Tagged With "School Suspension Programs"
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Rockstar Recognition
Benchmarks’ PFE would like to take a moment to “shout-out” one of the Rockstar members of our ClevePart Partnership. Alison Clark is the Permanency Planning Program Manager at Cleveland County DSS and one of our amazing trauma champions. Alison recently received the Local Government Credit Union Innovation Award for 2018 for her efforts in a local initiative she developed to boost foster parent recruitment and adoption efforts in the county. The innovative initiative that landed Alison the...
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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 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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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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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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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 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) 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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Community Resiliency Model (CRM) Orientation Training: Trauma-Informed Communities (TiC), Trauma-Aware Communities (TaC), Trauma-Responsive Communities (TrC)
Last week, Benchmarks hosted an all-day orientation training on the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) for twenty-two participants in Salisbury, North Carolina. This orientation is a prerequisite for the sixteen participants who will be attending the four-day train-the-trainer training offered by the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI), which will be held in early July in Thomasville, North Carolina. Since Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) staff have been very supportive regarding the...
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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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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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Look Out, PFE is Growing...
Last week Benchmarks’ PFE had its first round of meetings in the Eastern part of North Carolina. After several years focusing our efforts in the Central and Triad regions of North Carolina, in July, the Duke Endowment approved expansion of the project into Pitt and Craven counties in partnership with Trillium. In addition to being in new stomping grounds, this expansion will be PFE’s first time attempting to lift more than one county at once while also using dual funding sources. To date,...
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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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PFE Booster
Have you ever needed a boost ? Perhaps it was just a little help to make you taller or did you need a few encouraging words that could help redirect your path? The staff at Cleveland County DSS were showing signs that they needed a boost up after implementing the Partnering For Excellent (PFE) initiative in Cleveland County, NC almost four years ago. With changes in leadership, staff and organizational structure, including the welcome of a new director, along with general fatigue and...
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PFE Presents at The 32nd Annual Research and Policy Conference on Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Behavioral Health
Earlier this month, Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) Program Manager, Jasmine Cain and Ollie Harris Behavioral Health Center's Director, Katie Munger presented in collaboration at the 32 nd Annual Research and Policy Conference on Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Behavioral Health in Tampa, Florida. This collaboration began in an effort to assess the need for trauma-informed behavioral health services for adults in Cleveland County. As a result of Benchmarks’ PFE goal to...
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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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New Name- More Great Work
Greetings! You haven’t heard from Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) since our world changed in March. We have been busy on the ground making sure that our social services system and mental health system had all of our attention as we worked to navigate these uncertain times. As we make our way to a “new normal”, we are back and better than ever. In the near future, you will see a revamped site with information about another exciting project being shared. To that end, we are...
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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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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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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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Labor of Love: Why TiCCAs? A Clinical Coach Conversation
In an increasingly stressful, productivity driven world, one might ask themselves, “Why would mental health professionals add more to their plates? Why would they agree to do a Trauma Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment (TiCCA) for clients, rather than a regular Comprehensive Clinical Assessment (CCA)? Are we just reinventing the wheel?” Benchmarks’ Clinical Coaches, Jacqueline Millican-Crabb, LCSW, LCAS, CCS of Nazareth Child & Family Connection, and Celena Ditz, MS, LMFT of...
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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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Rockingham County Youth Services Rockstar Spotlight
Rockingham County Youth Services (RCYS) is a local county government agency in Rockingham County, NC that provides counseling and other community alternatives for school-aged youth and their families. RCYS began in Rockingham County in 1979 as a program for troubled youth. Since then, the agency has evolved to provide programs that include counseling for children and adolescents, parenting classes, as well as programs ranging from teen court to substance abuse prevention. The evolution of...
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Nazareth Child & Family Connection: Empowering Youth and Families
Nazareth Child and Family Connection has been a vital member to Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) partnership since 2012. While they offer amazing services to the children and family involved in the project, Nazareth is also a huge contributor to innovative and best practice in and around their community. Nazareth was founded in 1906 and has since continued to provide an array of services to meet the needs of children and families located in Rowan and Davidson Counties. Their...
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An Introduction to Support, Incorporated
We are pleased to announce one of our partnering clinical agencies for Burke and Rutherford counties within the Standardized Assessment Protocol project--Support, Incorporated! Support, Inc, which was founded in 2001, is located in Gaston, Lincoln, Cleveland, and Catawba County and is contracted with several Managed Care Organizations within North Carolina. Support, Inc has a strong clinical model that incorporates behavioral practices and ecosystemic principles—they aim to combine both...
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Brandi Byers
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FREE WEBINAR - The Impact of Mind Matters: Preliminary Evidence of Effectiveness in a Community-Based Sample
Becky Antle, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work and esteemed University Scholar at the University of Louisville, won The Dibble Institute’s national competition to evaluate Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience in 2019. As a result, Dr. Antle and her colleagues have conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Mind Matters on a host of outcomes related to trauma symptoms, emotional regulation, coping and resiliency, and interpersonal skills for at-risk...
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Benchmarks Engages in Local Efforts to Mirror Statewide Health Integration
For those who may not be aware, July 1, 2021, North Carolina (NC) launched a large transformation within its Medicaid program, referred to as Medicaid Transformation. Prior to this transformation, Medicaid recipients’ physical and behavioral health needs were handled as separate issues because of “ how” and “ where” funds were managed. For recipients, this separation often resulted in service dis-cohesion for those with co-morbidities or co-occurring mental and physical health needs. Since...
