Tagged With "Office of Children's Mental Health"
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FREE WEBINAR: Creating School-Health-Community Partnerships to Improve the Lives of Children
Join the Illinois ACE’s Response Collaborative and Andrea Ortez of Partnership for Resilience to discuss how organizers, educators, and clinicians can utilize community partnerships to provide trauma-informed support to both teachers and students. Partnership for Resilience, originally known as the “Southland Education and Health Initiative,” works to increase the capacity of teachers, administrators, and health care professionals by establishing meaningful and impactful partnerships between...
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FREE WEBINAR: "Segregation Stress Syndrome": From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin
Wednesday May 29 th , 2019 10:00-11:30 CST/ 11:00-12:30 EST Join the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative for this important webinar with sociologist Ruth Thompson Miller to discuss the enduring traumatic legacy of Jim Crow and how this trauma is reflected in the United States today. Dr. Thompson Miller will discuss her idea of “Segregation Stress Syndrome”- the chronic, enduring, and extremely painful responses to collective trauma that occurred during Jim Crow, and whose effects are still...
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FREE WEBINAR: Trauma-Informed Policymaking: Leading Change in Illinois
The Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative is excited to announce our next free webinar, Trauma-Informed Policymaking: Leading Change in Illinois, on Mon. July 29 th , 1-2pm CST Increasingly used in organizational transformation and service delivery contexts, the trauma-informed framework is equally as important for policymaking and budget/resource allocation—especially given that policies have caused significant trauma to families and communities, and continue to do so today. Join us to hear...
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From Awareness to Action, with Voices of Lived Experience: Wisconsin’s Collective Impact Initiative
Perhaps it wasn’t the optimum time to update the network’s vision and values statements: a virtual meeting held in the midst of a global pandemic. But a record number of people—51, compared to the typical 30—tuned in for the May 1 Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health (OCMH) Collective Impact Council, and they gave the new values statement, which highlights inclusivity and collaboration, an enthusiastic thumbs-up. At the virtual table were members from key state departments—Children...
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Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side (Eve L. Ewing)
In the spring of 2013, approximately 12,000 children in Chicago received notice that their last day of school would be not only the final day of the year, but also the final day of their school’s very existence. The nation’s third largest school district would eventually shutter 53 schools, citing budget limitations, building underutilization, and concerns about academic performance. Of the thousands of displaced students, 94% were low-income and 88% were African-American, leading critics to...
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Guest View: Helping students deal with trauma [TheSouthern.com]
There is nothing more motivating for teachers and school support staff than identifying ways they can reach students. That is happening statewide as the Illinois Education Association, with 135,000 union members, addresses the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the ability of students to learn. New brain research proves ACEs, recurring experiences that create such trauma that the brain literally changes, lead to behaviors such as fighting, fleeing or shutting down.
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Heartland Alliance's Social Impact Research Center Releases Data on the Intersection of Poverty, Violence, and Trauma
In, Cycle of Risk: The Intersection of Poverty, Violence, and Trauma, our latest annual report on Illinois poverty, IMPACT has taken a comprehensive look at how a lack of resources, dwindling opportunities, historical oppression, and more fuel the violence crisis within our state. They create a cycle of poverty, violence, and trauma that has gone unaddressed and underfunded. (report attached)
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Helping at-risk children can help fight Illinois’ opioid problems, police and state’s attorneys say [SJ-R.com]
Police chiefs, sheriffs and state’s attorneys called on Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly to maintain about $17 million to human service programs and add $50 million to early childhood programs to prevent future opiate addicts. Helping at-risk children, particularly with home visits from human services officials, is a proven part of a winning strategy to fighting the opioid epidemic in Illinois, according to the law enforcement officials with the group Fight Crime: Invest...
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Helping Students Overcome Toxic Stress through Science-Based Teaching Practices (stresshealth.org)
“What our students really crave the most is predictability from the adults interacting with them,” says Roger Sapp, a student success teacher at KIPP. For that reason, the one-on-one session is not a reward for being “good” or withheld if something bad happens. The kids who need it can count on it – every day. The scene is from a video by Edutopia (aka the George Lucas Educational Foundation), which has produced a series of more than 20 powerful, engaging shorts on how children learn in...
