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...

“YES!” was the response of Gaile Osborne, executive director of Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina (FFANC), when asked for input on a new program to help foster and kinship care families learn how to support the brain development of young children. “I love these Brain Insights materials. How soon can we start?” said Osborne upon receiving the "The First 60 Days ” booklet on myths about newborns and their caregivers and the eight “ Neuro-Nurturing ” ringed books. The materials delivered...

“It’s peaceful and tranquil with them swimming around,” says Richard McCool, watching fish swim in one of two housing wings of the Dynamo program, where offenders with good behavior live independently at Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green, Mo., on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. McCool, 65, is serving time for rape and first-degree murder convictions. “One day, God willing, we’re going to get out of here.” Robert Cohen, Post-Dispatch By Jesse Bogan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 26,...

Credit: ManifestWorks To read more of Michaela Hass' article, please click here. Four years ago, Leslie was on the edge of homelessness. “Everything was going wrong. I was sleeping on the floor of relatives’ living rooms with my two kids,” she remembers. Then, Hollywood called. It wasn’t a talent scout or a casting director that brought her into the industry. It was ManifestWorks , a unique program that guides people from homelessness, incarceration and foster care directly into entry-level...

Presented by Clifford Beers Community Care Center, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and KPJR Films, Healing the Generations is a two-day conference which brings together trauma-informed authors, leaders, and changemakers whose work focuses on resilience, trauma, and anti-racism. REGISTER HERE Collectively, we recognize the health implications that grief, loss, political unrest, and racial trauma have on the human body. We are convinced that in our families, communities, and ancestors,...

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...

It’s time to take action and make our voices heard to build healthy, resilient communities! The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) is organizing trauma-informed advocates, activists, and stakeholders to urge their U.S. Senators and Representatives to support two bipartisan, bicameral bills that would significantly help prevent, address, and mitigate the negative impacts of trauma through community-based/led initiatives.

The brain doesn’t fully develop until about the age of 25. This fact is sometimes quite surprising and eye opening to most adults. It can also be somewhat overwhelming for new parents and professionals who are interacting with babies and young children every day, to contemplate. It is essential to realize however, that the greatest time of development occurs in the years prior to kindergarten. And even more critical to understand is that by age three 85 percent of the core structures of the...

To access the Prison Policy Initiative website, please click here. Data Source: See the Methodology section of State of Phone Justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers for complete data sourcing. (Graph: Peter Wagner and Alexi Jones, 2019) This graph originally appeared in State of Phone Justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers . As of November 2018, in more than half of states, the highest in-state 15 minute call costs more than $10, and in 15...

Sable Elyse Smith’s “Backbend” (2019) on display at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. MAURICE CHAMMAH/THE MARSHALL PROJECT By Maurice Chammah, The Marshall Project, August 12, 2023 At first glance, the “Federal Prison Inmate Activity Book” looks like something a child might get at a fast food restaurant. But then you see that the word search puzzle includes terms like “larceny” and “embezzle.” On another page, above drawings of a panda and a one-eyed snake,...

Successful health equity strategies must be inclusive, and focus on all marginalized and minoritized persons and their communities. Any lesser view will continue to yield a faulty health equity equation.

(This is a review of what I believe is an important new resource for the PACEs [for positive and adverse childhood experiences] science movement. Opinions expressed are my own, and are shared as a parent, advocate, author, and longtime student of trauma, healing, and prevention. Thoughts are also shared through my lens as someone who believes, deeply, in the incredible importance of and value in building healthier, more compassionate communities to support and nurture pregnant and new...