Tagged With "mental health"
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A Traumatic Failure: DC public schools neglect mental health [centerforhealthjournalism.org]
This series was produced as part of the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism Fellowship with a grant from the Fund for Journalism on Child Well-Being. Other stories in this series include: The Cost of Juvenile Trauma HillRag Wednesday, January 9, 2019 “I have to meet this guy and have sex with him. If I don’t, then he and his friends are going to rape my little sister,” a student at Frank Ballou High School in Ward 8’s Congress Heights told her teacher. The teacher...
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ACEs Connection Members meet up in DC
A terrific networking opportunity took place on June 3 in downtown Washington, DC when my daughter, ACEs Connection member Liz Castaneda, Peer Projects Coordinator for Via Hope in Austin, TX (left), along with her son Mateas, and I (center) met for...
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Activists, advocates at White House screen "Resilience", address childhood trauma
Last night, under a full autumn moon and with a light mist in the air, several hundred activists came together for a White House-sponsored evening, “Youth, Trauma and Resilience: Discussion and Film Screening of RESILIENCE.” Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope is a one-hour documentary that chronicles the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) movement in the U.S. With the election outcome undoubtedly on the minds of everyone, Tina Tchen -- assistant to the President,...
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Adoption Advocates Bank on a New Way to Address Childhood Trauma [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
According to a coalition of adoption advocates, broader acceptance of an emerging mental health diagnosis has the potential to help traumatized children access the help they need. That’s the goal of the End Childhood Trauma Tour , which stops in five cities this week in the name of promoting awareness of the disruptive effects of trauma on children. The tour started in Minneapolis on Friday before stopping in Chicago. It heads to Boston tonight before moving on to Philadelphia and...
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Almost half of D.C. children have suffered a traumatic experience, according to federal survey [WashingtonPost.com]
Social worker Darryl Webster has a conversation with Nickolas Armstrong during a town hall at Houston Elementary School in Washington, DC, in June 2016. Houston Elementary has worked to become a trauma-informed school. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post) In the District, 47 percent of children and teens have experienced a traumatic event, 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 who has a drug or...
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April TiCong Notes
Notes from April TiCong Meeting April 28, 2016 2:30-4:00PM ET (next meeting May 26, 2016 2:00 – 4:30 PM EDT Please register : https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6551284277068720388 ) Discussion of the PowerPoint Presentation on “Building Resilient Communities through Trauma-Informed Communities – We discussed this draft presentation: meant to be shared after participants have been introduced to ACES 101 and the Physiology/Neurophysiology of Toxic Stress and Trauma. This is the first...
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Building a Trauma-Informed Nation conference aims to move the conversation to action: Part II
Father Jeff Putthoff, SJ, Founder, Hopeworks N’Camden (center), was ecstatic about the reach of his presentation the day before—well beyond the Department of Labor (DOL) auditorium in Washington, DC and out across the country to more than...
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Building Community Resilience: South Dallas [Moving Health Care Upstream]
An exciting initiative—Building Community Resilience collaborative established by Nemours (part of Moving Health Care Upstream )— is underway in five communities across the country to help child health systems connect with community-based resources to address social determinants (e.g., housing and access to public transportation) in places where children live, learn and play. This post by ACEs Connection member Wendy Ellis includes a short video (less than 3 minutes) about the initiative and...
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Can School Heal Children in Pain? Yes, it Can!
James Redford, director of Paper Tigers , a documentary about the journey of students and teachers at a trauma-sensitive alternative high school in Walla Walla, Washington, posed a provocative question in a recent blog : can school...
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Councilmember David Grosso meets with Trauma-Informed DC Initiative reps
Members of the Trauma-Informed DC Initiative met with At-Large City Councilmember David Grosso and Christina Henderson, Education Committee Director, on November 4 to follow up on a number of issues raised at the Initiative’s School-to-Prison...
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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser leds "FitDC" Ward by Ward
I had a chance to talk ACEs on a Ward walk with Mayor Muriel Bowser and her Health Department head Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt on Saturday. It was gratifying. Will work with the DC Trauma-Informed Initiative on follow-up.
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Fighting for Face Time [HumanTollOfJail.vera.org]
PART I: MOTHERS ON THE INSIDE Tonya Kamara, 54, seems to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Southeast Washington, DC, with her one-year-old grandson, Anthony, and her 26-year-old nephew, who is between jobs. Her two daughters also live with herwhen they are not incarcerated. Anthonys mother, April, age 32, and her 25-year-old sister, Latonya, both struggle with a history of mental health problems and drug addiction, which has led to cycles...
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First comprehensive briefing on trauma held in the U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Wendy Ellis, Olga Acosta Price (obscured), Monica Battle, Kathryn Larin, and Whitney Gilliard ______________________________________________________ The first comprehensive trauma briefing in the U.S. House of Representatives was held on July 26 to an audience of Hill staff, interns, and advocates. The briefing included substantive content from a variety of perspectives—academia, government, education—and unexpected moments of moving personal testimony. Rep. Danny...
