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By Elizabeth Shwe, The Sacramento Bee, June 14, 2019 Drug overdose and suicide are leading causes of death among California mothers within the first year after delivery, a recent study shows. Professor Sidra Goldman-Mellor of UC Merced and Professor Claire Margerison of Michigan State University found that drug overdoses were the second-leading cause of postpartum death and suicide was the seventh in California. Both constitute around 20% of all California postpartum deaths from 2010-2012.

Voices for Virginia’s Children held The Virginia Summit on Childhood Trauma and Resilience on April 25, 2019. The Summit featured an array of workshops, including The Intersection of Racial Inequity and Trauma led by The Southside Trauma-Informed Community Network . The presenters identified and discussed the challenges of racial inequities and how trauma may later present within people of color. The supporting organization of the Southside Trauma-Informed Community Network, the Crater...

Prevent Child Abuse America, June 18, 2019. Chicago—Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America) announced today that after a nationwide search its board of directors has selected Dr. Melissa Merrick (right) as the organization’s next president and chief executive officer. Merrick brings more than 18 years of clinical, research and leadership experience related to the etiology, course and prevention of child abuse and neglect. Merrick currently serves as a senior epidemiologist at the National...

By the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 30th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT® Data Book begins by exploring how America’s child population — and the American childhood experience — has changed since 1990. And there’s some good news to share: Of the 16 areas of child well-being tracked across four domains — health, education, family and community and economic well-being — 11 have improved since the Foundation published its first Data Book 30 editions ago. The rest of the...

The ACEs research by Drs. Felitti, Anda and colleagues focused attention on the important consequences of childhood adversity for adult health. Of course, as many in the resilience-building movement recognize, adversities affect children’s health and life trajectories as well. When we recognize the powerful impacts of harsh life circumstances for children and families, it becomes clearer that social policies to strengthen household and community resources are needed as well as...

This is the second post in our two-part series about the session led by Dr. Flojaune Cofer and Ben Duncan, each from a public health background with a focus on health disparities. They addressed ACEs in the context of health equity at their panel entitled ACEs, Race, and Health Equity: Understanding and Addressing the Role of Race and Racism in ACEs Exposure and Healing. The panel occurred at the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access co-hosted by ACEs Connection and the Center for Youth...

ACEs Connection presents, "Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Online & In Real Life (IRL)", an interactive webinar training series focused on developing existing and potential online community managers and IRL ACEs champions. This series is dedicated to providing insight into creating sustainable and effective online & IRL ACEs initiatives. In this fifth session, we’ll talk about why it's so critical to tell your story far and wide. This incudes how to blog and share...

Excerpts from article by Sarah Harris from Rise Magazine . Q: What led you to work in the foster care system? A: I am a former foster youth and I’ve been a social worker at the L.A. Department of Child and Family Services for 5 years. I entered foster care through probation, and I got into probation through survival. I was breaking the law for clothes and food. In foster care, I bounced around a lot. For the most part I was AWOL. I was in group homes but I stayed with family or friends.

Excerpt from a recent Boston Globe editorial : To read full Boston Globe editorial, go here.

This information brief highlights a community-based approach to supporting families and newborns affected by substance use. MA EfC developed this brief to address the profound intersection between the Massachusetts opioid crisis, Federal mandates for the development of Plans of Safe Care for substance exposed newborns, and, the MA EfC focus on increasing social connectedness as a means to reduce child maltreatment.

Join Director Michelle Esrick and world-renowned trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk after the film for a powerful and enlightening Q & A. Wednesday May 29 th 7:30pm at the International Trauma Conference, Seaport World Trade Center, Boston, MA. Tickets: https://www.pesi.com/ traumaconference Please visit crackedupmovie.com for more information about the film and to learn how you can host a screening in your community.

By NLC Staff on May 10, 2019 Cities, towns, and villages are places of innovation and solution finding. If you want to improve early childhood wellbeing—local leaders are key partners. The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Learning Community is a program of Boston Medical Center’s Vital Village. The learning community’s goal is to support local early childhood coalitions and build their capacity to work together with the broader community to improve the wellbeing of our...