Tagged With "Annual Know Hope"
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Re: The Best Defense Against a Hurricane is Community (CityLab) + Update from Wilmington, NC
Mebane, It was great to be on the call with you today. I hope one day we get to connect face to face. My thoughts are with you and I am sending resilience telepathically. Jenny
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Resilience Week [resilienceweek.co]
By UNC TV, November 6, 2019 UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina presents the statewide broadcast premiere of the special documentary feature Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope, Tuesday, November 19, at 8 PM, as part of Resilience Week—a statewide initiative to build awareness of childhood trauma, prevention and resilience. The hour-long film focuses on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), what Dr. Robert Anda and Laura Porter of ACE Interface have termed, “the...
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Resilience Week [resilienceweek.co]
By UNC TV, November 6, 2019 UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina presents the statewide broadcast premiere of the special documentary feature Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope, Tuesday, November 19, at 8 PM, as part of Resilience Week—a statewide initiative to build awareness of childhood trauma, prevention and resilience. The hour-long film focuses on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), what Dr. Robert Anda and Laura Porter of ACE Interface have termed, “the...
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Speaking of Housing...
We know that so many negative outcomes are driven by adverse experiences and adverse environments. And we know from GWU's Pair of ACEs that homelessness is one of those experiences and that poor housing and a lack of affordability is one of those environments. So, this week, I set out to learn more at People & Places 2019. I was so moved by so many riveting things that were said by the amazing speakers. To see the amazing Written Word recap by Hannah Hasan, please see my Twitter account...
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Sponsorship Opportunities Available!
We hope you will consider sponsoring our exciting Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence (PFE) Fourth Annual Conference coming up on September 11-12, 2019 in Winston Salem. Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence is a leader in system integration and this conference brings together leaders from various systems all across the state. Not only will private providers be in attendance, so will Departments of Social Services, various LME/MCOs, experts with lived experience, and other child and...
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Taking Lessons Learned from the ACES Southeastern Summit 2017 to the Heart
Post by Carla Whaley- Partnering for Excellence Project Assistant This was my first ACEs conference. I did not know what to expect. Two days were ahead of me, full of Keynote speakers and breakout sessions, set in the beautiful backdrop of western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. The breakout sessions I chose were all very different, ranging from Exploring ACEs among Mothers and Daughters , to Creating Compassionate Schools Using Trauma Informed Strategies , to Yoga for Resiliency and...
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The results are out … so what’s next for PFE Conferences?
Benchmarks' Partnering For Excellence (PFE) 4th Annual Conference was held on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 and Thursday, September 12, 2019 at the Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Over 175 participants from across North Carolina gathered to learn more about the long-term impacts of adversities. The audience was inspired by national and state leaders who shared ways to improve trauma-and-resiliency informed responses. The conference offered a variety of...
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The Sacramento Violence Intervention Program, Trauma & ACEs
On May 22, I had the opportunity to experience a presentation by DeAngelo Mack on the Sacramento Violence Intervention Program, Trauma and ACEs. The presentation was at Kaiser Sacramento and was directed to residents in the organization. I have worked with @DeAngelo Mack, @Chris Cooper and @Esmeralda Huerta through Resilient Sacramento for the past few years and have admired their work in the community, this was the first opportunity I had to attend...
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Tonier Cain Deserves an Evidence-Based Apology
Tonier Cain spoke at the Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence conference last month in North Carolina. If you don't know her name you might recognize her as the woman featured in the Healing Neen documentary ( which is must see). I am just starting to recover from her speech. Seriously. It was hard to stand after she spoke. When I did, I went right to a yoga mat in the self-care calm room for a while. I took off my high heels and curled up in a ball for a bit. I'm still digesting her words.
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Training: Ways of Sharing Resources
This is saved as a blog post and there's an attachment. Sharing resources as a blog post is easier to make visual.