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Leah Harris on Mental Health as a Social Justice Issue [Psychology Today]
The following interview is part of a “future of mental health ” interview series that will be running for 100+ days. This series presents different points of view about what helps a person in distress. I’ve aimed to be ecumenical and included many points of view different from my own. I hope you enjoy it. As with every service and resource in the mental health field, please do your due diligence. If you’d like to learn more about these philosophies, services, and organizations mentioned,...
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Left untreated, stress can affect kids’ health for a lifetime. Here’s how to help them cope. [WashingtonPost.com]
I woke up in an ambulance. The last thing I could remember was standing on a ledge in an auditorium and practicing for my school’s choir performance. I was in ninth grade, it was my first field trip in my new home here in the United States, and I was nervous. Then everything went black. I had fainted. Although my front teeth bore the brunt of my fall and saved me from serious injury, I had broken them all. As the paramedic gently explained to me why there was blood gushing from my mouth, he...
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'Nature prescriptions' could be the next health revolution - and Washington is an early adopter [Inlander]
D r. Robert Zarr steps into the patient room and sees a teenage girl. Lately, the 17-year-old has been experiencing repeated panic attacks, giving her so much chest pain that she had to be rushed to the emergency room each time. She's looking for answers from Dr. Zarr. Instead, it's Zarr who asks a question. "Do you have a way to spend time outside?" he says. "Well, there's this hammock at my dad's house," she replies. "What about lying there for a while, and just noticing the leaves?" Zarr...
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'Nature prescriptions' could be the next health revolution - and Washington is an early adopter [inlander.com]
By Wilson Criscione, Inlander, June 5, 2019. Dr. Robert Zarr steps into the patient room and sees a teenage girl. Lately, the 17-year-old has been experiencing repeated panic attacks, giving her so much chest pain that she had to be rushed to the emergency room each time. She's looking for answers from Dr. Zarr. Instead, it's Zarr who asks a question. "Do you have a way to spend time outside?" he says. "Well, there's this hammock at my dad's house," she replies. "What about lying there for a...
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New Kaiser Permanente Partnership Aims to End Chronic Homelessness in 15 Communities
Press Release March 11, 2019 AUSTIN, Texas — At the annual South by Southwest Conference, Kaiser Permanente today announced a partnership with Community Solutions to help accelerate efforts to end chronic homelessness in 15 communities (scroll down for list) within Kaiser Permanente’s national footprint. As part of the new partnership, Kaiser Permanente will provide $3 million over a three-year period to Community Solutions’ Built for Zero initiative, which uses real-time data to help local...
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No consensus on the “Murphy bill” to restructure the mental health care system
Opposing views of Rep. Tim Murphy’s Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act are expressed on Pete Earley’s (mental health advocate and author of C razy) website : Leah Harris presented her...
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Northeast and Mid-Atlantic trauma leaders share successes and challenges at May 1 networking meeting
Leaders in ACEs/trauma/resilience movement from nine states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and the District of Columbia gathered for a networking call on May 1 to learn about flexible funding opportunities for states under the CARES Act, ways to get involved in advocacy, and share their successes and challenges in building statewide coalitions. The meeting of leaders was organized by ACEs Connection and the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) in response to COVID-19...
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Pause in the Action: Trauma-Informed DC leaders take a Saturday to plan for the future
The first year of Trauma-Informed DC (TIDC) has been action filledthere have been several large public events ( screenings of Paper Tigers and Wounded Places, a School to Prison Pipeline forum and more) as well as small gatherings that have helped gauge where community interests lie and that have built a network, now comprising nearly 600 people. The founder of TIDC, Leah Harris, felt the time seemed right to pause and take stock of what had been accomplished and plan for the future. Harris...
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Profiles compare DC data with near-by jurisdictions in MD and VA
Two data briefs are attached on Adverse Childhood Experiences in the District of Columbia compared to national data and to data in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland and to data in Arlington County and Alexandria. The profiles...
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Statement for the DC Public Roundtable on Trauma-Informed Public Schools
Statement for the Record for the Public Roundtable “The Value of Investing in Trauma-Informed Public Schools and Support Services” The Council of the District of Columbia Committee on Education June 23, 2015 Elizabeth Prewitt,...
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Taraji P. Henson’s Groundbreaking Mental Health Summit Is Sure to Make an Impact on Black America’s Quiet Crisis [theroot.com]
By Angela Helm, The Root, June 14, 2019. What Taraji P. Henson has been able to do with her first Boris L. Henson Foundation benefit and conference last weekend was nothing short of a revelation—and right on time. The Empire star and Oscar-nominated actress is a native Washingtonian and Howard University graduate. So, it was only fitting that her inaugural foundational event, named for her father, who navigated addiction and mental health issues, be in the city where he lived and worked.
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‘Toxic stress’ in the classroom: How a public health approach could help [WashingtonPost.com]
Children living in poverty often are exposed to high levels of constant stress that can be debilitating, not only in terms of their physical health but also their ability to learn. So what are schools to do? Below, two writers argue — in their own voices, first, and then together with one voice — that schools and health providers must join forces to make sure children are getting the help they need. Sheila Ohlsson Walker, who studies the intersection between stress and educational outcomes,...