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Illinois Governor Signs Law to Include Social-Emotional Screening in School Health Exams
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and Diana Rauner, President of Ounce of Prevention Fund _____________________________________________ Consistent with being the first state to adopt standards for social emotional learning (SEL) in the country, Illinois recently passed legislation (SB 565, Public Act 99-0927 ) to require social and emotional screenings for children as part of the their school entry examinations. Governor Rauner (R) signed the bill on January 20. It goes into effect June 1 of...
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Invitation: March 19th, Trauma Informed Care for Children and Families Act
You’re invited to join U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Representative Danny Davis at a news conference announcing the introduction of the Trauma Informed Care for Children and Families Act which addresses the lack of identification, referral, and immediate support for children who experience trauma in the Chicago metropolitan area and throughout the nation. The bill aims to provide the tools parents, teachers, doctors, service providers, and first responders need to identify and understand...
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Jones: Day 2: Soda, cigarettes and trauma: How Adverse Childhood Experiences alter brain chemistry, cultivate unhealthy habits and prompt premature death
Patients would carry soda into Dr. Gerard Clancy’s office, with cigarettes tucked away for after therapy. Often victims of abuse or violent crime, they would seek soothing but risky behaviors to cope. Overweight. Chronic pain. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Type II diabetes. His former patients will die younger than they should, he said. Clancy conducted therapy sessions until he became president of the University of Tulsa in 2016. At his psychiatry clinic, he saw firsthand how a...
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Leading Organizations Partner on a Campaign to Heal Childhood Trauma [prweb.com]
“Calo Programs partners with three non-profits, on a five-city, childhood trauma awareness bus tour, ending on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Calo Programs , innovators in healing the effects of early life trauma in young people, is partnering with three of the nation's leading authorities on attachment, trauma and adoption: the American Adoption Congress (AAC), the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) and the Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh). Together...
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Life Expectancy by Zip Code: Where You Live Affects How Long You Live
Life expectancy is highly correlated with ACE scores and complex childhood trauma. Enter your address or zip code to know what the health outcomes are in your neighborhoods and communities. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Life Expectancy Calculator
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Local Organizations honored for Trauma-Informed Awareness Day [Daily-Journal.com]
The Daily Journal staff report | May 15, 2019 Illinois is one step closer to becoming a trauma-informed state. Senate Resolution 99 and House Resolution 248, sponsored by state Sen. Julie Morrison and Rep. Karina Villa, designates May 15 as Illinois’ Inaugural Trauma-Informed Awareness Day to highlight the impact of trauma and the importance of prevention and resilience through trauma-informed care. Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a proclamation recognizing May as Mental Health Awareness Month and...
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MAY 15TH- Trauma-Informed Awareness Day in Illinois!
The Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative is excited to honor the first Trauma-Informed Awareness Day in Illinois! Conceived by the Community Behavioral Health Association of Illinois and supported by research conducted by the Collaborative, Trauma-Informed Awareness Day is sponsored by State Senator Julie Morrison of Deerfield, as well as numerous others who have joined the senator in recognizing the importance of trauma-informed care and resilience. Trauma-Informed Care Day calls upon the...
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"Moving from Understanding to Implementing Trauma-Responsive Services" Takeaways from SAMSHA Forum in Johnson City 9.5.19
Speakers and guests at the SAMSHA Forum included (l-r) Mary Rolando of the Department of Children's Services; Chrissy Haslam, First Lady of Tennessee; Dr. Joan Gillece, SAMSHA Center for Trauma Informed Care; Dr. Andi Clements, East Tennessee State University; Becky Haas, Johnson City Police Department; Carey Sipp, ACEs Connection, and Robin Crumley, Boys & Girls Club of Johnson City/Washington County. It was easy to be both inspired and a bit overwhelmed at the Substance Abuse and...
