Tagged With "Substance Use Prevention"
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Resilience Screening in Cleveland County
Recently, Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence partnered with Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) to host a community screening of the film Resilience in our Cleveland County-Partners Behavioral Health Management partnership. The screening provided the opportunity for the community to come together to learn not only about the impact trauma has on developing youth and their families but also on the importance of building resilient communities to support them. To introduce the film,...
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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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SaySo and Karen McLeod Honored at NC Child’s Voices for Children Breakfast
The 2019 Voices for Children Breakfast was hosted by NC Child earlier this month. Members of the child advocacy community came together to celebrate achievements in their work with families and children and recognize leaders who have made a difference. SaySo (Strong Able Youth Speaking Out) was awarded the first-ever Community Voices Award. SaySo is a statewide association of youth aged 14 to 24 who are, or have been, in the North Carolina foster care system. As youth who have first-hand...
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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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The Best Defense Against a Hurricane is Community (CityLab) + Update from Wilmington, NC
We are just beginning the clean up and recovery from Florence. The effects of the storm will be with us for the foreseeable future. But our resilience is showing. Neighbors checking on one another, organizations delivering emergency supplies, and people sharing hot meals prepared and donated by volunteers. We will get through this. https://www.citylab.com/amp/article/570193/?__twitter_impression=true
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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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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 Annual Meeting: Reflections on Dr. Sandra Bloom's Presentation
Earlier this week, Benchmarks North Carolina hosted our annual meeting for executive leaders and membership to celebrate progress over the last year and visions for the year to come. In order to assist members in continuing to set the Benchmarks standard for years to come, each year innovative leaders from the fields of practice, policy, technology, and research are invited to present. This year, members had the fortunate experience of listening to this year’s speaker, Dr. Sandra Bloom,...
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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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Broken Places in Cleveland County, NC on November 19, 2019
BROKEN PLACES explores why some children are severely damaged by early adversity while others are able to thrive. By revisiting some of the abused and neglected children we profiled decades ago, we’re able to dramatically illustrate how early trauma shaped their lives as adults. BROKEN PLACES interweaves these longitudinal narratives with commentary from a few nationally renowned experts to help viewers better understand the devastating impact of childhood adversity as well as the inspiring...
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Broken Places Strengthens Cleveland County
In the historical novel, A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway made a significant observation regarding trauma and resiliency. He wrote “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger in the Broken Places .” These very words inspired Roger Weisberg, writer, producer and director, to create a unique film that reexamined four decades of film footage in relation to the impact of toxic stress on children. Thus, the film, Broken Places, was produced by Weisberg who invited the viewer into the...
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Community Broken Places Screening in Rowan County
Last week, the Stop Intergenerational Trauma (SiT) workgroup, part of Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence, hosted a free screening of the documentary Broken Places open to everyone in the community. Broken Places revisits three different families that were filmed 15-30 years ago to see how the toxic stress and trauma that they experienced has affected them over the years. It turns out that some people are really damaged by toxic stress and trauma, while others are able to thrive, and the...
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Community Resiliency Model (CRM) 4-Day Training
I was incredibly fortunate to be able to attend the 4-day Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training. Our trainers were amazing! The knowledge, insight and personal experiences they each shared those days, made all the difference in how I approached what I learned during the training. Going into the training, I knew the basics about the Community Resiliency Model. After the 4 day training, I walked away with a greater understanding of the core skills for self-help and several new and...
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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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Congrats to the PFE Team!
Big CONGRATULATIONS to the PFE Team for another outstanding conference AND BIG thanks to all who joined us and supported our very exciting conference and project! We can hardly wait to see you next year. In the meantime, take a moment to watch our slideshow of highlights from our event!
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Farewell Friend: Longtime Benchmarks NC Member & PFE Champion Margie Christopher Retires
Last month, Benchmarks North Carolina celebrated another year at our Annual Dinner and Conference. While there was much to celebrate, Benchmarks had the bitter sweet privilege of honoring and saying farewell to long time member and child and family advocate Margie Christopher, Executive Director of Children’s Homes of Cleveland County (CHCC). This year’s annual meeting was the last in which long time Benchmarks member and innovative thinker Margie Christopher will have been in attendance.
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Focusing on "Creating Nurturing Systems"
In just six weeks, stakeholders from across North Carolina will get together to learn about system integration work with youth involved with child welfare. This is the third annual Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence (PFE) Conference and this year, we have decided to really focus on "Creating Nurturing Systems". While the daily work of PFE can be hard and challenges us to think of new ways to meet the needs of the family, the annual conference offers us a way to celebrate our successes and...
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From A to R: Lessons at the Child Fatality Prevention Summit
Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence Project Director, Jenny Cooper, had the opportunity to talk about everything from ACEs to Resiliency at North Carolina's Child Fatality Prevention Summit. The Summit was the first of its kind in the state and brought together Community Child Prevention Team and Child Fatality Taskforce Teams from throughout the state. While the morning plenary session spoke of ACEs and the high rates of ACEs in North Carolina, Jenny's presentation took the opportunity to...
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Good Article Alert: Should Child Trauma Be Treated as a Public Health Crisis
This article, Should Childhood Trauma Be Treated as a Public Health Crisis , is definitely a must read and is based on results from a local, NC-bread study. It reviews a 22 year longitudinal study on the experiences of individuals from the Great Smoky Mountains Study , which followed over 14oo children from mostly rural parts of western North Carolina. The article discusses the uniqueness of the study in that it avoids something that many trauma critics scrutinize studies focusing on the...
