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Jillian Broomstein starts to cry when she talks about the day her newborn son Jeremy was taken from her by New Hampshire's child welfare agency. He was 2 weeks old. "They came into the house and said they would have to place him in foster care and I would get a call and we would set up visits," she says. "It was scary." Broomstein, who was 26 at the time, had not used heroin for months and was on methadone treatment. The clinic social worker told her that since Jeremy would test positive for...

Authors note: This piece is co-authored by @Lara Kain and @Christine Cissy White. Though we had never worked together or met, we were asked to co-present on creating t rauma-informed changes in communities by the Attachment Trauma Network for the first national (now annual) Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Summit in Washington, DC. This article is an expanded essay version of that presentation). Be the Spark Oprah Winfrey helped mainstream discussion about...

https://training.unh.edu/adversity

ConVal’s director of school counseling presented findings on a nationwide Youth Risk Behavior Survey that high school students participated in last year during a regular school board meeting Tuesday night. Kim Chandler said about 720 ConVal students participated in the survey last year, which measured things like unintentional injuries and violence, sexual behavior, alcohol and other drug use, tobacco use, dietary behaviors, and physical activities. ...A group of people who comprise the...

When educators learn about the devastating impact of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), childhood trauma, and toxic stress on a child’s developing body, brain, and behavior, they often remark, “Well..what do I do now?” The Regulated Classroom answers that question. In this three-day intensive camp experience (July 30-August 1), educators will deepen self-awareness and capacity for self-regulation through a new approach to trauma-informed teaching. The Regulated Classroom: Bottom-Up...

Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for New Hampshire. To review the entire profile, open the PDF that is attached to this post. If you have corrections or additions, please leave them in the comments section of this post. We’ll be reviewing the comments regularly and doing fact-checks. The information you give us will also help us determine how to organize and expand the information in the state profiles. We will be turning this post into a living profile that, with your help and input,...

A new study assesses the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in America by state, race or ethnicity, and income level. https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-demographics-of-childhood-trauma

While stress in children and parents can be difficult to identify until it’s too late, a relatively new test seeks to change that. The ACE test, which can reveal the level of emotional duress and what can be done to stabilize it, was the subject of a discussion drawing scores of people to The Colonial Theatre on Main Street in Keene Thursday night. ACE is an acronym for Adverse Childhood Experiences. Audience members first watched a movie, “Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science...

Sometimes I think I have PTSD from failed change efforts. I am not kidding. I have developed symptoms from living through nearly twenty years of failed education reform efforts. When I reflect on the many change efforts I participated in, I shudder. I try to block it out. I avoid discussing it. There is an "activating" body memory (SE™ talk) for me that is associated with prescriptive change efforts. When I encounter a stimulus or trigger, like someone talking about a new protocol intended...

I see you leading the evolution with your hard work & your heart work! You might wonder what I mean by leading the evolution... If you join the film screening and community conversation on Feb 15 , you’ll learn that most of us have experienced some kind of trauma or adversity. The science shows us how trauma impacts our brain and future health and well-being, but more profoundly, how it changes our DNA and gets passed through the generations. We are really beginning to see how evolution...

Aprel Phelps Downey What was your ACEs Aha moment? When did you first hear about ACEs and what impact did/does it have on you? How do ACEs impact you as a parent? How is your parenting impacted by past trauma? What’s been most helpful to you as a parent parenting with ACEs? What’s been most challenging for you as a parent parenting with ACEs? What has parenting taught you? What have you learned? How do you manage complex family relationships? What inspires/encourages and helps you? I know...

Excerpts from article in today's Keene Sentine l by Jessica Ricard.