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National Council for Behavioral Health Conference #NatCon19
Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the annual National Council for Behavioral Health Conference. I have been to my fair share of conferences but #NatCon19 was one of the best. First, I'm biased. It took place in my city, Nashville, TN . And the venue was the world renowned Opryland Hotel's Gaylord Convention Center . And, I love, love, love the Opryland Hotel ! As any seasoned conference goer, I had a strategy when it came to which sessions and events I wanted to attend. My game...
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New Community!!! Ardmore OK Behavioral Health Collaborative
I'm excited to announce the newest ACEs Connection geographic community for my region, the Midwest & TN: Ardmore OK Behavioral Health Collaborative . This community is a partnership of local organizations taking a trauma-informed stance on behavioral health in Carter County, OK. Their goal is to build a healthy, connected and resilient community. The community manager is Ashley Godwin . Ashley Godwin joined Ardmore Behavioral Health Collaborative in March 2017 as the Director where she...
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New Member of Congress—Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL)—brings laser focus on toxic stress at hearing on immigration
At a March 6 hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) addressed the impact of family separation on the mental and physical health of children at the border. Her questions to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen focused on the impact of toxic stress caused by family separation on short and long-term health outcomes for children. Sec. Nielsen was unfamiliar with the concept of “toxic stress.” Here’s a short description of the 6-minute exchange...
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Nobel Winner’s Research Shows Home Nurse Visits for New Moms Boost Children’s Cognitive Skills
Professor Heckman’s latest research is a critical analysis of the Memphis Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program. This research puts a widely-known voluntary home visiting program through its most rigorous analysis to date and finds short- and long-term impacts for mothers and their children. Select download to review the full academic paper. Links to report here: https://heckmanequation.org/resource/analysis-memphis-nurse-family-partnership-program/
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Older, out, and infinitely proud: a look inside a lifesaving LGBTQ senior home. (upworthy.com)
An alarming 2010 study discovered just 22% of LGBTQ seniors felt comfortable being "out" to health care workers. Many respondents had been harassed or refused basic services because they were LGBTQ; some, incredibly, reported being told that they were being "prayed over" or that they'd "go to hell" because of who they loved or how they identified. Instead of facing these abuses, many LGBTQ seniors said it was easier to simply blend in — even if it meant becoming invisible. A safe place to...
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Positive Childhood Experiences offset ACEs: Q & A with Dr. Robert Sege about HOPE
Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...
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Positive Childhood Experiences offset ACEs: Q & A with Dr. Robert Sege about HOPE
Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...
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Power of Networks Tapped for National Trauma Campaign
In a mid-April conference call led by the Campaign for Trauma Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP), participants from around the country—many of them active in ACEs, trauma and resilience networks—discussed the wave of trauma that is certain to slam communities in the wake of COVID-19. They also cheered a bit of hopeful news: the announcement of $3 billion in federal funding, the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, a portion of the CARES Act. The funds are flexible block grants for...
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Preventing Early Childhood Adversity Before It Starts: Maximizing Medicaid Opportunities
Full Article here by Alexandra Maul, MPH and Stephen A. Somers, PhD The first 1,000 days of a child’s life are a critical window for cognitive, physical, and social development. Exposure to adverse experiences during this period and beyond in early childhood dramatically increases the potential for lifelong poor health and social outcomes. This in turn can result in substantially increased health care costs across an individual’s life span. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — including...
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Providers Hope Trauma Legislation Will Help Native Children in Foster Care [ChornicleOfSocialChange.org]
Recent federal legislation put forward by senators Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) proposes to address the issue of childhood trauma through the creation of a federal trauma task force. The Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act would gather federal officials and members of tribal agencies to create a set of best practices and training to help create a better way to identify and support children and families that have experienced trauma. In...
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Racism Kills: What Community-Level Interventions Can Do About It [Rewire.news]
In the first two installments of this series, we addressed promising approaches for buffering the impact of racism on health—learning cognitive and emotional strategies, known as self-regulation , for coping with stress and building cultural connections that buffer the impacts of toxic stress. Both of those arenas are born out of social science research showing a connection between these elements and improved health outcomes, even in the face of significant adversity. But these individual...