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Why We Suck (at Self-Soothing & Self-Care): Dr. Dawn O'Malley
Without coffee and yoga, I'm kind of a jerk. These are my personal "puppy uppers and doggie downers" and prevent me from being cranky, quick to cry, and ready for conflict. Coffee and calming make life more manageable. Humans seem tolerable. Without helpers I might veer into hating humans for being so needy which is not a great trait for a parent, partner or a professional. Or a self. My partner says coffee and exercise are acts of kindness, services he does to promote public safety. In...
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Working within Trauma Informed Systems
Trauma informed systems are great for the people that we serve but we also know that that they cause additional stress on the people who work in the system. Therefore, to have a trauma informed system, we have to pay attention to both burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress. We talk to workers during Trauma 101 about what they need from their employers and encourage knowing your workers better so that you can have better supervision and meet everyone’s needs. Praise is key to this work which...
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A Kaiser pediatrician, wise to ACEs science for years, finally gets to use it
Dr. Suzanne Frank has known about the impact of childhood adversity on young lives for decades. She’s seen the fallout in the faces of young people huddled in beds at a children’s shelter where she worked years ago. She’s seen it as the regional child abuse services and champion for the Permanente Medical Group. And she’s seen it in hospital examination rooms where, as a member of the Santa Clara County’s Sexual Assault Response Team, she’s been called in to examine shell-shocked children...
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A Strength-Based Assignment
Recently, I was tasked with writing a strength-based personal story to use during my CRM trainings. As a trainer of trauma, depending on your content and audience, often it is beneficial when speaking to others to model transparency and even a bit of vulnerability. Therefore, as a part of my process of becoming certified as a CRM trainer, one of the activities is to write a strength-based personal story.This story can be about yourself and what you have experience personally or you can...
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ACEs science can prevent school shootings, but first people have to learn about ACEs science
The shooting in Florida isn’t only a gun regulation issue. It’s a systems change issue. All of our systems have to change their approach to changing behavior — whether it’s criminal, unhealthy or unwanted behavior — from a blame, shame and punishment approach, to one that is based in understanding, nurturing and healing….in other words, ACEs science.
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Benchmarks' Partnering For Excellence is Looking for a Project Coordinator
Hello ACEs Connection Friends! We are extremely excited to announce that Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) is looking for a Project Coordinator for our Cleveland County DSS and Partners Behavioral Health Management partnership. The position is based in Shelby, North Carolina and requires co-location at Cleveland County's DSS four days per week with one day that can be spent working from home. A few brief additional nuances about the position include: - Data management and data...
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Benchmarks PFE Teens in Toxic Times: The Cake Example
Approximately a month ago, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Partners Behavioral Health Summit (PBHM), Teens in Toxic Times . The goal of the summit was to generate conversations about topics impacting today's adolescent youth. Participating in these conversations were individuals from of various systems who interact, advocate, and provide services to adolescent populations. During my presentation, Understanding the Impact of Childhood Traumatic Stress on Adolescents, I presented what...
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Cleveland County's 12th Annual Minority Health Conference
Saturday, PFE’s Program manager, Jasmine Cain was invited to speak at Cleveland County’s 12th Annual Minority Health Conference which was hosted by the county’s Public Health Department and put on by the local Minority Health Council. Each year the conference focuses on educating minority leaders and members in the community about issues facing African American and other minority groups locally. The conference also serves as a platform to address and discuss disparities faced by minorities...
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Community Resiliency Model (CRM) Information Session
Rowan County is excited to take the next steps across all sectors to foster a resilient community. We will be offering the Community Resiliency Model™ Trainer Training on January 27th - 31st, 2020 . The location will be in downtown Salisbury at St. John's Lutheran Church. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be provided for trainees for the entirety of the training. You can download the training flyer here. The Community Resiliency Model™ (CRM) of the Trauma Resource Institute trains community...
