Tagged With "Lawmaker Pushing Mental Health Reform"
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Tennessee report chronicles progress in addressing health and success of children from infancy to college and beyond
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...
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Tens of thousands of immigrant families would lose housing assistance and face eviction under new HUD proposal (Prevention Institute)
On May 10, the Department of Housing and Urban Development posted a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would force families of mixed immigration status to choose between breaking up their families or facing loss of housing assistance and eviction. This is a choice that no one in our nation — or anywhere — should ever be forced to make. Mixed-status families include some family members who are eligible for housing assistance based on their citizenship or immigration status and some...
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Texas 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Texas. 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, we’ll...
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The ACEs movement in the time of Trump
As with any remarkable change, the 2016 presidential election, a swirl of intense acrimony that foreshadowed current events, actually produced a couple of major opportunities for the ACEs movement. It stripped away the ragged bandage covering a deep, festering wound of classicism, racism, and economic inequality. This wound burst painfully, but it’s now open to the air and sunlight, the first step toward real healing. The second opportunity is how the election and its aftermath are engaging...
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The Economic Cost of ACEs in Tennessee (SycamoreInstituteTN.org)
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can increase a person’s risk of health, social, and economic problems throughout life. In 2017, ACEs among Tennessee adults led to an estimated $5.2 billion in direct medical costs and lost productivity from employees missing work. ACEs are associated with risky health behaviors and poorer health outcomes even after accounting for other factors. Over half of adult Tennesseans reported at least one ACE between 2014 and 2017, and about 17% had experienced 4...
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The Legislative Primer Series on Front-End Justice: Young Adults in the Justice System (ncsl.org)
Overview This report is part of a series that explores policies that impact the front end of the criminal justice system. Each brief looks at who is entering the “front door” of the criminal justice system and gives examples of legislation, national initiatives, best practices, promising programs, and key research on timely issues. The series provides legislatures with the tools they need to consider cost-effective policies that protect public safety. Young adults , ages 18-24, represent...
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The Michigan ACEs Initiative: Building Resilience, Healing Communities
The Michigan ACEs initiative hosted the largest convening of ACEs professionals in the state of Michigan. Dr. Robert Anda, Co-Principal Investigator of the original ACEs study, Co-Founder ACE Interface and also featured in RESILIENCE , opened the conference and introduced keynote speaker, Christina Bethell, PhD, MBA, MPH, Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University and Director, Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative in Baltimore, MD, to an audience of...
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The myth, misconception and misdirection of motive in mass shootings
But if we want to prevent shootings, asking about motive will just get you a useless answer to the wrong question. If you use the lens of the science of adverse childhood experiences, the answer reveals itself, and usually pretty quickly.
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This Week's CDC MMWR Lead Article - Health Care, Family, and Community Factors Associated with Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders in Early Childhood — United States, 2011–2012
Summary What is already known about this topic? Sociodemographic factors and environmental influences in early childhood have been demonstrated to have significant impact on development, mental health, and overall health throughout the lifespan. What is added by this report? This report provides recent national data documenting significant associations of early childhood mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs) with sociodemographic, health care, family, and community factors.
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Top Trends in State Criminal Justice Reform, 2019 [sentencingproject.org]
From The Sentencing Project, January 2020 The United States is a world leader in incarceration and keeps nearly 7 million persons under criminal justice supervision. More than 2.2 million are in prison or jail, while 4.6 million are monitored in the community on probation or parole. More punitive sentencing laws and policies, not increases in crime rates, have produced this high rate of incarceration. Ending mass incarceration will require changing sentencing policies and practices, scaling...
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Trauma-informed Care: It Takes More Than a Clipboard and a Questionnaire
California is about to launch an ambitious campaign to train tens of thousands of Medi-Cal providers to screen children and adults up to age 65 for trauma, starting on January 1, 2020. It is well-established that the early identification of trauma and providing the appropriate treatment are critical tools for reducing long-term health care costs for both children and adults. Research has shown that individuals who experienced a high number of traumatic childhood events are likely to die...