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SHRIVER CENTER POLICY BRIEF: Exploring Racial Equity for Infants and Toddlers
FROM BRIEF: We all benefit when a child receives a strong start in life. Policymakers now recognize that investments in a child’s first years will pay dividends for society throughout the rest of the child’s life. Waiting until a child reaches preschool age at 3 or 4 may well be too late to provide the support parents and caregivers need to give children a fair start in life, especially children starting with economic disadvantage and facing racial bias. BRIEF LOCATED HERE: ...
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Teens are anxious and depressed, and turning to the school nurse for help. But most Illinois schools don’t have one. (chicagotribune.com)
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 in 20, or 2.6 million, U.S. children ages 6 to 17 had current anxiety or depression diagnosed by a health care provider in 2011-12. School nurses in Illinois say the increase is evident in the students from elementary to high school who enter their offices each day, requiring not only bandages and ice packs but also a quiet space to break from stress. Nurses now have to schedule meetings with parents about their child’s...
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The Interplay of Community Trauma, Diet, and Physical Activity: Solutions for Public Health
By Howard Pinderhughes, PhD, University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing August 7, 2017 DISCUSSION PAPER Perspectives | Expert Voices in Health & Health Care Diet- and activity-related illnesses—such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and type 2 diabetes—can shorten life spans and adversely impact quality of life. Over the past 15 years, the public health field has made important progress in addressing these illnesses by shifting the focus from individual behavior to the...
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The Relationship Between Community Violence and Trauma: How violence affects learning, health, and behavior
From report: Research on trauma is frequently featured in mainstream news outlets, pointing to its connection to a range of behavioral and health outcomes. While trauma can have multiple interpretations, for the purposes of this report, it is the result of experiencing or witnessing chronic and sustained violence, or specific events that can have lasting effects on individuals. Researchers have identified 13 distinct types of trauma, including community violence. Community violence is an...
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The Strong and Stressed Black Woman By Inger E. Burnett-Zeigler [The New York Times]
Ms. T., 75, came to see me for therapy after a man stole her purse. He was in a car and lured her over under the guise of asking directions. Then he grabbed her bag and stepped on the accelerator. She was dragged halfway down the block before she let go. When I saw her a month later, she was still in physical pain from her injuries and emotional pain from having endured a traumatic experience. Ms. T. had raised three successful children as a single mother, while enjoying a prosperous career...
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Toxic stress is a public health crisis, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris tells Erikson audience [erikson.edu]
For years, pediatrician Dr. Nadine Burke Harris treated children’s chronic conditions the way she was taught in medical school: Prescribing medication to ease symptoms. But it was a conversation with a 10-year-old patient’s mother that got her thinking differently. “The mother said to me, and I’ll never forget this, ‘I noticed my daughter’s asthma acts up every time her dad punches a hole in the wall,’” Dr. Burke Harris told a crowd of Erikson Institute supporters, alumni, faculty, and staff...
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Trauma-Informed Awareness Day in Illinois: Reflections and Resources
As we enter summer here in Chicago, the Illinois ACEs Collaborative is excited to take time to reflect on Trauma-Informed Awareness Day in Illinois, which took place on May 15th. We'd also like to offer up several resources for you to celebrate and integrate trauma-informed practices into your own organization, communities, and state.
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Treating Childhood Trauma Becoming a Public Policy Priority [governing.com]
There’s a lot that’s indisputable about childhood trauma. Emotional or physical abuse early in life impacts health outcomes as children grow up. Community- and family-based approaches to dealing with trauma are better than institutional settings. And children of color are more likely to face traumatizing childhood experiences. Those events can include something as common as divorce, but also encompass circumstances such as having an incarcerated parent, living with someone with a substance...
