Blog

Wisconsin First Lady Tonette Walker (Center), Naomi Goldstein (R), and Elizabeth Hudson (L) ________________________________________________ Note from Gail Kennedy, ACEs Connection Network and CA Department of Health Care Services. Please read this report about the leadership from Wisconsin to promote Trauma-informed policy and practice and a presentation to HHS last month. One significant highlight from the presentation, in my opinion, is the need for more " partnering—state to state, city...

President Trump portrays himself as an expert at marketing designer ties and gourmet steaks, but now, as chief executive of federal social policy, his new childcare plan might be a tougher sell. The promise he has made of universal childcare, accompanied by a marketing campaign led by his glamorous career-woman daughter Ivanka, sounded family-friendly enough on the campaign trail. But to childcare advocates, the vague talking points he laid out in his first speech to Congress last month...

As I write this article I am disgusted, feel responsible and I am ashamed to be a part of an industry that continues to flourish in spite of continued failure. I reflect on 20 years of being around the drug and alcohol rehabilitation industry and I am appalled how little we do to change an industry that 1) Lives on repeat business; 2) Denies a 95% failure rate; and 3) Takes credit for the 5% success rate but blames the addict for the 95% failure rate. [For more of this story, written by...

Have you ever wondered why you can handle stress so much better than one of your friends? Or maybe you are in awe of a friend who seems to roll so easily with punches that would knock you out. There is an explanation. Stressors (challenging events) aren’t experienced the same way by everyone. Stress is caused by a convergence of two factors: The nature and degree of the stressor and the temperament and skills of the individual. [For more of this story, written by Marie Hartwell-Walker, go to...

Charity effectiveness evaluator GiveWell has won a lot of fans for its data-driven recommendations about where people should donate to have their money used most effectively. The organization usually recommends nonprofit groups that offer fairly inexpensive and direct remedies to solve global problems on a major scale. That’s because the group adheres to a philanthropic philosophy called "effective altruism," which means it encourages donors to make investments that do the most quantifiable...

Jacqueline Graniel spent her whole childhood in Southern California assuming other families also lived paycheck to paycheck. Now, as she studies for both a medical degree and a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, she has found that some of her classmates avoid the stress of renting and dealing with landlords by simply buying houses, sometimes with help from their parents. That’s not an option for Graniel; she sends a portion of her stipend home to support her family. [For more of this...

Tonette Walker, First Lady of Wisconsin (R), is an unexpected leader in the movement to transform healthcare and our communities to become trauma informed, and she has been paving the path for others to join in. Ms. Walker describes how she came to take on this issue with such passion – noting that at the orientation retreat for gubernatorial spouses, everyone was asked to take on an issue they care deeply about. For First Lady Walker that would be trauma informed care and she began her work...

Whatever adversities you face, you’ve got to acknowledge them and then use them to motivate you instead of let them wear you down. I credit my life’s obstacles for the intellectual and emotional strength that led me to my life today,” said Max Howell, founder of Howell Men for Others Foundation, a nonprofit that mentors at-risk youth in Kansas City, Missouri. [For more of this story go to ...

I traveled to Nashville last week to participate in the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth’s 29th annual Children’s Advocacy Days 2017 presentation. More than 800 people, representing individual groups, agencies and organizations involved in child and family advocacy issues, registered to attend the event at the stately War Memorial Auditorium Tuesday and Wednesday. [For more of this story, written by Jerome Wright, go to ...

By focusing on strengthening the agency of communities - their ability to make purposeful choices - cross-sector collaborations will be more successful

The CAREgivers film team wants to acknowledge how secondary trauma seems to be cropping up frequently within the current social climate, including much anxiety about health care, budget cuts, racism, and environmental degradation. In particular frontline professionals, activists, and advocates who are responding with care for people who will be effected by the threat of rapid changes in the social safety net need our support and encouragement. Here are several examples of social activists or...

I am a warrior. I am a survivor. I am many, many things. Most recently, I found out I have a tumor in my breast that is cancer. It isn't my cancer. I don't own it. I didn't want it. It is NOT my exit strategy. It's Easier to Build Up a Child Than to Repair An Adult I am also an advocate and activist to PREVENT the abuse of our children, and to help those adults who have experienced abuse and trauma to continue on their healing journey After learning about the ACE Study (Adverse Childhood...