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This policy workshop provides advocates, activists & movements the knowledge and tools to increase their capacity to effectively engage in policy advocacy with a lens toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over the course of this series, participants will be provided an actionable framework to define opportunities for change, identify policy levers, engage community stakeholders, and influence policymakers. Each interactive session will allow space for participants to examine how the...

It’s been a month since the launch of the new three-digit Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 9-8-8 , on July 16th. Formerly the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, users can now access mental health care, substance use, developmental disability, and suicide prevention services by simply texting or calling 9-8-8. When a person accesses 9-8-8 or 1-800-273-8255, they are routed to a local crisis call center for support. The new 9-8-8 line in Georgia is an addition to the crisis...

By Yuki Noguchi, Photo: Juan Diego Reyes/KHN/NPR, National Public Radio, August 15, 2022 *Ed note - Why this article? A solution to crippling medical debt that burdens individuals economically, mentally, and physically. Driving positive change is what we are passionate about at PACEs Connection. Soon after giving birth to a daughter two months premature, Terri Logan received a bill from the hospital. She recoiled from the string of numbers separated by commas. Logan, who was a high school...

By The Guardian, Image: Title image from video in article, The Guardian *Ed. note - Why this article? Historically racist policies affecting disadvantaged communities of color are a detriment to community health. We address historical policies in PACEs Connection's Historical Trauma Series . America invested in sanitation systems throughout the 20th century – but it often left out communities of color, and they're still trying to catch up. This video explains how specific policies caused...

By Jamiles Lartey, Photo: Olivia Perillo/The Marshall Project, The Marshall Project, August 13, 2022 * Ed. note - Why this article? Conditions in juvenile detention facilities can lead to lasting mental harm. Integrating practices based on PACEs science can help solve this. In Texas, children and teens in the juvenile justice system are routinely locked in cells for all but 30 minutes a day , and nearly half are on suicide watch. This week, the director of the Texas Juvenile Justice...

By Kristi Eaton, Photo: Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, The74 August 15, 2022 * Ed. note - Why this article? An effort to overcome the opportunity gap facing girls and other disadvantaged student groups. This is part of PACEs Connection’s mission. Nine-year-old Marissa Williams and 10-year-old Kason Huerta sit huddled next to each other on the floor of the library at Darnaby Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The temperature outside is nearing 100 degrees on this balmy Thursday in July, but...

Updates from the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) on White House, Agency, and Congressional action on trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). A Summer of Legislating August is usually a quiet month in Washington, D.C. as Members of Congress head home for the month. However, this year, Congress has remained active in the nation’s capital, passing and enacting the Inflation Reduction Act, Honoring Our PACT Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. Climate, Health...

Systemic racism has long been attributed to standardized tests across education levels, academic programs, and professional licensure. The ASWB’s report on exam passage rates revealed large racial and ethnic disparities. How will social work ensure its professional path is not laden with the same disparities and obstacles faced by populations served by the profession itself?

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our host Emily is joined by Dr. Jena Vasquez, LCSW-S, NARM Therapist, SEP, Yoga Therapist and Instructor, professor and researcher. Dr. Vasquez recently completed her doctoral dissertation, Meaning Making: Understanding Professional Quality of Life for NARM Trained Trauma Therapists , one of the first research studies on how professional training in trauma impacts quality of life for trauma therapists. Dr. Vasquez specifically chose NARM to research,...

By Henry Gass, Photo: Henry Gass/The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, August 11, 2022 Lupe Mendez was a self-described hobby poet when he first met Tony Diaz. Today, Mr. Mendez is the poet laureate of Texas, and he looks back at receiving Mr. Diaz’s business card that day as one of the first turning points in his career. The name Tony Diaz didn’t mean much to him, nor did the organization, Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say. What jumped out to him was...

By Brian Lopez, Photo: Rachel Zein/The Texas Tribune, The74, August 11, 2022 For the past year, Texas educators have struggled with a new law targeting how history and race are taught in the state’s public schools. Some administrators thought it meant they needed to teach an opposing view of the Holocaust. For other school officials, the pressure of adhering to new restrictions about how to teach social studies was too much and for some it was the last straw: They quit . In one district, a...

By Alexandra Zisser and Mona Shah, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, July 28, 2022 Can your family withstand a difficult diagnosis, a missed paycheck, or a significant rent increase? For many families and communities, those financial shocks are impossible to weather and gravely impact health and wellbeing. A survey conducted this year found that two-third of Americans have put off care they or a family member need because of cost. This is the result of the racial wealth gap , which refers to...