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Directory of ACEs Connection How-Tos
Hi all- With the beautiful new changes to our site, please take a moment to review the updated "How-Tos" below . If you can't find what you need or are having issues with the site please let me know. ( Gail ) JOIN How-To: Join ACEs Connection How-To: Join ACEs Connection Groups INVITE How-To: Invite Others to Join ACEs Connection How-To: Invite Others to Join an ACEs Connection Group SIGN IN & UPDATE PROFILE How-To: Sign In to ACEs Connection How-To: Update Your...
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Finding Resilience in the Midst of Hurricane Florence
Avis and her brother, Bruce, have seen some hard knocks in their lives. At 60, she's his sole caretaker. She's taught school, worked as a receptionist, always worked, or wanted to work. Since she started caring for her brother, full-time work has seemed hard to find. He was born with autism 51 years ago. They share her little house in Pamlico County, North Carolina, where she now hopes to be called in to substitute teach, and he looks forward to her home cooked meals. Their lives revolve...
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Hurricane Florence first responders receive free trauma/resilience training
In a webinar offered this morning by Elaine Miller Karas , executive director of the Trauma Resource Institute in Claremont, CA, leaders from several North Carolina ACEs Connection communities affected by flooding and other damage by Hurricane Florence learned more about trauma response and how to better help their communities find resilience. Karas, who was delivering her Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training at Duke University in Durham, NC, offered the free training and provided...
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Lessons Learned from Sandra Bloom: Tackling STS at the Workplace
"We must be conscious and deliberate in engaging in self-care behaviors." ~Dr. Sandra Bloom Benchmarks North Carolina hosted our annual meeting at the beautiful Grandover Resort in Greensboro. At this meeting, successes are celebrated, and visions are sketched for the upcoming year. This year, members had the privilege of hearing from keynote speaker, Dr. Sandra Bloom, founder of the Sanctuary Model. Dr. Bloom shared how chronic stress and trauma impacts us at an organizational level.
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Personal stories the set tone of hearing in U.S. Senate HELP Committee on Opioid Crisis Response Act
Jennifer Donahue, Delaware Office of the Child Advocate, testifies before the HELP Committee (Jennifer Perry to her right) ____________________________________________________________ Some seasoned advocates say legislators are influenced by stories while their staffs are swayed by data. There was some of both at the April 11 hearing on the draft Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 of the U.S. Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor & Pensions) Committee but it was the personal stories that...
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Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina 2019 Learning and Leadership Summit
Last month, Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) Chief Research and Development Officer, Jenny Cooper, and Project Coordinator, Julia Holcomb, co-presented at the Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) 2019 Learning and Leadership Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina. Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) is an initiative intended to improve the behavioral health and well-being outcomes for children involved in the child welfare system. It creates a partnership between the...
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Reflections on the Film Suicide: The Ripple Effect
To start off Mental Health Awareness month I attended a screening of the film Suicide: The Ripple Effect. The film is a documentary that explains the events and mind frame that led to Kevin Hines—known widely as “The Golden Gate Jumper”—to attempt death by suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. The film focuses on Kevin’s life, advocacy, and influence after surviving such an attempt and the healing process that followed. As someone who is immersed in ACEs science, I could not help...
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Resilience
On the 27th of April 2018, Rowan-Salisbury School System hosted a showing of the movie Resilience at the Norvell Theater in Salisbury, North Carolina. Upon entering the lobby of the Novell Theater, shortly after 6pm that evening, the amount of enthusiasm and partnership surrounding the showing of Resilience and the trauma work being done within the community was breathtaking. The lobby was filled with teachers and social workers and many key community stakeholders, all working together to...
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Re: Reflections from the ACES Southeastern Summit 2017
Jenny & Keesha: It's great to read this and to hear about Judge Tepper's work as well as how exciting it was to hear Dr. Felittl! I hope I can hear each of them speak some day! Thanks so much for sharing! Cissy
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Re: Maddie's Miles 5k Run/Walk
Thanks for posting this, Carla! I re-posted this on the main calendar for ACEs Connection and on the calendar for the NC statewide community as well as some other AC communities in North Carolina. I hope this event is a tremendous success. It is a terrific cause.
