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Hi everyone! So glad to have found you all. (I'm still learning my way around so apologies if I've posted this in a few places.) I'm Alison Morris, single adoptive mother to a child with early developmental trauma whose ACEs score is sadly quite high. Even more sad is that I think my own parenting may have added a check or two since I had no idea what was going on for quite a while, and even when I did I found it SO hard to parent in a trauma-informed (connection- and relationship-based)...

When we look at childhood trauma we cannot ignore the social and historical context in which children and families exist. This year’s Changing the Paradigm conferences takes on the issue of social and historical trauma, especially racial trauma, and with a team of experts from around the country will endeavor to create a safe space to talk about the impact of social and historical trauma on the communities we live in, as well as to showcase strategies that offer hope of community-level...

Nice article about the state education system's growing apprecation about trauma and ACEs. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2016/oct/25/kansas-works-understand-trauma-impact-students/

Note: The impacts of toxic stress and the brain's neuroplasticity are discussed. The importance of infancy and attachment are here. ACEs are mentioned briefly as are trauma-informed general approaches. There is no surprise content to those of us who know about ACEs science. However, this is a great guide. It's accessible (for parents like me). The mention of ACEs could obviously be expanded upon. However, what is thrilling is the acknowledgement of how shame-reducing all of this science can...

Criminals in the US can be given computer-generated "risk scores" that may affect their sentences. But are the secret algorithms behind them really making justice fairer? If you've seen the hit Netflix documentary series Making A Murderer, you'll know the US state of Wisconsin has had its problems delivering fair justice. Now there's another Wisconsin case that's raised questions about how the US justice system works. In the early hours of Monday 11 February 2013, two shots were fired at a...

New research reveals that certain alterations in the brain may be present in pedophiles, with differences between hands-on offenders and those who have not sexually offended against children. For the study, researchers conducted imaging tests of the brains of pedophiles with and without a history of hand-on sexual offences against children, as well as healthy non-offending controls, during an assessment of what's called a response-inhibition task. Activation patterns in certain regions of...

When Francisco saw an image of himself without tattoos, he couldn't help but smile. "Damn," he said. " I haven't seen myself like that in years." Francisco is a former gang member. His arms, face, and hands are covered in tattoos and gang symbols, permanent reminders of his former life. But thanks to the photography and photo editing skills of Steven Burton , Francisco had the opportunity to see himself a changed man, the way he felt on the inside. [For more of this story, written by Erin...

Children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience disruptions in the structure of the neural networks inside their brains, according to a study appearing in the journal Radiology. The findings could help in the development of treatments for the disorder, researchers said. PTSD is a mental health problem that occurs in the wake of one or more traumatic experiences. Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of PTSD, as the multiple neurochemical and hormonal effects...

The 2016 presidential election, whatever else its effects may be, is providing the useful service of highlighting the sexual harassment that many professional women face. My new book on female corporate leaders includes a close look at sexual harassment, a topic that few have focused on until recently. In fact, long before Trump’s alleged groping of women came to dominate the national conversation, my Millennial daughter saw an early version of the book’s cover that listed harassment among...

For decades, Minneapolis has been heralded as an American success story: The Twin Cities area is home to one of the largest concentrations of Fortune-500-company headquarters, and, relative to other large American cities, has low unemployment, little poverty, and plenty of affordable housing. Much of the prosperity, which has been called “The Minnesota Miracle,” has been attributed an unusual approach to sharing tax revenues between rich and poor communities in the region. But two years ago,...

The Alliance and Children’s Health recently hosted community and hospital system leaders from the Building Community Resilience (BCR) collaborative. This national initiative focuses on strategies for communities and hospital health systems to reduce toxic stress and prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through a population-health approach. ACEs are strongly associated with increased risk for heart disease, smoking, obesity, depression and substance abuse. [For more of this story,...

Purpose RWJF seeks to advance systemic changes that embed health in school environments. To help advance these systemic changes, the Foundation will support a collaborative, multipronged strategy with three complementary areas of work related to Research, Policy, and Strategic Action. This Call for Qualifications (CFQ) represents Phase I of a two-phase selection process designed to identify eligible organizations to lead each area of work, which include: Applied Research and Translation (one...