Blog

This is the third of three stunning illustrations showing how PACEs (positive and adverse childhood experiences) affected the family of Cendie Stanford, graphic artist and founder of the nonprofit ACEs Matter. This one looks at her positive childhood experiences. The day before her 16th birthday, Cendie Stanford’s older brother was shot and killed by a young man who, just two years earlier, had been her boyfriend. “I was heartbroken that two people I loved were out of my life forever,” says...

By British Broadcasting Corporation, Photo: Getty Images, British Broadcasting Corporation, February 2, 2022 The tentative deal - with Johnson & Johnson and three major drug distributers - is worth $590m (£436m). The companies had been accused of "knowingly pushing addictive drugs into vulnerable communities". A statement from Johnson & Johnson said it admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement. [ Please click here to read more .]

By Molly Scott, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Brookings, January 25, 2002 he Build Back Better bill has stalled. On one point, we agree with Senator Joe Manchin that it is time for Congress to start with a “clean sheet of paper” by evaluating how each policy in the legislation betters American society. In this context, the portions in the bill targeting children and families are an imperative. They offer a particularly strong return on investment and just released data...

By Tik Root, Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images, The Washington Post, February 7, 2022 A trip to the doctor can yield any number of recommendations, including bed rest and medicine. But as of late January , Canadian patients can be sent home with a more novel note: a prescription for a national parks pass. “There’s almost no medical condition that nature doesn’t make better,” said Melissa Lem, a family physician and director of the PaRx initiative , which partnered with Parks Canada...

A Message from UCAAN's Leadership Dear ACEs Aware family, California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has announced that she will step down from her position on February 11. It is hard to overstate her influence in catalyzing the statewide movement to identify, address, and overcome the health impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress on California's families. In just two years, she worked with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to launch...

By David Rock, Image: Busa Photography/Getty Images, Harvard Business Review, February 7, 2022 I was a few minutes into a run when it happened. Moving fast along the grassy edge of a backwoods road, my left foot found the edge of a pothole, and my ankle rolled. The intense pain put me into shock, a sequence of metabolic phenomena that starts with a burst of adrenaline. A remnant of our evolutionary past, when a burst of energy may have helped us outrun a predator, adrenaline has multiple...

By Joel Knudson and Jennifer O'Day, Photo: Liv Ames/EdSource, EdSource, February 7, 2022 A s 2022 begins, educators, students, families and communities continue to navigate a state of prolonged and volatile crisis. The persistent spread of Covid-19 has compounded the challenge of ensuring safe and healthy learning environments. Meanwhile, too many students continue to suffer from the ongoing effects of the pandemic — academically, socially, emotionally and mentally. Community schools may...

By Indianapolis Recorder Staff, Photo: OnyxFest, Indianapolis Recorder, February 4, 2022 In 2021, OnyxFest staged six Black-led plays and tripled its audience size from its opening in 2020. Now, the plays can be streamed for free through the end of February on Butler University’s Arts and Events Center (BAEC) website. Sponsored by the Africana Repertory Theatre of IUPUI, the plays included “Fly Blackbird Fly/Voices We Can’t Unhear” by Latrice P. Young and “That Day in February” by Janice P.

From Equal Justice Initiative, February 4, 2022 The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that imposing a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years on a child is unconstitutional. People sentenced when they were children are now entitled to have their sentences reviewed after 20 years. The court’s decision, issued in January, combined two cases in which children were sentenced under a New Jersey statute that required them to serve a minimum of 30 years without any chance for parole. James Comer...

My wife NaTasha and I are mental health practitioners and published a children's book last year called Just Love Me . Parents, youth, teachers and youth-serving professionals have found this book refreshing so we thought sharing with our PACEs Connection community would be a valuable resource to some of you. See description below: JUST LOVE ME In a world where kids are so different at so many levels, it often becomes overwhelming to determine our thoughts, feelings, and reactions to those...

My wife NaTasha and I published a children's book last year that we think the PACEs community might be interested in. It's called I Got a Big Brain. Using lessons from brain science, we wanted to highlight concrete messaging of resilience based on nurturing adults through the lens of young children. See description below: I GOT A BIG BRAIN Many children experience adversity in their lives at alarming rates including abuse , neglect , parental loss or other household stressors . Although...

FEBRUARY 8-10, 2022 Join us for some or all of this inclusive 3-day online event featuring conversations, meditations, and panel discussions with 40+ experts in healthcare and mindfulness. All summit content will be available to view through February 20. Welcome to the Healing Healthcare Global Mindfulness Summit Our healthcare industry has been delivered to the edges of its capacity by this global pandemic. The successive waves of grief, PTSD, and burnout caused by COVID have yet to be...