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Worth the Effort: Building Resilience in Social Workers
Let’s talk ·R·E·S·I·L·I·E·N·C·E! Resilience is an individual’s ability to overcome adversity, and it is influenced by many factors. A person’s resilience is strongly impacted by their environment and support systems within their lives. A supportive environment, relationships, and connections with other trusted and dependable human beings can make a tremendous difference in the lives of children and families who have endured toxic stressful and traumatic situations. We know how important...
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Tools to Mitigate Work Stress and Prevent Burnout: For Health Care Providers during COVID and Beyond
Whether you work in a hospital, a safety net clinic, or in another health care setting, no health care provider working during the COVID-19 pandemic needs to read the flurry of news stories that highlight the extreme stress experienced by people in this line of work – you already know it firsthand. This webinar will introduce health care providers to the Community Resiliency Model ( CRM ), an evidence-based method of managing traumatic stress, preventing burnout and building resiliency. This...
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Going Virtual: How to Have the Most Success with Virtual Trainings
Like many of you, we have had to learn (and quickly might I add) to adapt our work to remote working needs. In doing this we have had to work closely with our partners to not just keep the work we do in our cross-system projects afloat…but to thrive as well. With new partners engaging in the work we do throughout COVID, we have really honed in our skills for conducting trainings virtually. Below we share what we call “lessons learned” on how to improve the virtual learning experiences of...
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2021 Resolutions- Thinking Beyond the Norm!
With a new year beginning, it is also a time that many of us set the traditional new year’s resolutions. The top four resolutions made for 2021 according to a recent poll were losing weight, increasing exercise, saving money, and making more friends. Are you surprised that after experiencing a pandemic in 2020 that managing stress did not appear as one of the top 4 new year’s resolutions in the poll? I noticed that the top four goals have tangible outcomes that are measurable – lower numbers...
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Bridging the Academic Gap During the Pandemic – Tutoring & Caregiver Resources
For most, COVID-19 has completely changed the way people approach their everyday activities, such as attending school. This disruptive turn of events has drastically changed the way education is being delivered, with many school systems switching to a virtual or remote learning platform. For many children and families, these needed yet significant changes have added challenges that many are seeing impact children’s ability to succeed in school. In response to this, our newest Benchmarks’...
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Resilience: The Foundation of a Strong Child-Welfare System
Resilience, which is defined as the capacity to recover from difficulties, is a vital tool in building a strong child welfare system, but what does that really mean? It is easy to say that resiliency is important, but effectively utilizing systems and tools for children and families as well as the employees who serve them is a different challenge. Through the latest research, we know resilience is made up of many different factors, from one’s genetics to their environment and support...
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Social Workers are Essential: Highlighting National Social Work Month
The month of March brings an abundance of things to celebrate, including National Social Work Month! The National Association of Social Workers dedicates March as a time to celebrate the incredible social work profession and to educate others on the many contributions made by social workers in our communities. This year’s theme “Social Workers are Essential” calls our attention to the indelible role of the social worker in responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Indeed, for...
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Book Club: One Way Life-Long Learning is Encouraged in the Center for Quality Integration
Benchmark’s Center for Quality Integration, made up of the Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) and Partnering for Excellence (PFE) teams, prioritizes learning about trauma and its effects on the children within child welfare systems. Both PFE and SAP seek to assist children who have experienced trauma in improving their outcomes and access to trauma-informed services. To be a champion of trauma-informed systems, the team must prioritize lifelong learning about the topic. One of the ways...
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Racial Equity in Clinical Assessments
Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence (PFE) works to address the needs of child welfare involved youth and families by proactively connecting individuals to appropriate trauma-intensive assessments and treatment. One facet of exploration for Benchmarks is using data from PFE to examine racial disparities in mental health assessment and diagnosis in our PFE counties. It is known that connecting our youth and families to the most effective treatment lies in the hands of a great assessment. But...
