, health care and child care, according to the 2018 ALICE Report. Statewide, 46% of households face the same financial challenges. In Central Florida, the number of low-income workers struggling to cover essentials grew by approximately 1.1 percent...
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Principles for How We Treat Each Other Peace and Justice Institute (PJI) at Valencia College
If building healthy relationships is the healing balm of human existence and human suffering, then the Principles for How We Treat Each Other are practices that move us toward strengthening those bonds in our lives and in the community. These Principles for How We Treat Each Other help support inclusive, caring, and safe environments where individuals learn how to listen deeply and without judgment and communicate honestly and respectfully. The Principles for How We Treat Each Other have...
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Public Health Researchers to Launch a Trauma-Informed and Responsive Care Initiative [University of Miami]
Roderick King, M.D., MPH, and Joseph West, Sc.D., two researchers from the Miller School's Department of Public Health Sciences, were recently awarded a two-year grant from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to address gaps in health equity, responsive care needs related to trauma, and adaptive lifestyle behaviors in young men. The epidemiologic study and community-based intervention is a collaboration between the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Department of...
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Recording and slides now available for webinar on Florida’s Early Childhood Courts: Transforming Child Welfare
Information (recording, slides, and resources) on the June 6 webinar "Florida’s Early Childhood Courts: Transforming Child Welfare" is now available (and soon to posted in the ACEs Connection webinar section on the homepage). This well-attended and received webinar was sponsored by the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health and co-sponsored ACEs Connection and the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice ( CTIPP ) Webinar Summary Every six minutes in the...
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Register now for Creating a Resilient Community; keynote speaker: Vincent Filetti, MD
Valencia College’s Peace and Justice Institute, the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County, the Orange County Health Department, along with partners and sponsors, invite you to a community conference, Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing on April 3rd, 2019. The event, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Vincent Felitti, co-author of the Adverse Childhood Experience Study, will be held at the Florida Hotel & Conference Center in Orlando. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. To learn...
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Researchers show adverse childhood events contribute to lower self-control among teens [Florida International University]
MIAMI , Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to lead to a number of negative health and behavior outcomes, including delinquent and criminal behavior. A new study has found exposure to adverse childhood experiences is also associated with lower self-control in teenagers, especially when those experiences are related to maltreatment. Researchers in Florida and Michigan found that a greater variety of adverse experiences in childhood leads to lower levels...
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‘Sarasota Strong’ addresses trauma in our community [Palm Beach Post]
*Note: While Sarasota, FL is not Central Florida, it felt relevant to share this opinion piece here to examine what other Florida cities are doing to advocate for and build resilient communities. -- By Carrie Seidman ... Sarasota Strong seeks to build “a community that cares for itself” by “empowering people to thrive through trauma education, connection, and healing.” Its metaphoric symbol will be the banyan, a tree that begins its life clinging to another plant and eventually produces...
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Something to Celebrate!
Valencia’s Peace and Justice Institute is excited to announce that we received a grant from the Khatoon Foundation to continue momentum around the work of ACEs and resilience in Central Florida. With this grant, we are able to bring on a Project Coordinator (Kelsey Visser) for 10 hrs/week for 4 months. Since our “sector” as Valencia College is education, our focus will be on contributing the following to the educational goals of the ACEs work: Film Screenings: Coordinating and marketing 2...
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This is Us - Meet Peace4Tarpon -Shannon Krukonis - P4T BOD member!
Shannon has over 25 years experience working with children in preschool and after school settings. Originally from Boston, Shannon holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology as well as an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Since moving to Florida in 2000, she has built a career working in the early intervention field with ages 0-5, as well as working with truant teens as a case counselor in child welfare and currently as the Behavior Specialist for the YMCA of the Suncoast.
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Trauma-informed Care in Juvenile Detention Is Not Enough [Juvenile Justice Information Exchange]
By Samantha Howell, November 25, 2019 While Florida has taken steps toward integrating trauma-informed practices in the juvenile justice system, the state needs to reconsider its treatment of youth. Notably, utilizing trauma-informed care in the juvenile justice system, while necessary, is not sufficient — prevention should be the goal, with trauma-informed services implemented in all child-involved systems. The state must also stop incarcerating children with adults and offer all juveniles...
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Upates, good news, recommendation and link to register for Making Meaningful Change: Addressing ACEs through Public Policy Webinar February 18
The World Health Organization has compiled a recent meta-analysis about how much ACEs cost us Millions of adults across Europe and north America live with a legacy of ACEs. Their findings suggest that a 10% reduction in ACE prevalence could equate to annual savings of $105 billion. Programs to prevent ACEs and moderate their effects are available. Rebalancing expenditure towards ensuring safe and nurturing childhoods would be economically beneficial and relieve pressures on health-care...