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Trauma Informed DC Community Meeting to be Held April 23
"The single most important thing that we need today is the courage to look this problem in the face and say, this is real and this is all of us. I believe that we are the movement." Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Center for Youth Wellness Adverse...
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Trauma Informed Washington, DC Holds Second Community Meeting
Approximately 30 people from around the Washington, DC metro area gathered on April 23 at the Benning Neighborhood Library for the second community meeting of the Trauma Informed Washington DC Metro Area Initiative. The participants included trauma...
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U.S. Senator Heitkamp spreads the word about trauma to Senate colleagues and urges advocates to do more
At a March 8 breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C., the featured speakers—U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota (left) and Judith Sandalow, Executive Director of the DC Children’s Law Center (CLC)—used the vivid image of children growing up with “black mold climbing the walls,” referring to unsafe physical and emotional environments at home and in communities, exacerbated by poverty but not limited to poor households. Heitkamp described how the science now explains what we already...
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Unconditional Care
Join us in Hagerstown, MD, for the next training in our series focused on trauma informed strategies for the community! Unconditional Care features three dynamic speakers focused on how addressing issues of self- care and self-awareness lead to the outcomes we all are striving for children, families and neighborhoods. Group rates are available for organizations registering ten or more attendees, contact Kerry Fair at 240-513-6370 or kfair@besterhope.org to arrange. Our last several trainings...
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View the October 13 S&R Foundation event on adversity and schools
The video of the [S&R Foundation] Illuminate Series conversation, The Adversity Epidemic: Science, Schools, and Social Equity is available on the Illuminate website, and can be viewed here: http://www.illuminateseries.or...-and-social-equity-0 . Introduction: Human beings are the only mammals on the planet whose thinking, feeling and learning brain develops extensively after birth. Young brains are wired for growth, but their anatomical structure is...
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Washington, DC, forum examines trauma-informed approaches to end school-to-prison pipeline
A diverse group of school staff, mental health professionals, justice advocates, and city employees recently crowded the Moot Court Room at the University of the District of Columbia David E. Clark Law School to begin dismantling the school to prison...
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Washington, DC, City Council Education Committee probes how trauma-informed schools can help students
Two-and-a-half years ago, a school administrator confronted District of Columbia Councilmember David Grosso with a stark and surprising reality when he visited the Walker-Jones Education Campus to learn about a literacy intervention program. At the...
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Webinar Learning Series begins tomorrow: State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity, Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST (1:00 PM EST)
Reminder of tomorrow's ( Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST/1:00 PM EST) webinar on State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity 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...
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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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'Where The Need Is': Tackling Teen Pregnancy With A Midwife At School (npr.org)
The student comes in for a pregnancy test - the second time she's asked for one in matter of weeks. She's 15. She lives with her boyfriend. He wants kids - he won't use protection. She loves him, she says. But she doesn't want to get pregnant. She knows how much harder it would be for her to finish high school. At many schools, she would have gotten little more than some advice from a school nurse. But here at Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C., she gets a dose of midwife Lorel...
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Why I’m Doing a One Woman Show about Inherited Family Trauma
I was raised by Jewish grandparents who grew up during the Great Depression. (I guess this makes me an honorary Baby Boomer, even though I’m technically Generation X.) My grandmother loved to tell me stories told to her by her father, my great-grandfather Max Schumacher, who emigrated to the US from Poland in 1914, and died before I was born. “Your great-grandfather was sitting on the stoop with this little girl, and a Cossack rides by on his horse and pop! shoots the little girl in the...
Calendar Event
Trauma Informed DC Brown Bag Lunch
Calendar Event
Wounded Places Screening and Community Discussion
Comment
Re: Trauma Informed DC Brown Bag Lunch
Hi Brenda, thanks for your feedback. I admit I am not so good with this interface, but here it is attached as a Word announcement. When I saved it as a PDF the registration link kept failing for me. Technical difficulties! Originally Posted by Brenda Yuen: Is it possible, as a future goal, to ask that these events be available in .pdf form so ACESConnection members can forward them on to others who may not be ACESConnection members yet, but potentially interested in the meeting (and then...
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Prevention is Essential: Collective Impact Coalition Promotes Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments for All Maryland’s Children
When members of Maryland’s State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (SCCAN) began in 2006 to examine what their state was doing in the realm of prevention, they discovered a gaping hole. Many participants in the 23-member Council—people working in child welfare, mental health, law enforcement and advocacy groups—knew about ACEs and about the corrosive effects of early childhood maltreatment. But they discovered, through informational interviews across different sectors and an environmental...
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Youth-Led Advocacy Creates Healing Opportunities in Baltimore City
After a shooting at a historic Baltimore high school in February 2019—a 25-year-old man, angry about the school’s treatment of his sister, who was a student there, shot a special education assistant with a Smith and Wesson handgun—conversation in the city centered on whether school resource officers should be armed. Students said that was the wrong question. When City Council’s education and youth committee, chaired by council member Zeke Cohen, held hearings on school violence following the...
