Tagged With "Safe Baby Courts"
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Here are three questions that USC Rossier...
Here are three questions that USC Rossier professor, Ron Avi Astor, suggest schools ask themselves about student safety. Secondly, this educator guide, created by USC Rossier's ME in school counseling online program, discusses how school staff can balance school security and school climate. These were created in a response to the Parkland shooting to spark conversations around school safety and gun violence prevention in schools. You can read more HERE .
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An Alternative to Suspension with Trauma-Informed Dynamic Mindfulness: Building Stress Resilience, Emotion Regulation and Empathy
At the November 2019 Northern California Safe and Healthy Schools Conference at UC Berkeley, Niroga Program Managers Sam Weiss and Fatima Ahmed facilitated a session incorporating the theory and practice of Dynamic Mindfulness (DMind) to a standing room only crowd.
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An Epic Battle for Public Education: A Front Line View
As one single example of one key complexity (there are many others), children in our Public School classrooms have massive rates of trauma, described by a U.S. Department of Justice report as an “epidemic” and by past Surgeon Generals as “national crisis.”
The Center for Disease Control(CDC) says it is critical to understan
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An Unusual Idea for Fixing School Segregation [theatlantic.com]
Many proposals for addressing school segregation seem pretty small, especially when compared to the scale and severity of the problem. Without the power of a court-ordered desegregation mandate, progress can feel extremely far off, if not altogether impossible. Some even believe—understandably though mistakenly —that no meaningful steps can be taken to integrate schools unless housing segregation is resolved. But a new theory from Thomas Scott-Railton, a recent graduate of Yale Law School,...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
© Elliot Gilfix/Flickr . What happened to Jasmine? . Photo © Jinx!/Flickr When you look inside a...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Danny
When you look inside a classroom, there are some things you can not see . . .
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
Wiry, active, savvy. Jasmine. There were not many good days. . . only random moments of calm in a violent storm, erupting on a ‘hair trigger’
When you look inside a classroom there are some things you can not see….
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
Photo credit Max Klingensmith at flickr . Jose was one of the calmest, quietest, most peaceful boys in the classroom. The kind of boy everybody loves. ...
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Potential impact of Trauma on special education eligibility
This is a follow up to my previous email concerning the PP v Compton class action lawsuit concerning adverse events and eligibility under the Americans with Disability act. I did a presentation at the Legal Issues in Special Education conference on April 24th. The participants consisted of special education directors, compliance officers and parent advocates The big surprise was that there was huge interest in this issue. It was standing room only in the room. Secondly even though this...
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Program shows teachers how to see signs of childhood trauma [TheET.com]
When a child is acting out or not paying attention in school, it might not be because he or she is misbehaving. It might be because a parent was arrested the previous night. Teachers don't always know about the traumatic events a child experiences at home, but a new program being organized in Mercer County could give teachers notice when one of their students need to be handled with care. Andrea Darr, director of the West Virginia Center for Children's Justice spoke May 6 at Mercer County...
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‘Push Back’: Unified Schools Crowd Faces Down Divisive Fears (timesofsandiego.com)
Kevin Beiser acknowledged what brought hundreds of parents, teachers and students Wednesday evening to a dusty ball field in Old Town — the fear of “what it would be like in Nazi Germany.” But school board member Beiser promised the San Diego Unified School District would “push back” against enablers of hate. Trustee Richard Barrera noted a 950-word school board resolution approved last week “reaffirming values of peace, tolerance and respect for multiple perspectives.” (see attached)...
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Compton trauma lawsuit near resolution? [LASchoolReport.com]
Nearly a year ago, pro-bono lawyers from Los Angeles-based Public Counsel made national headlines by launching a landmark class-action lawsuit against Compton Unified School District in federal court in Los Angeles, arguing that the district had failed to address issues of childhood trauma that prevented students from receiving a quality education. In September, a federal judge agreed with arguments filed on behalf of five students and three teachers in the school district and declared that...
