A doctorate and still not understanding the number one health problem on the planet. I am however glad to see it changing. Unfortunately, it's a field with job security I'd rather not have. I agree completely: trauma is the root of many ills. My teacher told me if I want to change the world, heal trauma. Since that's what he taught me to do, that's what I'm doing.

No, we don’t need the president nor congress. We do need the following people in your county to stop business as usual and focus on preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). City mayors City counselors County commissioners School board members These local elected leaders—many of them your neighbors and colleagues—have the capacity to collectively understand the emotional and financial costs of ACEs and trauma. We can’t have family-friendly cities and counties while we live in an...

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) is the only nonprofit in Minnesota to focus on the prevention of child abuse and neglect before it starts. One way we do this is by educating communities about how our early experiences shape lifelong health and well-being. A lot of our work is influenced by the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, which showed that certain experiences in childhood can cause toxic stress and result in physical changes in brain development. Using a...

One of the first sessions of the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access discussed the barriers and opportunities for increasing access in the field of education. The main question was: "How can one achieve systematic changes within the field of education?" The session was moderated by Michelle Flowers, a passionate advocate, and the principal of Kinney High in Rancho Cordova, CA, which is part of the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. It included a dynamic and diverse panel of education...

The Midwest ACE Summit will take place in Minnesota on November 10th and 11th. We hope that you will join us for this opportunity to connect and learn with others across the state and region! We are currently inviting presentation proposals from folks across the Midwest who would like to facilitate workshop (breakout) sessions. The deadline for submissions is August 1st . For more information, please see the attached RFP form. Please share this form across your networks! For more information...

The Mother-Baby Program at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has received a transformational gift to create a Center for Family Healing to support the health and wellbeing of children and families, rooted in core values of equity, social justice, and the healing power of relationships. The Center for Family Healing is seeking applicants for the Director of Operations position that will provide strategic and operational oversight of the five components of the Center:...

Regional ACE Training Coordinator- Southwest MN Job Profile and Reporting Relationships The Regional ACE Training Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the organization’s ACE Interface training and Self-Healing Communities program partnership with Family Service Collaboratives and Children’s Mental Health Collaboratives in their region in coordination with the Director of ACE Collaborative Partnerships. This position plays a key network weaving role in the learning community approach...

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...

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) is the home of Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota and the Minnesota Circle of Parents. Our programs are focused on building healthy communities and families where all children thrive . Our mission is to empower parents and communities to build supportive relationships, nurture children, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Currently we are hiring an Evaluation and Community Education Manager. This role is responsible for leading the organization’s...

Growing up in today's world is NOT easy. I have heard hundreds of students tell me this. Despite this fact, many of them have also told me that many of the adults in their lives don't seem to understand this, including parents, teachers, and society. Adults who are disconnected from the reality of the lives of the youth that they are around will not be able to completely understand how to provide the support that might be needed for those youth needing it most. I recently met a young woman...

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) is a statewide nonprofit organization that empowers parents and builds the capacity of communities to create environments where all children thrive. Our mission is to empower parents and communities to build supportive relationships, nurture children, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Interested in helping MN Communities Caring for Children carry out our mission of empowering individuals and communities to stop child abuse and neglect...

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) is a statewide nonprofit organization that empowers parents and builds the capacity of communities to create environments where all children thrive. Our mission is to empower parents and communities to build supportive relationships, nurture children, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Job Profile The Evaluation and Community Education Manager is responsible for coordinating the organization’s ACE Interface training program and network of...

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) is currently seeking applicants for a new position – the Community Education and Engagement Manager. This position will coordinate and support a variety of MCCC education and outreach activities statewide, including coordination of the network of MN ACE Interface Trainers and Presenters. For more information or to apply, click here.

Over the past three years, Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) has worked to raise awareness about brain development, ACEs, and resilience statewide using the national ACE Interface curriculum. To date the organization has trained more than 130 Minnesotans from diverse communities to present this curriculum and help foster community responses. This summer, Maxine Freedman of Macalester College interviewed 29 members of MCCC's network to assess the impact of this work on...

#WARonSlavery

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...

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...

Cissy's note: This is a great podcast for parents, educators, and community organizers and change makers. It is an interview with @Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz interviewed by Danny Bowers "Sunshine" of Better Leaders Better Schools . Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz says things like, " We all need each other. Everyone here is important," and " The community is who we are," but they aren't inclusive-sounding platitudes. She is a tireless optimist but also understands, personally and professionally, how...

With Lowell Johnson, ACEs Resiliency Coalition; Emily Clary, Minnesota Communities Caring for Children Learn about significant progress being made in reducing the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and early childhood trauma, through examples of some of the successes that three communities experienced in Washington State, and sharing conversations with people doing this work in Washington State. Watch the full webinar here

For folks in Central Minnesota consider attending the ACE's Cafes. See flyer attached below.

Great to see this in Minnesota! So much good stuff going on there. Congrats, Barb!

We are hiring for a Director of Tribal Projects position at FamilyWise Services ! This position will support the mission of Familywise by leading prevention initiatives and promoting the self-healing community model in a specific geographic area of the state, including two to four Minnesota Tribes per year. Applicants will have the option to work 100% remotely if located in Greater Minnesota, or at the FamilyWise office in Minneapolis. You can find the full posting and position description...

Right before the new year, FamilyWise Services' Prevention Services Department hired and onboarded two new team members. We are excited to learn from them as we work together to reduce ACEs in our state. Firstly, we would like to welcome Deanna (DeDe) Drift as the new Director of Tribal Projects. DeDe joins our team and brings a wealth of experience. She has her Master’s Degree from the UMN – Duluth, and has served as the Commissioner of Human Services at Bois Forte Tribal Government where...