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Webinar—Florida's Early Childhood Courts: Transforming Child Welfare on June 6 (3:00-4:30 ET)
Please join this June 6 webinar on Florida’s early childhood courts (aka “safe babies courts”) hosted by the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health and co-sponsored by the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice and ACEs Connection. Background: Every six minutes in the U.S., an infant, toddler or child under the age of 3 is removed from their homes for alleged abuse and neglect and placed in state custody through the child welfare system (Zero to Three).
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When the Cross is On the Table
Susan Traylor says “When they see the cross on the table, they know someone has died.” The ‘they’ she is talking about are the many folks experiencing homelessness in our small community of Tarpon Springs, Florida. A few weeks ago, the cross was on the table for Terry. I knew him by sight but never knew his name. I observed him over the past few years quite often in a state that makes most people not only uncomfortable, but anxious and fearful as he argued with someone only he could see. He...
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ACEs Strategic Planning Community Meeting
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ACEs Strategic Planning Community Meeting
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Community Resilience Model - Orlando, FL - May 16-17, 2019
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Community Resilience Model - Orlando, FL - May 16-17, 2019
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Cost of Poverty Experience
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Film Screening: Generation Found (Recovery High Schools)
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Film Screening: Generation Found (Recovery High Schools)
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Hope for the Opioid Crisis--Community Meeting
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Resilience Screening
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71 ACEs Initiatives Join ACEs Connection in 2019
We are proud to celebrate the 71 community initiatives that joined the ACEs Connection network in 2019. They are listed below, and can be found along with all existing ACEs Connection communities via the ACEs Connection map. Communities in the United States: Midwest ACEs Indiana Coalition Ardmore (OK) Behavioral Health Collaborative: Chisago County (MN) ACEs Initiative Franciscan Health ACEs Connection FH–Jasper & Newton Counties (IN ) FH–LaPorte County (IN) FH–Lake County (IN)...
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A Florida ACEs Tour
RADICAL GRACE – WHAT I LET GOD SEE AND ACCEPT IN ME ALSO BECOMES WHAT I CAN SEE AND ACCEPT IN MYSELF. AND EVEN MORE, IT BECOMES THAT WHEREBY I SEE EVERYTHING ELSE. ~ RICHARD ROHR For the past three months, I’ve been driving through various parts of Florida witnessing events and gatherings of communities committed to creating safe, loving, trauma informed, and trauma healing spaces. On Friday February 22nd, I was in Tarpon Springs, attending the monthly gathering of Robin Saeger’s...
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A Lesson in Resilience [The Grove - Valencia College]
Left to right: Director of the Peace and Justice Institute Rachel Allen, Administrative Manager of the PJI Community Will Jefferson, Keynote Speaker Kenneth Ginsburg and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer To View the Entire Conference Video, Click Here --- Tuesday, May 12, 2020 By Rachel Allen , Director, Peace and Justice Institute The second annual Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing conference scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, 2020, was certain to be a success. Our first...
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ACEs Aware Website
Check out this newly launched website led by the Office of the the California Surgeon General (Nadine Burke Harris!) and the Department of Health Care Services. This could be a nice model for Florida. https://www.acesaware.org/about-aces-aware/ The ACEs Aware initiative is a first-in-the-nation statewide effort to screen for childhood trauma and treat the impacts of toxic stress. The aim of ACEs Aware is to give Medi-Cal providers training, clinical protocols, and payment for screening...
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ACEs Connection Central Florida Launches at First Annual Conference
Photo by James Encinas Raising yellow “Visions & Commitments” cards, 550 attendees at yesterday’s Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing Conference pledged their enthusiastic support to create a more resilient Central Florida. The standing-room-only crowd heard Dr. Vincent Felitti deliver a morning keynote address detailing the findings of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study) . He also shared moving testimonials of people who are...
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ACEs Science Presentation Tracking Widget is Live on ACEs Connection CF!
We just found out that ACEs Connection Central Florida now has a new function to track ACEs Science Presentations. You can see the ACEs Central Florida Presentations Tracker Widget on the right hand side of the main ACEs Connection Central Florida page. If you or your organization has facilitated a presentation on ACEs Science that meets the criteria outlined on the tracking survey (5 parts of ACEs Science) please input that presentation information. Once you enter your presentation...
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ACES Strategic Planning Meeting Notes (6-18-2019)
Hi everyone! After the success of the Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing conference in April, there has been enormous interest in keeping the momentum going. With this in mind, strategic planning meetings have been held since the conference and the most recent one happened on 6/18/19 at Valencia College. You can read the notes from our most recent meeting here (attached) and see what amazing things people are working on in our community. For example, ACEs tracking...
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Alachua County resources deputies find alternatives to arrests [Florida Times Union]
By Sadie Darnell (Alachua County Sheriff) This column was written in response to the Oct. 6 piece by University of Florida Associate Professor F. Chris Curran, “Arrests show perils of putting police in primary schools.” When law enforcement actions such as the recent arrests of two 6-year-olds in Orlando take place on campuses, we all take a step back and reflect on what our own policies and practices are. Fortunately, for the citizens of Alachua County, we have long practiced restraint and...