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Partnering to Care for Families: Highlighting the Work of Integrated Family Services
Benchmarks’ Center for Quality Integration (CQi) would like to say Happy Anniversary to our partners at Integrated Family Services! A year ago, the agency made the decision to join the Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) initiative between Trillium Health Resources and two of their partnering child welfare organizations in Pitt and Craven counties. Since joining, Integrated Family Services (IFS) has been more than just a stellar partner. Their commitment to collaborating with...
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Saying Farewell: Rockingham County Continues SAP Independently
Rockingham County Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services (RCDHHS-DSS) began their journey with the Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) in 2019. During this time, the DSS staff have worked to increase their knowledge of trauma-informed practices to best meet the needs of children entering permanency planning. The SAP process includes timely screening for trauma in order to quickly identify a child’s need for further assessment, so that they are more likely to...
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Nature RX – How Nature-Based Interventions Can Support Healing & Well-Being in the Face of Trauma
Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence (PFE) joins forces with County Department of Social Services offices, LME/MCOs, and private providers to address the trauma related needs of children involved in the child welfare system. Knowing that children involved in child welfare are more likely to experience trauma than their non-involved peers, the partnerships work to screen these children for trauma and connect them to an assessment to address their needs. In response, Benchmarks designed the...
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A Full-Circle Moment
Approximately every six weeks, each Benchmarks Center for Quality Integration team member is responsible for a blog post on our PACEs Connection page. Each month, one blog is a Partner Spotlight which highlights the incredible work happening across the state of North Carolina. For the month of May, Benchmarks Consultant, Sharron Roberts authored our partner spotlight blog where she shared about her “full-circle moment” below. My search to highlight a partner in our Pathways to Permanency...
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Children’s Center of Northwest North Carolina: SAP Provider Spotlight
The Benchmarks’ Standardized Assessment Project (SAP) and Surry County’s SAP Leadership Team welcome The Children’s Center of Northwest North Carolina as our newest Trauma-Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment (TiCCA) provider! The Children’s Center of Northwest North Carolina (Children’s Center) provides a wide array of programs and services for children and families in the Northwestern region of North Carolina. Community Relations Coordinator, Valerie Smith, states “The Children’s...
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Standardized Assessment Protocol Pilot Is Expanding to In Home Family Services
Benchmarks recently completed implementation of the Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) in Burke, Rutherford, and Surry Counties, with a target population of children and youth involved in foster care. The process implemented was specifically for children and youth ages four and older, with the goal of assisting the child and family’s access to a quality, evidence-informed trauma assessment. We refer to this assessment as the Benchmarks Trauma Intensive Comprehensive Clinical Assessment...
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Implementing Trauma Training at Cabarrus County DSS
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act to “raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events.” This unique network of frontline providers, family members, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S.
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Vaya's Pathways to Permanency Project: Utilizing (b)(3) Respite to Support School Suspension
Since 2021 Benchmarks has been consulting with Vaya Health on a project called Pathways to Permanency . This project aims to coordinate efforts between Vaya, County DSS offices, and mental health providers to ensure youth in foster care have access to high quality behavioral health services. To better understand the needs of children, families, and professionals within Vaya’s catchment, landscape analyses and several focus groups were conducted. Main themes from initial discoveries were then...
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Prevention Team Success at Cabarrus County DSS
Benchmarks would like to draw attention to the phenomenal work being done by the Cabarrus County DSS Prevention Team. The Prevention Team was established in 2018 with two social workers on a mission: ensuring families were connected to needed community resources resulting in no further referrals for mandatory services (services mandated by the state to families when Child Protective Service reports meet the general statue definition of abuse, neglect, or dependency). By focusing on the...
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Successful Program Planning: How to Create Focus-Driven Solutions
One of the hardest things to do in project management is to define goals and objectives for your project. While it seems like a relatively simple task, clarifying goals and objectives that directly tie to the identified problems can be particularly difficult in the beginning stages of a project. This can especially be the case in health and human service-related fields where the aims of projects are often to solve complex issues that are compounded by systemic and political barriers. Due to...
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May is National Foster Care Month: Supporting Children and Families
National Foster Care Month is an important initiative led by the Children's Bureau, a national organization that partners with federal, state, tribal, and local agencies to improve the overall health and well-being of children and families across the country. During this month, the bureau takes the time to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of foster parents, family members, volunteers, mentors, policymakers, and child welfare professionals who work tirelessly to help children and...
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The 2023 Creating Resilient Communities Accelerator Program is now Open For Registration
PACEs Connection is excited to kick off our 2023 Creating Resilient Communities (CRC) Annual Accelerator Program.
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New! Benchmarks Supportive Supervision Training Workshop
Effective supervision and leadership are crucial for the success and engagement of organizations and their employees. However, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges for many organizations, including staff retention and providing adequate training for new hires, especially those in management positions. Recognizing these concerns, Benchmarks has developed a groundbreaking training curriculum called “Supportive Supervision”. This comprehensive program,...
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Creating Placement Stability for Children in Foster Care
Last month was National Foster Care Awareness month and in our May blog we emphasized the importance of caring for this specific population. This month, we are highlighting one of the most important aspects of promoting resilience for children placed in foster care: placement stability. As you may know, 99% of children in foster care experience some type of traumatic event. Despite the child welfare system’s best efforts, trauma can be exacerbated by the child’s involvement with the system,...