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Could Parkland Shooting Be Prevented? Yes, and Runcie Knew How
School safety, negligence documentation, and a need for a school reform My name is Natalia Garceau. For nine years, I’ve been working at a center similar to the one where Nikolas Cruz was sent to after his expulsion from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. You won’t hear anything from the teachers who work at such centers because they are afraid to lose their jobs and to be taken to court. They have families to feed. By contract, we are not allowed to speak with media about anything...
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Court: Trauma Impedes Native American Education Programs, Feds Must Address It [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
A federal court has ruled, for the first time, that the federal government is obligated to meet the mental health and wellness needs of Native American students as part of its educational obligations to those children. The families of nine children, who are members of the Havasupai tribe, filed a lawsuit against the federal government in January 2017 for failing students who attend Havasupai Elementary, located in the remote village of Supai in the Grand Canyon. The federal government had...
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Defending Childhood
Common Sense Millions of injured children whose pleas are not being heard are waiting at the intersection of the “Defending Childhood” Report from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Congress’s rewrite...
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Guide - Creating Trauma-Informed Policies: A Practice Guide for School and Mental Health Leadership
Author, Leora Wolf-Prusan, EdD, School Mental Health lead for SAMHSA's Mental Health Technology Center Pacific Southwest http://mhttcnetwork.org/mhttc/mhttc-psw.html Creating compassionate policies is a cornerstone strategy of educational leadership. This guide provides a deep dive into developing, implementing, and evaluating trauma-informed and compassionate school policies. It highlights four "choice points" for education and mental health leadership: Choice Point 1: Names &...
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How San Antonio, Texas, Fixed Its Broken Truancy System [rwjf.org]
By John W. Bull, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, July 17, 2019 Texas was the last of two states—Wyoming being the other—that treated truancy as a crime. Students and their parents faced court fines, and if penalties went unpaid, teen truants could be cuffed by constables and sent to jail. None of this made any sense to me when 10 years ago, as San Antonio’s presiding municipal judge, I inadvertently began the process of changing the system across the state. I had heard from a friend who...
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Schools resolve conflicts by getting kids to talk things out (pbs.org)
Schools across the country are moving away from an era of zero-tolerance policies and shifting toward methods that involve restorative justice, encouraging students to resolve their differences by talking to each other rather than resorting to violence. In New York City, five schools that have implemented this system are already seeing results. NewsHour Weekend's Megan Thompson reports. In a 9th grade civics class in Brooklyn, New York, Erica Wright is encouraging students to talk to each...
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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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Staunching the School-to-Prison Pipeline [citylab.com]
In 2014, when Kalyb Primm Wiley was 7 years old, 50 pounds, and not even 4 feet tall, he was handcuffed by his school’s law enforcement officer after he cried and yelled in his Kansas City, Missouri, classroom. Kalyb, who is hearing impaired and was teased regularly about it, was reacting to a bullying incident. When the officer took Kalyb out of class and he tried to walk away, the officer handcuffed Kalyb and led him to the principal’s office. Kalyb’s father said his son was left cuffed in...
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Supreme Court to hear special education case [www.usatoday.com]
Richard Wolf, USA TODAY Photo: KAREN BLEIER, AFP/Getty Images WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to decide what standard of education schools must provide to students with disabilities. The case presents the court with the difficult task of determining whether school districts receiving federal funds must offer a "substantial" education or merely make an effort to educate children under theIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act, originally passed in 1990. The law requires...
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New Resource Guide for Child Sexual Abuse/Exploitation Prevention
Greetings, ACN Community! I wanted to share this fantastic new resource guide developed by one of the work groups from the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force. This guide provides background on best practice, principles of prevention, identifying resources for the classroom, developing a prevention plan, age appropriate teaching suggestions, analysis of specific programs, and guidelines for implementation and evaluation. It is really quite thorough and is full of excellent ideas...
