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...

Statistics recently released from the Tennessee Department of Health offer a grim reminder that 1,631 Tennesseans died from drug overdoses in 2016, which is the highest annual number of such deaths ever recorded in state history. This is an increase from the 1,451 overdose deaths recorded among Tennessee residents in 2015. “Each of these numbers represents a person, with family and friends who are now facing the loss of someone dear to them to a cause that is preventable,” said TDH...

In 2012 I was hired by the Johnson City Police Department as director of an $800,000 grant-funded Targeted Community Crime Reduction Project to reduce drug-related and violent crime in two Johnson City, TN, neighborhoods historically known for highest rates of these crimes. This project required a collaborative problem-solving approach where I engaged community partners to assist in recognizing the causes of crime. Becky Haas Together, we implemented evidence-based practices to reduce crime.

Every child deserves to grow up with a strong connection to a caring adult and a loving family. But for one in four kids in Shelby County, a supportive relationship with a parent figure isn’t so easy to come by. The legacy of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — ranging from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; physical or emotional neglect; the loss of a parent through illness, death, divorce, or incarceration; or domestic violence or substance abuse within the family — places barriers...

Tennessee First Lady Crissy Haslam this week released a report highlighting eight years of progress by the state to improve the lives of children and families. Prioritizing Tennessee’s Children: Our Promise to Future Generations reflects an early commitment by Governor Bill Haslam’s administration to make the health and success of all Tennessee children a state priority. In conjunction with Governor Haslam’s Children’s Cabinet and Deputy Governor Jim Henry, First Lady Haslam set out to...

Dear Becky Haas, Thanks for your amazing report about trauma informed programming in Northeast Tennessee. And I'm so pleased (and proud) to hear of your creative and persistent leadership in TIC in this area of the country in which I was born (Kingsport) and lived for many years. I am a graduate of King College (Bristol, TN) which will be screening my documentary film, PORTRAITS OF PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVERS: Their Passion. their Pain. sometime later this year. The film addresses vicarious...

Great to hear from you Vic and thank you for your kind words of encouragement. It sounds like you have a much needed documentary coming out and I look forward to looking over your website. I'd love to talk in person and will email you early next week and see if we can set up a time. Blessings on you and the work you do

I'll look forward to learning more about the impressive ACES work you and your colleagues are doing in Northeast Tennessee. Best, Vic

Becky, I wonder if you're familiar with Abraham Verghese's wonderful description of his medical practice in Johnson City, TN, in the 1980's in MY OWN COUNTRY. He describes the incredible challenges of this era with the outbreak of HIV/AIDS -- and his own personal and professional emotional responses, which today we would identify as STS or compassion fatigue. We have been referencing his book and particular quotes from it in our presentation of CAREGIVERS film in hospital screenings and...