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Webinar - Beyond Bars: Keeping Young People Safe at Home and Out of Youth Prisons
Cosponsored by National Collaboration for Youth, Youth Advocate Programs, Inc., and Youth First Initiative. Here is the link to register for a webinar discussing the December report Beyond Bars: Keeping Young People Safe at Home and out of Youth Prisons in more detail, delving into core components of building a community-based continuum of care for system-involved youth. Overwhelming evidence shows that youth prisons are harmful, ineffective and excessively expensive. Youth in prison are...
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WEBINAR: Creating Healing Communities
Join the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative on June 28th for a free webinar on "Creating Healing Communities." Lynn Todman, Ph.D., M.P.C. and Collaborative member Elena Quintana, Ph.D. will illustrate the link between the social determinants of health, wide spread trauma and emotional unrest, and inequality in Southwest Michigan. The discussion will underscore a need for basic education on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) which can lead to changes in thinking, and promote policy and...
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Webinar: Defining and Unpacking the Social Determinants of Health & Health Equity
Join the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) on November 29 as it hosts the first webinar in its Culture of Health Webinar Series. Date/Time : November 29, 2018, 4:00 – 5:00 pm EST The National Academies report Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity identified 9 social determinants of health and how these determinants impact our health and the health of our communities. The report also defined health equity as the state in which everyone has the opportunity to attain full health...
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WEBINAR: Family and Youth Engagement in School-Justice Partnerships: Voices from the Field
From the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice: This webinar will highlight the need for authentic family and youth engagement in School-Justice Partnership work, with an emphasis on the challenge of engaging parents, other caregivers, and youth in diversion opportunities that address behavioral health needs. Excerpts from a new podcast series called "Strategies to Build Family and Youth Engagement in School Responder Models" will be shared, elevating the family and youth...
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Webinar Learning Series begins tomorrow: State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity, Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST (1:00 PM EST)
Reminder of tomorrow's ( Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST/1:00 PM EST) webinar on State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and...
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Webinar Learning Series: State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity, January 10, 10am PST (1:00 PM EST)
Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and Highlights from Oregon, Tennessee, and Wisconsin Date: January 10th, 10AM PST (1:00 PM EST) Speakers: Elizabeth Prewitt, Policy Analyst, ACEs...
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Webinar To Discuss Mental Health and Wellness for Law Enforcement and Their Support
This webinar will concentrate on the mental health and wellness of law enforcement professionals and their support systems. Presenters will identify and discuss signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma, explore four stress reaction levels, provide helpful coping mechanisms; and offer available resources to law enforcement professionals, their families and friends. ...
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What If I Told You?
What if I told you that I was a victim of child sex abuse? As a survivor of child sexual abuse , I have a clear understanding of the importance of addressing stigma and shame as it pertains to sexual abuse, sexual assault and rape. Victims, especially young children, often do not disclose sexual abuse. Those who are witnesses of child sexual abuse, or who are trusted by survivors enough that they confide in them, are often ill-equipped to handle the responsibility. And, many times, parents...
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What's Next? Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative Deepens Efforts as Momentum Grows Across the State [MARC.HealthFederation.org]
It was more than a piece of parchment bearing the governor’s signature. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s resolution declaring May 15, 2019 as the state’s first Trauma-Informed Awareness Day marked a high-level recognition that, where state policy is concerned, trauma matters.
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Wisconsin state agencies end year one of trauma-informed learning community; goal is to be first trauma-informed state
Here in California, many people think that it’s only liberal Democrats who have a corner on championing the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and putting it into practice. That might be because people who use ACEs science don’t expel or suspend students, even if they’re throwing chairs and hurling expletives at the teacher. They ask "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?" as a frame when they create juvenile detention centers where kids don’t fight, reduce...
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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2018 Building Strong Brains Tennessee ACEs Summit
The 2018 Building Strong Brains Tennessee ACEs Summit took place last week in Nashville, TN. The theme of this year’s summit was “Celebrating Successes and Imagining Possibilities” and there is plenty to celebrate. Tennessee is one of the most innovative states when it comes to ACEs awareness. Tennessee understands that childhood trauma is the root cause of its poor health outcomes, high rates of addiction and other ailments. And Tennessee is doing something about it. Tennessee’s leadership...