Philadelphia Group Blogs

Glen's Village , the Notebook's 30-minute documentary film and multimedia reporting project on childhood trauma and Philadelphia's public school system, was named a finalist for an Education Writer's Association award for education reporting in the single-topic news or feature category for small newsrooms. The film, directed by journalists Dorian Geiger and Paul Jablow , follows the journey of Glen Casey , a resilient young Philadelphian who overcame violence, drugs, and family turmoil as a...

Mike Lamb, Washington, DC Executive Director of Turnaround for Children , alerted me to this interesting Cover Story in The Christian Science Monitor about how Scott Gordon, chief executive officer of Mastery Charter Schools comprised of 21 charter schools in Philadelphia, has shifted his “no excuses” approach to a “trauma-informed” approach to discipline. The article by Sarah Garland reports: Classrooms and hallways are still orderly, but suspension is now a last resort. Mastery instead...

The Workforce Development Work Group met on Wednesday, March 16 th , 2016 at the United Way Building in Philadelphia. The group began with a reflection about the last full Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) meeting and were excited about future opportunities for impactful work throughout the city and region. Following this discussion, the group discussed some current projects of the Work Group, including the development of focus groups with teachers in the School District of Philadelphia and...

Princeton, N.J .—The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced the 16 communities that have been chosen as finalists for the fourth annual RWJF Culture of Health Prize. The Prize honors communities that place a high priority on health and bring partners together to drive local change. Selected from nearly 200 applicants, the following 16 finalist communities are one step closer to the coveted national Prize: 24:1 Community Region, Missouri Clayton County, Georgia Columbia Gorge Region,...

Researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania, and The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway found an association between environmental neighborhood features and violent injuries among youth. To read more, click here . This study will be available for free on JAMA Network for a limited time only.

The Practical Interventions Work Group met on Thursday, February 25th, 2016 at the Center for the Urban Child at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Following the December meeting in which the decision was made to organize a Philadelphia treatment resource guide by individual ACEs, Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) staff attempted to develop tools to collect referral data from PATF members. The group reviewed the referral materials including the excel document that had been created to...

A recent posting by Bridget Murphy at ReclaimingFutures.org links us to the National Center for Mental Health and and Juvenile Justice's new downloadable resource: " Strengthening our Future - Key Elements to Developing a Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice Diversion Program for Youth with Behavioral Health Conditions" and also to National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) 's information on 13 types trauma defined. Bridget Murphy's post unites these two web resources through the lens of...

The Community Education Work Group met on Thursday, February 18th at the Health Federation of Philadelphia. The group began with a review of the work they had done in 2015 to convene Philadelphia ACE Task Force professional members with community members to learn more about trauma and messaging. The group then discussed directions for the ACEs Messaging Group (AMG) project, funded by the First Hospital Foundation , giving consideration to target locations for messaging and focus groups, the...

Please find attached the 2016 booklet for the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) project, including Philadelphia and the other 13 communities that have been selected to participate in this 2 year learning collaborative. This is a great summary of the work happening in all 14 communities across the country. I look forward to working with you all as we share and build upon the great work happening in Philadelphia!

The Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) met on Tuesday, February 16th. The group began with brief introductions and members expressed excitement for the meeting. The PATF staff and leadership then provided updates about recent accomplishments including new funding from the First Hospital Foundation to develop and disseminate messages about ACEs, trauma, and resilience; the success of the premiere Philadelphia ACE Film Festival, which featured the premiere of Paper Tigers and a screening of...

Working with children and families experiencing medical traumatic stress: A resource guide for mental health professionals What do mental health professionals need to know about pediatric medical traumatic stress? How can mental health professionals improve their collaboration with medical providers around pediatric medical traumatic stress? What resources and tools are available for professionals working with children and families who have experienced pediatric medical traumatic stress?

The Community Education Work Group met on Tuesday, January 19th at the CityLife Neighborhood Clinic in Philadelphia, PA. Representatives from the CityLife Neighborhood Clinics gave the group an overview of the work that they do, explaining that they often see the impact that ACEs have throughout the life course in the seniors they serve. Group members were interested in potential opportunities to develop intergenerational programming. The majority of the meeting was spent reviewing and...