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Trauma Informed Delaware launched at May 1 symposium in Dover
When the history of Trauma Informed Delaware is written, two dates will stand out—the day when Governor John C. Carney signed Executive Order 24 “Making Delaware a Trauma-Informed State” on October 17, 2018 and the day of the inaugural Trauma Awareness Month Kickoff in Dover on May 1. About 350 activists, stakeholders, and officials came together at Delaware State University to be inspired, to learn, and to celebrate. First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney , who has propelled the statewide...
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Trauma Matters Delaware Partners with Delaware Public Health Institute to Release ACEs Data for Delaware
People from across sectors filled the conference room on Wilmington University’s Dover Campus, Wednesday, December 7, to hear the findings of the Delaware Household Health Survey Data, which included ACEs data from across Delaware. Dr. Leslie Brower, who chairs Trauma Matters Delaware, opened the briefing by welcoming attendees and thanking partner organizations and funders. DPHI Executive Director Francine Axler and Laurel Jones, DPHI project assistant, presented the findings which included...
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Trauma Movement Grows in Delaware
The third annual Delaware Trauma Matters conference, held on January 28 at Wilmington University, drew a diverse crowd of 200 from around the state and across many sectors, including healthcare, mental health, education, corrections, and child serving agencies among others. While some said this degree of diversity was unusual in the state, the leader of Delaware’s trauma initiative, Leslie Brower (pictured on the right with Aileen Fink serves as community manager along with Brower for...
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Traumatic Experiences Widespread Among U.S. Youth, New Data Show
[This is a media release from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.] New national data show that at least 38 percent of children in every state have had at least one Adverse Childhood Experience or ACE, such as the death or incarceration of a parent, witnessing or being a victim of violence, or living with someone who has been suicidal or had a drug or alcohol problem. In 16 states, at least 25 percent of children have had two or more ACEs. Findings come from data in the 2016 National Survey...
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Treating Childhood Trauma Becoming a Public Policy Priority [governing.com]
There’s a lot that’s indisputable about childhood trauma. Emotional or physical abuse early in life impacts health outcomes as children grow up. Community- and family-based approaches to dealing with trauma are better than institutional settings. And children of color are more likely to face traumatizing childhood experiences. Those events can include something as common as divorce, but also encompass circumstances such as having an incarcerated parent, living with someone with a substance...
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Trends in Juvenile Justice State Legislation 2011-2015, ModelsForChange.net
In the past five years, juvenile justice reform legislation in the United States has grown at a remarkable pace. The recent shift in juvenile justice policy marks a clear departure from laws enacted 20 years ago. To read the rest of the article, click...
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Tributes honor the life of Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore
This is a recent photo of an image projected on a building of a younger Rep. Cummings taken on a street in his native Baltimore. From an unknown source, projected images and messages appear on the side of a building near my house in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, DC. When the news alert came across my cell phone on Thursday morning that Elijah Cummings had died, I felt overwhelming sadness for the loss of a powerful, eloquent, and soulful human who understood trauma in his...
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Trump Administration Announces $1.8 Billion in Funding to States to Continue Combating Opioid Crisis [hhs.gov]
By U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, September 4, 2019 Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced more than $1.8 billion in funding to states to continue the Trump administration’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis by expanding access to treatment and supporting near real-time data on the drug overdose crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced more than $900 million in new funding for a three-year cooperative agreement with...
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Two ACEs-science related laws enacted in New York mark progress toward a trauma-informed state
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi addresses trauma in floor speech on June 20, 2019 There is still a trace of amazement in child advocate Jenn O’Connor’s voice when she recalls the hallway encounter with New York Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, Chair of the Social Services Committee, who pulled her aside to talk about executive function. That conversation led to a broader discussion of ACEs science, trauma, and resilience with a focus on protective factors. Not long after, Hevesi and O’Connor penned an...
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Two studies shed light on state legislators’ views on ACEs science and trauma policy
New and returning lawmakers take the oath of office on day one of Washington state's 2017 legislative session. — Jeanie Lindsay/Northwest News Network As advocates prepare to see how ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) science, trauma, and resilience play out in the 2020 state legislative sessions — many beginning in January — they are undoubtedly asking: “What does a legislator want?" It may be a stretch to play on Freud’s question: “What does a women want?", but the query captures how...