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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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Juvenile Justice Partnerships / County Collaborative Forum
Last week, Partners Behavioral Health Management held the Juvenile Justice Partnerships / County Collaborative Forum in Statesville, North Carolina. The focus of the forum was “Effectively Engaging High Risk Youth in Communities: Identifying Adolescent Substance Use Trends and Using Data to Strengthen Community Collaboration.” Eric Rowles, President and CEO of Leading to Change, led an interactive training in which he provided participants with tools and strategies to implement to connect...
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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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Old Services, New Lens: A Closer Look at DBT and MST as Trauma-Informed Models for Children
Last week Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence hosted a webinar titled “ Old Services, New Lens: A Closer Look at DBT and MST as Trauma-Informed Models for Children.” The presenters highlighted two services that are trauma-informed, but not necessarily recommended often: Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST). Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Dr. Katie Rosanbalm, Senior Research Scientist, Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, shared that DBT historically...
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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 Screening at 2019 Special Needs Mini Conference
A couple weeks ago, Partners In Learning hosted its annual Special Needs Mini Conference for anyone in the community interested in learning more about various techniques, practices, and programs that influence children, particularly those with special needs. Partners In Learning’s mission is to model the highest quality learning environment that stimulates families and the community to provide optimal growth and development of children. The focus of this year’s conference was resiliency. The...
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Re: PFE Presents at The 32nd Annual Research and Policy Conference on Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Behavioral Health
Jasmine!!! I love reading this and wish I heard you!! How have parents reacted to sharing ACEs? What gelding options are available for 2 and 3 gen approaches. Lots of us debate the use of screening in kids and adults but I love hearing from those doing it and those it’s been done to. Can I share on rider ACEs home page? Cis
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Federal Government Highlights Trauma’s Impact: Healthy People 2030
The Healthy People Initiative, launched in 1979 by the Surgeon General of the United States, was the nation’s first comprehensive health promotion plan. But prior to Healthy People 2030, the newly released plan, there had not been one objective that was specific to childhood trauma, ACEs, trauma-informed care, or toxic stress. Even with decades of research confirming the impact childhood adversity has on development, it has not been included until now! Since the inception of the Health...
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Expanding Trauma Services in Foster Care
Benchmarks is thrilled to announce the addition of two new counties to our Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) project—Burke and Rutherford Counties! Burke and Rutherford began partnering with us this summer. The two counties will work together, with Partners Behavioral Health Management and Benchmarks, to prioritize children in their foster care system who need to receive trauma-informed clinical assessments. In addition to providing their foster care system with these assessments, the...
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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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Standardized Assessment Protocol Spotlight: Surry and Yadkin Departments of Social Services
Over the past year, Surry and Yadkin Counties' Departments of Social Services have partnered with Benchmarks' Standardized Assessment Protocol pilot to bring about positive outcomes for children, ages 4 and up, in their foster care program. Both Surry and Yadkin joined the project before CoVID-19 changed every aspect of their jobs. What began as an in-person implementation project, quickly, and without warning turned into being completely virtual-- all while partnering with a coordinator...
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Rock Star Partner Highlight: Easter Seals UCP
While the COVID-19 pandemic has presented many unique challenges, it has also been a catalyst for creative solutions to help support those who need it most. This week we would like to highlight the work of Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) partner, Easter Seals UCP. Easter Seals UCP is working in partnership with PFE in Pitt and Craven county DSSes and Trillium, the area’s LME/MCO. Easter Seals UCP has taken on the challenge to help their clients and staff navigate the pandemic,...
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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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Triumphant Trillium: Medicaid Managed Care Meets the Challenges of COVID
COVID may have created many challenges, but it also cultivated resilience, perseverance, ingenuity, creativity, and solidarity between our Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) partners in Pitt and Craven county in eastern North Carolina. As 2021 begins we are still faced with many of the same challenges, but due to strong partnering we have found innovative ways that have allowed us to continue our trauma-informed work in improving the well-being of children and families that are...
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Prioritizing Partnerships with Aligning Values—An Introduction to Youth Villages
Youth Villages opened in 1986, and now provides children’s mental health services across 24 states in over 100 locations. They take pride in increasing positive outcomes for the children and families who participate in their services. In 2018, they reported 88% of the children they previously served are living successfully at home with their families 12 months after completing their programs! Youth Villages offers various programs for children and families involved with foster care. They...
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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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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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May is Mental Health Awareness Month
The month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health awareness applies to every individual, no matter their background. Mental health needs are discussed more often for adults, but it is equally important to remember that infants and children have their own unique mental health needs. A common theme the past few years regarding mental health awareness has been widely expressed using the phrase “No Health Without Mental Health.” This is very true; it is impossible for one to be...
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Partners Health Management Spotlight
Without the efforts of a dedicated multidisciplinary team, the work of the Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) would not be possible. SAP is proud to be aligned with Partners Health Management—the Local Management Entity-Managed Care Organization (or LME-MCO) for four of the six counties SAP is working with. Partners works diligently to manage services for the behavioral health care needs of those who reside in Burke, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Rutherford, Surry, and...
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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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Support is Key: How Licensed Independent Practitioners in North Carolina are Navigating Medicaid Transformation
In North Carolina, Medicaid Transformation is well under way with most beneficiaries receiving services through Medicaid Managed Care as of July 1 st , 2021. In this model, recipients choose an integrated health plan—covering both their physical and mental/behavioral health needs—from one of five prepaid health plans (PHPs) with which the state is contracted. This is a shift from North Carolina’s previous Medicaid system which separated the physical and mental/behavioral health dollars and...