Philadelphia Group Blogs

Dr. Arthur C. Evans steps down Friday after 12 years as commissioner of the city’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services – the name is one of myriad changes, large and small, that came under his watch. Evans brought tremendous vision and led a system-wide transformation effort focused on recovery, resilience, and self-determination . He embraced everything from prevention, early detection and intervention, to a variety of treatment types for the most serious...

The ACEs Messaging Group met on Tuesday, January 10 th , 2017. The group began with a discussion of the work that was done through a Justice Department Project, Changing Minds . The group liked their messaging materials and discussed how they could pull from their work moving forward. The group agreed that our target audiences were different than this campaign’s and therefore decided that while this resource can inform the work of the ACEs Messaging Group, it will continue to develop new...

Note: Arthur Evans, PhD, head of the City of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, has long been a leader in the trauma-informed movement, implementing recovery-oriented services for individuals served by the city, working to foster cross system collaboration with programs such Police Crisis Intervention (CIT), implementing early intervention initiatives for infants and toddlers, and using art to transform communities. As head of the APA, Arthur...

On Saturday, January 21, 2017, Philadelphia will unite with Washington, D.C. and over 150 cities around the world for the historic Women’s March. We stand together in the birthplace of our nation, united with our partners, friends and children for the protection of our civil liberties, civil rights, and equality. Regardless of race, gender, age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, political party, immigration status, sexual identity or orientation, we come together in Philadelphia to represent...

Every day in our clinic at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in North Philadelphia, I see upwards of 25 children, ranging from newborns to teens. I spend as much time as I can talking with parents about their infants' feeding patterns, their toddlers' development and their adolescents' maturing bodies. I try to provide helpful advice, appropriate medical care and positive assurances. But as I listen to the questions and concerns of the families I care for, I know that whatever we do,...

They began with a song and ended with a poem. In-between, there were photographs and giant graphic renderings, movement exercises and a “human pulse” formed when 90 people stood in a circle and squeezed each other’s hands. At a June summit in Whatcom County, Washington, titled “Our Resilient Community: A Community Conversation on Resilience and Equity,” the arts played a starring role. Kristi Slette, executive director of the Whatcom Family and Community Network, one of two Washington sites...

Generosity Article Healing from trauma via personal narrative is a hot topic , but Dr. Meagan Corrado noticed a glaring disconnect in the literature. Corrado places the genesis of her own approach, now called Storiez , between finishing her master’s degree in social services at Bryn Mawr College in 2009 and launching her doctorate degree in social work degree at Penn, which she completed this year. “The literature and the training I was going to was saying, ‘The trauma narrative is so...

The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday awarded $6 million to Drexel University to improve opportunities and outcomes at seven schools in West Philadelphia. The grant came as part of the department's Promise Neighborhoods competition, under which $33 million will go to support children and families nationwide. The city schools - a mix of traditional public and charters - are West Philadelphia High; Science Leadership Academy Middle School; Locke, McMichael, Powel and Martha Washington...

The ACEs Messaging Group (AMG) met on Tuesday, December 13 th to discuss small group the work that had been done in November in lieu of a larger group meeting. The group began with a history and overview of the work, revisiting the discussion of particular target audiences: youth, parents of young children, and older adults. Each small group then updated the larger AMG about their work. The group focused on youth reported back about the event that took place at UrbanPromise in which a group...

I’m wearing an octopus-shaped hat and clutching a beer when I hear a drumbeat strike up alongside a wailing sax. Ahead of me, a troupe of musicians in bright, feathered costumes with plumage nearly as wide as the narrow street attempts to clear a space and perform a quick number. The crowd surges all around, freely drinking in the open and casually walking up and down to watch the different ensembles in this informal parade. Every house along the way has a front row seat and partiers lean...

The Workforce Development Workgroup met on November 16 th , 2016. The meeting began with introductions and a summary of the ACE Task Force and the history of the work-to-date for this workgroup. There were several new members and guests at this meeting. Workgroup leaders then provided an overview of work that had been done in the past month, including a updates on the work with the School District of Philadelphia and reflection from the ACEs in Higher Education event. Members reported that...

“The Philadelphia Project” is an inspirational film about hope and possibility, funded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, focusing on 16 juniors attending Strawberry Mansion High School and presented recently at a panel discussion that featured students from the community in Philadelphia where the U.S. Attorney's office, Dr. Sandy Bloom, Michael O'Bryan and the community have been working to build a trauma informed environment. Philadelphia Tribune Staff Writer, Ryanne Persinger, shares messages...