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Beyond Paper Tigers: The Heart of the Matter
Graphic artist Anne Nelson created this visual roadmap during the partner showcase, capturing the "heart of the matter" for each community member Teri Barila, co-founder and CEO of the Children’s Resilience Initiative and the igniting force that brought change to a quiet corner of southeast Washington, kicked off last month’s Beyond Paper Tigers Conference by sharing one of her “aha” moments. In 2007, she attended a conference in Winthrop, WA, where Dr. Robert Anda spoke about the CDC-Kaiser...
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Building a Resilient Community (United Way of East Central Iowa)
ACES: Building a Resilient Community Childhood trauma has affected the majority of people in our community. Specific family problems as well as child abuse and neglect (summarized as Adverse Childhood Experience, or ACEs) have been shown...
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California Considers Decriminalizing Truancy [Chronicle of Social Change]
By Mauricio Tellez-Sanchez, August 29, 2019, for Chronicle for Social Change California Assembly Bill 901 would instruct schools to refer habitually truant students in California to community-based organizations rather than juvenile court. The California State Senate will vote Friday on a measure that seeks to decriminalize truancy and limit the power of probation departments to work with youth who have not been charged with any crime through “voluntary probation” programs. Assembly Bill...
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California schools help unaccompanied immigrant students combat trauma, language barriers (EdSource)
ZAIDEE STAVELY JANUARY 30, 2019 José Sánchez crossed three borders on his own to get to Oakland, California when he was just 17. But once here, he found another barrier that proved even more difficult to overcome — graduating high school. Sánchez is one of more than 200,000 children and youth under 18 who since 2014 crossed the U.S. border without their parents. When a minor turns themselves in or is detained by immigration authorities, they are turned over to the Office of Refugee...
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‘Change in culture’: New California guidelines aim to help teach social, emotional skills [Press Democrat]
The nation’s schools long ago broadened their missions beyond the teaching of academic subjects and participation in extracurricular activities. Educators have for decades been entrusted to teach students a wider range of life skills, including those that touch on emotions, empathy and relationships with other people. Now, a new state guide , released Wednesday, offers a slew of resources for teachers and administrators seeking to bolster kids’ social and emotional development. “Science...
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Let Her Learn: Stopping School Pushout: Overview and Key Findings (National Women's Law Center)
The National Women’s Law Center’s 2017 Let Her Learn Survey2 of 1,003 girls ages 14-18 shows that being called a racial slur is a common experience shared by all girls of color, with one third to more than two in five of them saying they have had this experience (Asian and Pacific Islander girls reported the highest rates), compared to just over one eighth of white girls.3 The Let Her Learn Survey also reveals that more than 1 in 5 girls (21 percent) have been sexually assaulted,4 with LGBTQ...
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Lincoln High dedicates new courtroom facility for mock trials, criminal justice classes (sandiegounified.org)
Lincoln High dedicates new courtroom facility for mock trials, criminal justice classes | San Diego Unified Newscenter //--><![CDATA[//><!-- (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js","ga");ga("create", "UA-10591117-2",...
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Resource List - Research & Reports
Reports and research about how ACEs affect schoolchildren, or about how schools become trauma-informed, or the outcomes of integrating trauma-informed and resilience-building practices in schools. If you recommend any others besides those listed here, please leave a comment with a link and/or information.
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Safety First - Toxic Stress in Education
What is the purpose of having school without power?
I work in a small school in a big state. The local school community had the power shut over the weekend as a preventive action for avoiding fires. This morning I was told that there would be school without power and to plan to provide services and teach children without power.
My instinct was - this is not safe!
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Re: Amplifying empathy in teachers can help prevent student suspensions, researchers find
As a teacher, when I read that we need to "humanize" the children in our class and see if they perform better, I am truly disturbed. No adult should be allowed in a class or on a court or field if they do not have a profound knowledge that their "clients" are humans and more importantly are children. Kids lack knowledge and power so they are the ultimate victims. If systems are not in place to protect them, they are at the mercy of teachers who fail to recognize their fragile humanity. We...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
Great article, Daun. You have wonderful insight. I wish you well in sharing it out with the education world. I've recently posted information on a free video Trauma Training for Educators - that highlights many of these same points regarding children and trauma. If you're interested in seeing it - www.ciscentraltexas.org/resources/traumatraining/ Best of luck to you, Kris
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
This is an excellent piece!!! Educators need to ask "What's happened to this child?" rather than "What's wrong with this child?" when confronted with inappropriate or acting out behaviors. Children come to school each day and give the best they have, even if that best includes ripping up paper and kicking and screaming. Teachers and administrators need to provide effective and appropriate opportunities for children with trauma to release their pent up frustration. They need to keep these...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
Thank you so much Melissa ! Thank you for your passion, your insight and your support.
