Blog

Around 12 percent of mothers in the U.S. experience depression, and that number is even higher for minorities and those that live in poverty. Beyond affecting their own health, maternal depression can greatly impact mothers' capacity to care for their children. Members of PolicyLab’s Intergenerational Family Services portfolio wrote a brief on how states can address maternal depression through actionable, evidence-based policy solutions. We hope this can be helpful in your work as well. You...

As a health teacher for the Shenendehowa school district, Dustin Verga sees firsthand the pressures today's youth are under. They've grown up in an era of over-testing, jam-packed schedules, high expectations to get into a top college, and dual lives — one in the real world and one online, where the pressure to curate a picture-perfect life and rack up "likes" is ever-present. That's why the introduction of mental health literacy in New York schools this coming fall is such a big deal, Verga...

For several months, the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was in limbo. Its budget expired and Congress took no action to reauthorize it. Then, relief came as part of the bill that ended the government shutdown last week . But the future of another vital health service remains uncertain. The more than 10,000 community health centers that treat low-income Americans have not seen a funding reauthorization . The centers, funded by the Affordable Care Act, retain bipartisan support, The...

The bad news was that children in Montana were not thriving. The good news was that the Helena Independent Record was writing about it. A five-part newspaper series in October 2015 began, “For a myriad of reasons that experts say remain unclear, a state known for its mountains and fly fishing is one of the worst in the nation for youth.” The articles examined statewide statistics on child health, explained the ACE study, profiled a 24-year-old woman who moved to Montana to escape childhood...

Eligible organizations in Texas are invited to submit a letter of interest for our new Collaborative Approaches to Well-Being in Rural Communities project, which aims to support rural communities in their efforts to inclusively and collaboratively transform the environments where people live, learn, work, play and pray to support resilience, mental health, and well-being. Contingent upon the quality of proposals received, the foundation plans to award up to five, three-year grants totaling...

Addiction - an ACE that often times will have multiple co-existing ACEs - is now a national health epidemic. Overdose rates are on the rise. Every child or teen living with parental addiction is vulnerable to the pain, isolation, and fear every single day. But it doesn’t have to be that way! This advocacy campaign – recognized around the world during the week Valentine’s Day falls – honors the struggle of impacted kids and teenagers. Visit our website to review the social media toolkit and...

I was told I have to go to another meeting for me. I’m sick of meetings. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve gone to where I’ve seen the same faces talking about the same things (usually how I’m not living up to someone’s expectations or how I’m still displaying some kind of “behavior”). I hate this. My progress is a number on a piece of paper. I’m on some kind of level and I have to be on another level before I can do some things I’d LIKE to do – and I’m told I don’t have a choice...

There are many people who spread information about the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs, as defined by ( https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/ ), and how it brings light to society’s darkest problems of relationship. When a child suffers trauma, the residual damage often shows up throughout life as the inability to engage in great relationships. Yet, having an ability to enjoy interaction with other humans is everyone’s goal. How can something so simple be so...

I am reading Nadine Burke Harris’s Book: The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity . I will often come across a passage that resonates so deeply with my own life that I have to put the book down and just breathe. The reason for my pause is not about my own Adverse Childhood Experiences, although I have a few; it is because I recognize the path she is on. I first heard about Adverse Childhood Experiences from another professional in my field of practice, prenatal...

Aprel Phelps Downey What was your ACEs Aha moment? When did you first hear about ACEs and what impact did/does it have on you? How do ACEs impact you as a parent? How is your parenting impacted by past trauma? What’s been most helpful to you as a parent parenting with ACEs? What’s been most challenging for you as a parent parenting with ACEs? What has parenting taught you? What have you learned? How do you manage complex family relationships? What inspires/encourages and helps you? I know...

Just over a week after California officials found 13 malnourished siblings allegedly held captive and apparently not missed by schools because they were being home-schooled, home-schooling advocates say they are bracing for calls for stricter oversight of the practice. The advocates say they were horrified by accusations that the children’s parents kept them shackled in a filthy home in the Southern California city of Ferris, and some said they support mandatory medical visits or regular...

Parents do not uproot their children to make a long and dangerous journey to an uncertain future in the U.S. unless the circumstances in their home country are so threatening that the risks of migration pale in comparison to more certain risks at home. They leave their homes, other family members, schools, churches and familiar communities because they feel they must. In December 2017, the Trump Administration proposed a new policy of separating immigrant children from parents entering the...