Blog

November 9, 2022 11:00 AM 3:30 PM EST Virtual via Zoom Learning how little bodies register and retain trauma physically and physiologically is key to helping children release toxic stress. Register HERE. After any long period of stress or trauma—such as getting through a pandemic—it is normal to experience emotional de-regulation. As we prepare for post-pandemic life, it is normal to experience de-regulation as a result of long periods of stress or trauma. In Echo's Trauma-Informed Yoga for...

Hearing Multiple Languages in the Home Research shows that being exposed to multiple languages in the home can improve children's executive function skills, like attention, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. Plus, speaking in their native language can allow caregivers to express their full range of thought and emotion.

A just-published article reports that the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) recommends against pediatric ACE screening but strongly supports continuing surveillance of ACEs along with protective factors in the population as a way to identify public health and other policies that can prevent adversity and toxic stress. Their report highlights Dr. Robert Anda’s (and colleagues) commentary that notes that ACE scores are neither a diagnostic tool nor predictive at the individual...

Babies Need a Safe Place to Explore Creating a “yes” environment means having a safe space for babies to explore on their own. With careful baby proofing, parents can promote autonomy, and reduce the amount of times they need to say “no.”

We are pleased to share a roundup of the latest Pathways to Resilience news and events. Read more below and spread the word about our upcoming Learning Network session on the Handle with Care model. And be sure to share a new, informative video on Adverse Childhood Experiences with your network. First State Policy Roundtable Engaged More Than 30 Leaders from Across the Country We were thrilled to host our first in-person State Policy Roundtable in Denver last month. More than 30 state and...

Benchmarks is excited to welcome Cabarrus County DSS as the newest member of our Standardized Assessment Protocol (SAP) project! The SAP project is a process created to ensure timely trauma screening for children over the age of four entering foster care to quickly identify a child’s need for further assessment, with the goal of increasing their likelihood to receive the treatment necessary to reach their full potential. This treatment goes beyond just mental and behavioral health; treatment...

Learning from peer Initiatives to better understand the current landscape of TIC/ACEs efforts and their outcomes nationally.

By Catherine Rampell, Photo: Craig Mithelldyer/AP, The Washington Post, October 13, 2022 How about getting some of that sweet, sweet industrial policy for an industry that really needs it? Not manufacturing plants. Not the tech sector. I’m talking about the “care” industry — the sector that’s needed to grease the wheels when it comes to the rest of the economy but one that Congress has largely ignored. The U.S. economy has more than recovered all the jobs lost in the pandemic. But there are...

By Mike Hixenbaugh, Suzy Khimm, and Agnel Philip, Photo: Stephanie Mei-Ling, ProPublica, October 12, 2022 More than a decade before the Penn State University child sex abuse scandal broke, an assistant football coach told his supervisors that he had seen Jerry Sandusky molesting a young boy in the shower. When this was revealed during Sandusky’s criminal trial in 2012, it prompted public outcry: Why hadn’t anyone reported the abuse sooner? In response, Pennsylvania lawmakers enacted sweeping...

By Pam Strayer, Photo: Eric Forberger/Business Wire/AP, The Guardian, October 13, 2022 I t is not easy to rattle Rosa Vivian Fernandez. The chief executive of a California healthcare clinic, she sees the harsh realities that the low-income, largely Hispanic community served by the clinic faces every day. But when Fernandez traveled to Puerto Rico in 2017 to visit family, she was shocked to see how deeply Hurricane Maria had devastated the island. “All the healthcare centers – the ones that...

As co-founders of the Global Resiliency Accelerator, Dr. Warren Larkin and I are happy to announce the November 15 learning session which will feature Chuck Price, Founder of Blue Collar Consulting presenting. This presentation is intended to take a look at the current ‘system’ and our current practices through a trauma informed lens, and then challenge all of us to apply the “know better, do better” mindset. Because…a trauma-informed approach to Child Welfare, and other systems, is...

This presentation introduces the Benevolent Childhood Experiences (BCEs) scale, a brief, culturally sensitive measure of positive childhood experiences that can be used as a counterpart to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scale (Narayan et al., 2018). We will review research on the role of BCEs in predicting adaptation over the lifespan and across generations in individuals experiencing high levels of risk and adversity, including parents in emergency housing and low-income pregnant...