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
Daun - THANK YOU! This is incredibly real and pertinent storytelling of what traumatized children can look like in our schools and how they can be misunderstood. I'm sharing with everyone I know here in Georgia is is advocating for changes based on the DOJ's findings of illegally segregating facilities, called GNETS, for children with emotional disturbances. A disproportionate number of these children are foster/adopt (hugely at risk of trauma) and who knows about the rest -- high levels of...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
Thank you Julie, I am so thankful. I'm also a little overwhelmed. Thank you so much for all you are doing in Georgia ! On a "higher order" note, some of it seems like " Common Sense " at the national level, if you are so inclined to rattle cages about ESEA and NoChildLeft Behind. (An earlier blog at LucidWitness.com) Peace
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
Thanks Daun I love this non-fictional piece. What is so hard for me is that what is so obvious to me like gravity or the sky is blue is so not obvious to others. I cannot wait for the critical mass to move us all to where we understand, are compassionate and move society to health so all kids have a chance. I read the Compton lawsuit and I just keep shaking my head... I'd never try to get that dropped, I'd move to action to help those kids... Keep writing... I'll keep tweeting and sharing...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
I was riveted by this post, Daun. You write so well and with so much passion and knowledge. Thank you for sharing this. I am forwarding immediately to our trauma-informed schools team.
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
Wow ! Thank you so much Louise for your support, encouragement and your kind words. The 'partner' piece is on ACEsConnection and at my blog, LucidWitness.com : "Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine". That piece primarily highlights hyperarousal and hyper-vigilance. Daun
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
I will certainly take a look at that. I'm wondering if you are considering coming to our conference in March?http://www.echoparenting.org/professional-services/conferences It's a national forum on trauma-informed schools and we were hoping that we could form some 'learning circles'. We have lots of experts who have applied to do workshops (people who usually train in this stuff) but we were also looking for practitioners to lead a circle to discuss challenges, best practices, etc. with no...
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
PS: Louise Is the "Trauma-Informed Schools Team" part of LAUSD ?
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
We are working with LAUSD - pilot project in Sally Ride Elementary and training all 300 Psychiatric Social Workers in School Mental Health - but we are an independent nonprofit. Echo Parenting & Education http://www.echoparenting.org/wsi
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
PPSS Louise, 1) Hmmm, well I am very honored by your invitation to the conferrence. It MAY be possible. The issue will be taking time away during the school year. However, my son is out there and it'd be great to incorporate some time with him .... Thinking (when would you need to know ?) 2) Wouild it be possible to post "Peek Inside" to your Facebook page? Daun daunkauffman@gmail.com
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
What a good idea! We can indeed do that. Deadline for workshop applications has already gone (we are sending them to our illustrious Advisory Committee to select our line-up). Why don't you think about it and then let us know if it's a possibility. We could work something out... a break out room, or something.
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
Daun, I truly appreciated your blog - the depth of understanding and development of the reality of trauma inside our schools! I'm putting together a packet for my own public school system's Board of Education (3 members) whom I will meet with in November. I think this is a powerful example of what we need to see, and how we can help. Thank you so much. Brenda Gregory Yuen North Potomac, MD
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
I am so thrilled (and astonished) to see advocacy efforts move forward. I always wonder what happens to pieces (and their suggestions), once thery are 'released' into cyberspace. Thank you so much for the feedback, and for your work, Brenda!
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Re: Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
We shared your blog on our Facebook page: Echo Parenting & Education. Lou