I have spent over a decade working at the intersection of mental health and social/criminal justice systems, but it wasn't until recently when I started collecting ACE scores with the inmates I work with in county jails. Prior to working in the jails, I worked in the state prison system, where I did mental health intake evaluations at the state prison where all offenders in Minnesota enter through. So often, in the back of my mind, was the thought that "if only these guys had the right...

By LJ Dawson, Kaiser Health News, October 11, 2019 Every day that Janet van der Laak drives between car dealerships in her sales job, she keeps size 12 shoes, some clothes and a packed lunch — a PB&J sandwich, fruit and a granola bar — beside her in case she sees her 27-year-old son on the streets. “’Jito, come home,” she always tells him, using a Spanish endearment. There he can have a bed and food, but her son, Matt Vinnola, rarely returns home. If he does, it is temporary. The streets...

Greetings...Wanted to say, hi and thank you for all of your ongoing group. I am an attorney with Disability Rights CA and am working to help transition those with developmental disabilities out of Porterville and back out into the community. I am also a former SF Public Defender who worked with many in the IST process. Please drop me a line if you would like to chat/have coffee, etc. Thanks....Stephen Zollman

Thank you so much for these clips. Each brought me to tears over the contrast between the wisdom and compassion shown here (and the results) vs. the punitive responses to trauma I've witnessed in years working withing child welfare, criminal justice and domestic-violence intervention systems. What a hopeful, inspiring, restorative vision!

I just wish I had an answer as to how to get others to see what for me is so obvious. I am glad someone can understand what is true. Why are we criminalizing and hurting already hurt people whether they be homeless, have a mental illness or have an addiction or all three. People in these situations never had it easy or they wouldn't be here. I wish someone had that magic answer that would allow us to open closed eyes, hearts, and minds. It makes me cry too.

HI Zachary- thank you for the post and sharing the video. SO POWERFUL and hopeful. We need to change the systems that incarcerate rather than, as you say address what happened to them (and moving upstream, be asking kids this BEFORE they get into the system. (Note, this is the third time today that someone shared this video!)

Zachary, Thank you for sharing your work, this numbers you offer are critical for understanding the connection. You were on target in sharing the powerful video that we can pass along.

Thank you Zachary, Yes, I too saw this video posted on facebook last week. As a substitute teacher (nowhere near retired), I see my ability to use trauma informed practices is directly enhanced by my learning to address White Supremacy Culture. I'm happy my state education association recently publicly named that. I'm learning that all the many people who've been directly impacted by incarceration have so many practical solutions! Those of us nearer the decision-making (traditionally-- with...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Police officers will soon share a squad car with mental health professionals, as they co-respond to the scene of a mental health crisis. Sixteen officers between the North and Hermitage precincts volunteered for this new training. That includes six clinicians from the Mental Health Cooperative. Inspector David Imhof of Metro Nashville’s Office of Alternative Policing Strategies joined Chief John Drake to explain how these teams will work in tandem. [...

Eugene, OR: CAHOOTS 32 years ago the City of Eugene, Oregon developed an innovative community-based public safety system to provide mental health first response for crises involving mental illness, homelessness, and addiction. White Bird Clinic started CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) as a community policing initiative in 1989 (White Bird Clinic).* The CAHOOTS model has been in the spotlight recently as the USA struggles to reimagine public safety. From the CAHOOTS...

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...