By Samantha Young, Kaiser Health News, April 28, 2020 During the first week of school closures in San Jose, state Sen. Jim Beall’s office received more than a dozen phone calls from distressed parents and caregivers. The problem: They couldn’t get free lunches because school district rules required children be present to receive a meal. A grandmother caring for at least seven children couldn’t fit them all in her car. One parent had a sick child who needed to stay at home, and another was...

Childhood trauma is a widespread issue. According to Child Trends, nearly half of children in the United States and in Pennsylvania have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, or ACE, which often leads to traumatic stress. Research is clear that traumatic stress in children can negatively impact cognitive, academic and behavioral outcomes. Yet schools are not equipped to address these problems. A recent ACLU report notes that 90 percent of U.S. public schools do not meet the...

By Lola Duffort, Vermont Digger, February 7, 2020 Half of all high school students in Vermont have tried electronic vapor products like e-cigarettes, up from just 30% in 2015. That’s according to results from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a study administered statewide to thousands of Vermont students every two years. The YRBS was developed by the Centers for Disease Control in 1990 to monitor behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disease and injury among young...

By Taylor Walker, Witness LA, September 13, 2019 An estimated 10 million US children have parents who are currently locked up, or who have previously been incarcerated. A bill currently on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk, SB 394, seeks to reduce the number of parents and children separated by incarceration by boosting diversion. Children arguably suffer the worst consequences of mass incarceration. In 2014, a UC Irvine study found that having a parent behind bars can be more damaging to a kid’s...

"No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference" is the title of Greta Thunberg's book, which is a compilation of her speeches on the need for urgent action to tackle climate change. One of those speeches is entitled "Together We Are Making a Difference". I had planned to organise an event on the topic of “How to talk policy and influence people” kindly supported by the Cork Education and Training Board in Ireland on the 2nd of April 2020. Unfortunately, the event had to be cancelled due to the...

New Jersey plans to spend a staggering $445,504 per incarcerated youth in 2022 to house them in facilities that are almost 80% empty. The time is now for New Jersey to close its youth prisons and invest in community-based alternatives. The current system, with its focus wholly on punishment rather than rehabilitation, the current system leaves whole communities — as well as the families of both victims and offenders — with unresolved trauma that continues to reverberate long after the...

We appreciate everyone who joined the June CTIPP CAN call and a special thank you to Donna Manuelito from the San Carlos Apache Unified Public School District, Ann Mahi and Jason Roberts from the Nanakuli-Waianae School Complex, Godwin Higa from the Cherokee Point Elementary School, Guy Stephens from the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, and Melissa McGinn from the Virginia Trauma-Informed Community Networks. The link to the call recording is here , which we encourage you to watch...

In April 2022, the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) organized more than 170 advocates across 36 states to sign a coalition letter urging Congress to invest $1 billion in this year’s federal budget to increase trauma-informed resources and improve access to mental health professionals in America’s schools. This work has paid off. In June, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee released their draft Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) spending legislation, which included CTIPP’s...

Announcing upcoming courses for educators! Kick of your school year with Trauma-Informed Education or Supporting Marginalized Students!

The Trauma-informed Design Society is pleased to announce the new TiDEvalK12 tool ! This tool is the first of its kind--an evidence-based tool to facilitate interior design renovations and new builds of K-12 schools! It can be used to evaluate the physical space and identify changes that can lower the stress levels of students and staff. The tool is grounded in the Substance and Mental Health Services Administrations' guidance for a trauma-informed approach, the Trauma-informed Design (TiD)...

Lazy days of summer? Not around here! At Cowart Trauma Informed Partnership, we've been busy laying the groundwork for the exciting season ahead! We're announcing upcoming courses, scheduling professional development sessions, planning a roadshow, and offering new opportunities for individuals interested in joining our research team!