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Unprecedented childhood trauma hearing in U.S. Congress on July 11 to feature data from new state fact sheets on ACEs prevalence, impacts
A hearing of unprecedented scope and depth (this link will take you to a list of witnesses and all of their statements plus an overview memo on the hearing from committee staff) on ACEs science and childhood trauma — " Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Childhood Trauma: A Pervasive Public Health Issue that Needs Greater Federal Attention " — will be held today in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. You can watch the live stream at 10:00 am ET through this link . Nine witnesses...
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Upcoming changes to federal child welfare data could provide more comprehensive information on children in care (childtrends.org)
This blog has been revised to clarify the purpose of the 2019 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and its relationship to the 2016 Final Rule. In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a final rule revising the AFCARS regulations (“2016 Final Rule”), standardizing reporting requirements, and adding new data elements. While the rule would greatly enhance the system’s utility, HHS recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“2019 NPRM”) to rescind many of the new...
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Update on Bumper Crop of State ACEs bills in 2017—46 bills in 20 states
The latest update of state legislation considered by state legislatures in 2017 reveals the growing interest by state policymakers across the country in addressing trauma across sectors. The attached “At-A-Glance” table shows 46 bills in twenty states reference Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) or trauma-informed policy and practice. Take a look at the attached “At-A-Glance” table and leave a comment if your state considered ACEs/trauma legislation that is not included here. A handful of...
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Utah 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Utah. 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, we’ll...
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Utah passes resolution to encourage state policies and programs based on ACEs science
In the solidly red state of Utah, lawmakers approved and sent to Gov. Gary Herbert a resolution ( H.C.R. 10 ) on March 7 to encourage state policy and programs to incorporate ACEs science to address “severe emotional trauma and other adverse childhood experiences” in children and adults and implement evidence-based interventions to increase resiliency. Every recorded vote cast by Democrats and Republicans favored the resolution. A detailed context for the recommendations was included in the...
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Vermont 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Vermont. 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, we’ll...
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Virginia 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Virginia. 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, we’ll...
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Vivian Watts: Justice system reforms will help protect children [pilotonline.com]
By Vivian Watts, The Virginian-Pilot, May 6, 2020 In my career as the former executive director of Fairfax CASA, as well as my work as the former secretary of Transportation and Public Safety and in the Virginia House of Delegates, I have fought to protect vulnerable children from abuse and exploitation knowing that our failure to do so has catastrophic consequences. For more than 20 years clinicians and social scientists have studied the impact that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and...
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Washington 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Washington. 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,...
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Washington, D.C. 2018 Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the profile for Washington, D.C. 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,...
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Washington State bill includes social-emotional learning guidance informed by ACEs science
Washington state legislator Tana Senn, has introduced the “Summer Step-Up Act” to improve social-emotional learning throughout the calendar year to reduce kids' summer learning loss.
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Webinar Learning Series: State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity, January 10, 10am PST (1:00 PM EST)
Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and Highlights from Oregon, Tennessee, and Wisconsin Date: January 10th, 10AM PST (1:00 PM EST) Speakers: Elizabeth Prewitt, Policy Analyst, ACEs...
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Webinar on Advancing Change to Support Trauma-Informed Initiatives and Build Evidence of Impacts [ASPE, US Depart. of HHS]
Overview of session: This webinar (December 11 th 1:00-2:30pm EST) will offer an opportunity to learn about ASPE’s (The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation advises the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on policy development in health, disability, human services, data, and science) investment in bringing together federal, state, and program leaders and stakeholders, as well as researchers to examine trauma-informed approaches across...
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Weighing in on federal rules regarding "public charge" for immigrant families
Editor's note: The National Pediatric Practice Community on Adverse Childhood Experiences , part of the Center for Youth Wellness, included the following information in its newsletter that may impact your patients access to health care: "Make Your Voice Heard & Comment re: Proposed Limits to Food, Housing The Department of Homeland Security proposed new definitions of public charge , which marks a significant departure from its current policy. The changes pose risks to immigrant families...
