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Laura's note: This story is not an easy read, but in the end it's about a triumph over "the system" and is a textbook example of how children often receive diagnoses, treatment, and punishment instead of help and intervention when they are being abused. I've often wondered how my own experience growing up would have diverged had I "acted out" instead of internalizing by way of "freeze" and "fawn" -- this account below is how. I'd bet there are thousands of others who can say the same. I was...

International Children's Book Day occurs on April 2nd - this article highlights two books written by community partners in Plymouth County. Whether it’s a teacher, staff member, or character in a book, children need to feel connected to something to help them cope with the various stressors that they have going on in their lives. “Children can often feel alone and isolated and when they can relate to characters in a book, it helps them feel less alone,” Sarah Cloud, Director of Social Work...

Calling all New Jersey Pediatricians! Join us on Monday, April 5th from Noon - 1 PM Eastern Time to learn about a new Healthy Spaces Project ECHO MOC Part 4 QI Program to learn how to promote children's brain development and help create nurturing parent environments during routine well-visits. Click here to register today!

By Corey Hazekamp, Sana Yousuf, Manorama Khare, and Martin MacDowell, Housing Matters, March 31, 2021 New research shows the current eviction crisis is doing more than displacing renters and creating housing instability—it also has a significant relationship with people’s health. In the past, researchers have established links connecting homeowners’ housing conditions with health outcomes. However, no research has focused on housing and health outcomes among renters. This study examines the...

By Glenn Gamboa, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 31, 2021 A few years ago, Dave Isay started worrying about America as he saw the middle ground between the political parties vanish into what he calls “disconnection and a vast void.” “I am not ever concerned about people arguing with each other, because that’s healthy,” Isay said. “But I was concerned with people treating one another with contempt.” Isay, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, the winner of six Peabody awards, and...

From County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, April 2021 It is a pivotal time in the nation as we face the COVID-19 pandemic and renewed calls for racial justice. For more than a decade, the County Health Rankings have examined the multiple factors that impact how long and how well we live and have shown there are stark differences in health and opportunity by place. COVID-19 has exacerbated these differences. While all are suffering, those who came into the pandemic with the fewest...

By Miriam Pawel, The New York Times, March 31, 2021 More than three decades ago, Cesar Chavez, founder of the first successful union for farmworkers, predicted a future in which the cities of California would be run by people who looked like him. “History and inevitability are on our side,” he said in one of his best-known speeches, an address to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. “The farmworkers and their children, and the Hispanics and their children, are the future in California.”...

By Dylan Scott, Vox, April 1, 2021 After the passage of President Joe Biden’s first Covid-19 relief plan , nearly 7 million additional uninsured Americans now qualify for free health insurance through the Affordable Care Act , according to new federal projections shared exclusively with Vox. The American Rescue Plan (ARP), which takes effect on Thursday, expanded eligibility for the Affordable Care Act’s premium subsidies — federal aid to help people pay for insurance plans bought on the...

On February 24, 2021, Dr. Warren Larkin of the UK and Becky Haas of the US launched the first meeting of the Global Resiliency Accelerator. Dr. Andi Clements, of the ETSU Ballad Health Strong Brain Institute chaired the session as well as served as moderator for the Q&A session. Over 60 people from 11 countries joined the event. Among these in attendance were professionals from Lithuania, Australia, Ukraine, Scotland, France, Canada, New Zealand, the US, Dublin and Wales. The...

(Becky Haas and Ben Schoenberg, Co-Authors) A group of like-minded higher education professionals across universities and departments came together on Tuesday, March 23, to explore the impact ACE's and Trauma initiatives have had on campus. This convening was hosted by the East Tennessee State University Ballad Health Strong Brain Institute following their participation in the January CTIPP CAN call which showcased three universities who are doing work around the Adverse Childhood...

By Catherine G. Dennis, M.S., Ed.S Trauma informed practice, ACES and resilience have been the focus of educators the last few years. The idea that trauma was something that happened in the early years and understanding that impact on learning in the long term. But the pause of this past year for all children has delivered another layer to this ever-evolving topic. Now, it doesn't really matter what the situation was at home, collectively, trauma was delivered to all the children that fill...

By Katheryn Houghton, Kaiser Health News, March 30, 2021 Linda Heim knew her dad didn’t plan to wait for the cancer to kill him. For decades, he’d lived in Montana, which they’d thought was one of the few places where terminally ill people could get a prescription to end their life. After two years of being sick, Heim’s dad got the diagnosis in 2019: stage 4 kidney cancer. His physician offered treatments that might extend his life by months. Instead, the 81-year-old asked the doctor for...