At the summit today, each participant attended a facilitated discussion about helping a virtual child they had been assigned. I tallied at least 9 ACEs for Evan, the 13-year-old our group discussed and then offered ways that the school, his teachers,...
All attendees of the California ACEs Summit this week were assigned a child to “follow” during the conference. We received updates about our child throughout the conference and, on the last day, met with other attendees to talk about what...
Fewer than 15 years ago, Connecticut’s network of contracted programs to rehabilitate juvenile offenders was in jeopardy. The programs were not producing good enough results to justify their cost. And yet, in the past five years, there has been...
Trauma is pervasive. We know that anyone can experience trauma, regardless of age, race, gender or socio-economic status. Over the past two to three decades we have learned a lot about trauma – its immediate and long-term impact but also...
In Californa, one in six people has confronted severe trauma as a child, according to a new study (PDF) released this week by Bay Area-based health research and advocacy groups Center for Youth Wellness and the Public Health Institute....
Milk is not just food. The more closely scientists examine it, the more complexity they find. Along with nutrients like protein and calcium, milk contains immune factors that protect infants from disease. It hosts a menagerie of microbes, too,...
Baptist News Global has published my commentary, "Responding with love to mental illness." This also links to a new issue of our publication, The Christian Citizen , focusing on "Communities of Care: The Church and Mental Illness." See: ...
Cities are increasingly getting tough on food distribution programs for the homeless. According to the Sun Sentinel, a 90-year-old activist and two pastors from two churches in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., were arrested at a park on Sunday and then...
Let’s start a book club! OK, I’m not Oprah but let me explain what book clubs have to do with juvenile justice reform. In just the last 15 years, the field of juvenile justice has exploded with knowledge gained through scientific...
While societal support of LGBTQ persons is growing, as demonstrated by rising acceptance of same-sex marriage, the fact remains that LGBTQ youth continue to be vulnerable to discrimination and hostility. In the recently released National School...
One in six Californians has experienced severe childhood trauma, which is strongly linked to serious health problems in adulthood, according to a new study released today by the Center for Youth Wellness, a San Francisco health organization, and the...
According to a new statewide report released Wednesday, there is a strong correlation between childhood traumatic experiences and poor health. These adverse childhood experiences, often referred to as simply ACEs, are defined by researchers as...
Californians who experienced verbal, physical, sexual abuse or neglect in childhood are more likely to have long-lasting serious health problems, according to a health report released to the public Thursday. But early intervention can reduce the...
It is no secret that the United States prison population surpasses that of any other nation, that the country has very harsh sentencing laws for minor offenses, and that, as many argue, the inherent racial bias in the system is powerful and...
Between 60 percent and 62 percent of Kern County adults surveyed have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience traumatic enough to affect their lives years later. That's according to the report, "A Hidden Crisis: Findings on...