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West Virginia 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for West Virginia. 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,...
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What are ACEs? State summit examines connection between childhood trauma and mental health (Tennessean.com)
(Photo caption: Tennessee First Lady Chrissy Haslam addresses the annual Building Strong Brains Tennessee ACEs Summit, held at the Country Music Hall of Fame on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. Photo courtesy of Governor Bill Haslam/ Flickr.com ) One minute of complete silence. Fred Rogers, the beloved television personality of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," gave such a moment of contemplation to the graduating class of Dartmouth University during a commencement speech 16 years ago . A minute to...
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What can Pennsylvania schools do to address the prevalence of trauma among students? [pennlive.com]
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...
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What We Can Learn About Resilience from Indigenous Leaders (calhealthreport.org)
Germaine Omish-Lucero’s ancestors were taken from their homes and forced to build California’s Mission San Luis Rey de Francia—a mission in what is now Oceanside—about 200 years ago. There, they were exposed to diseases such as measles, to which they had no immunity. Thousands died—and there is no escaping this tragic piece of California history. Yet Omish-Lucero, her children, and the children in her tribe stand. Despite inequities that continue to this day, the Rincon Band of Luiseno...
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Why Hospitals Are Getting Into The Housing Business (californiahealthline.org)
Legally and morally, hospitals cannot discharge patients if they have no safe place to go. So patients who are homeless, frail or live alone, or have unstable housing, can occupy hospital beds for weeks or months — long after their acute medical problem is resolved. For hospitals, it means losing money because a patient lingering in a bed without medical problems doesn’t generate much, if any, income. Meanwhile, acutely ill patients may wait days in the ER to be moved to a floor because a...
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Wisconsin 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Wisconsin. 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,...
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Wisconsin Dept of Health Services - Trauma-Informed Care News & Notes, November 12, 2018
ACEs, Adversity's Impact 'My daughter didn't want a parent,' says a foster mom of kids exposed to meth, trauma Childhood abuse, complex trauma and epigenetics The highly sensitive person in an emotionally neglectful family Grandparents: Raising their children's children, they get the job done Children with JIA have higher rate of adverse childhood experiences Where does listening fit in the medical model of disease? Bad childhood experiences increase burnout among student nurses On...
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Women's Fund grant recipients to build amygdala rooms [www.washtimesherald.com]
Thanks to a grant from the Daviess County Community Foundation’s Women’s Fund, two area school corporations will be able to offer additional services to help improve the lives of students both in and out of the classroom. Daviess-Martin Special Education Co-op School Academic and Behavior Coach Missy Brothers and Kelly Miller, Washington Community Schools social worker, made the pitch for their project “Addressing the Emotional, Social and Academic Health of our Youth” last week at the...
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Wyoming 2018 State Profile
Hi, Everyone: Here’s the state profile for Wyoming. 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, we’ll...
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Youth Survey Data Shows Rise in Vaping, Depression [vtdigger.com]
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...
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Youth Workers Train To Help Children Of Incarcerated Parents [news.wnin.org/]
A small group of youth workers in the state had the opportunity to learn more about how to help these children whose emotional and mental wellbeing is often impacted. One in 10 Indiana children have a parent who is incarcerated. That’s one of the highest rates in the nation. The training session in Martinsville hosted by the Indiana Youth Institute and led by Volunteers of America ’s Greta Compton. The talk provided insight into the growing problem of mass incarceration and family health. [...
Ask the Community
ACE Response: The Center for Post-Trauma Wellness
Research shows that over half the middle class population has “adverse childhood experiences” (ACE) in their background, and ACEs are associated with serious later life health and social problems. The Center for Post-Trauma Wellness (CPTW)...
Ask the Community
State Legislative Efforts? Like the Vermont Bill For Example.
I am adding this discussion to ask you all to help me collate data on States (like Vermont) that are working on writing legislation to require training for Physicians and other providers to make ACEs screening something Physicians/Mental Health...
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