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Exploring the Impossible Imperative
Every year our Benchmarks Center for Quality Improvement (CQi) team carefully selects books for our team to read as a part of our “book club”. The goal of this book club is to increase our team’s knowledge, expertise, and understanding of the systems and individuals we aim to serve through our work throughout the state. Last week, staff wrapped up the club book “The Impossible Imperative: Navigating the Competing Principles of Child Protection” written by Jill Duerr Berrick. We know when...
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Breaking the Stigma: Notable Names with a Child-Welfare Experience
May is National Foster Care Month--a month where we are intentional about acknowledging children, families, volunteers, mentors, policymakers, child welfare professionals, and other members in the community who are involved in Foster Care. An important topic, and one worth discussing, is helping children break the stigma associated with being in Foster Care. Considering all the trauma that can be experienced by children within the child-welfare system, foster children might feel as though...
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Yes! Because We Care!
YES! A resounding YES! This is the standard response given from Children's Homes of Cleveland County (CHCC) when asked about opportunities to come together to learn, grow, and develop in a safe, stable environment for children and families. After all, these are the words penned in the mission statement of the organization, but it is worth noting that this organization strives in every way to live this out. As a trauma informed agency, Children’s Homes of Cleveland County has been a leader in...
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Rally for House Bill 914: Support our Direct Care Workforce
Thank you to everyone who reached out to legislators for our rally day on House Bill 914 Support Our Direct Care Workforce! A special thanks to Lutheran Family Services , Universal Mental Health Services , Alexander Youth Network , A Small Miracle and ACI-Dungarvin (North Carolina) , for having attendees who came to the legislature! If we missed anyone else who came to Raleigh, we apologize and hope you will let us know you were there! We had a fantastic press conference with Representative...
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Self-Care for Resource Parents
Self-care is the golden key to obtaining personal wellness. As a parent, I have seen how practicing self-care can really make a difference between surviving and thriving. Every stage of parenting has its unique challenges, but often resource parents experience additional stressors that naturally come with caring for children involved in child welfare. Whether it is helping a child prepare for a family visit, dealing with another delayed court date, or a long sleepless night, foster parents...
Member
Brandi Byers
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Interpersonal Violence Effects on Mother and Her Unborn Child: Implications from the Womb throughout the Lifespan
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. During this month, efforts to increase awareness regarding interpersonal violence are more prominent via media outlets and community events. Though interpersonal violence affects many different groups, a particularly vulnerable group are pregnant women. According to research by University of California at San Francisco, twenty percent (20%) of women experience violence during pregnancy. Experiencing interpersonal violence is more common...
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Healing Trauma Through Animal Assisted Interventions
Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence (PFE) project works to connect youth and families involved with the child welfare system, who screen positive for trauma, with a trauma-intensive mental health assessment known as the TiCCA. The TiCCA, or trauma-intensive comprehensive clinician assessment, is a 6-10 hour holistic assessment where specially trained clinicians dive deep to assess for the impact trauma has had on their client’s functioning and identify any related needs. The goal of the...
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Pitt County Department of Social Services Hosts Annual 'Bready Bear' Event
Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) project works closely with local child welfare agencies to implement trauma-informed shifts in the community. This is done through educating the community on the effects of trauma while also working with local child welfare agencies to screen youth who become involved and connect them with a Trauma Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment (TiCCA). As a result, we know many of our youth in foster care experience higher rates of trauma than their...
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Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Trauma
The month of October is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness month. As systems and the people who make up those systems become more trauma-informed and trauma-aware, there is more attention drawn to the intersection and differences between this disorder and trauma. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as ADHD, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects adults and children. ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders amongst children ages 2-17...
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Warning: Positive Changes Ahead!
Benchmarks is pleased to announce the implementation of a new project which seeks to improve the lives of children in the child welfare system. In conjunction with Vaya Health, a Medicaid managed care organization in North Carolina, we are excited to begin this important work. We believe this project has the potential to greatly impact the services children receive, the way professionals work together, and enhance the lives of the families we serve. Benchmarks has proven success in project...