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I attended the presentation of Governor Cuomo's Cancer Research Initiative at the Buffalo Science Museum October 22, 2019. Brad Hutton Deputy Health Commissioner State of NY presented. Erie County Health Commissioners in attendance. It had all the data on the 4 major cancers in the East Side of Buffalo, NY. https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/cancer/cancer_research_initiative/docs/erie_presentation.pdf I'm all excited. Prepared with 2 dozen ACE handouts. Sat quietly for the 45 minute power...

By Jack P. Shonkoff, Immigration Initiative at Harvard, October 2019 Background The separation of children from their parents and their prolonged detention for an indefinite period of time raise profound concerns that transcend partisan politics and demand immediate resolution. Forcibly separating children from their parents is like setting a house on fire. Preventing rapid reunification is like blocking the first responders from doing their job. And subjecting children to prolonged...

By Ellen Galinsky, Brookings Institute, October 23, 2019 The focus on “toxic stress,” ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), and trauma-informed care have been game-changers in the field of early childhood development. They have helped us recognize the symptoms of trauma, provide appropriate assistance to children, and understand that prolonged adversity in the absence of nurturing relationships can derail a child’s healthy development. Just look at the media’s and the public’s reaction to...

By Lee Romney, KQED, October 18, 2019 Darryl Lester was at his mom’s place in Tacoma, Washington, when a letter he’d been waiting for arrived in the mail. At 40, he was destitute, in pain and out of work. The letter delivered good news: Lester would be getting disability benefits after blowing out his back in a sheet metal accident. But he crumpled it up and threw it in the trash. Why? Because he couldn’t read it. From first through seventh grades, Lester had attended three public schools in...

By Heather T. Forbes, Beyond Consequences, October 23, 2019 If you'd like to be a speaker at one or both of our upcoming 2020 Trauma-Informed School Conferences, now is the time to submit a proposal. Join us to become one of our prestigious break-out speakers! These 2020 conferences will be building off the success of our last conferences and they will be evolving to an even higher level. I'm certain you have a knowledge base to share so submit your proposal by Friday, December 10, 2019. The...

By The National Council for Behavioral Health, October 2019 The National Council for Behavioral Health is pleased to announce the 2020-2021 Trauma-informed, Resilience-oriented Approaches Learning Community. Since 2011, we have worked with behavioral health, social service and community organizations to implement trauma-informed, resilience-oriented organizational change. This Learning Community will provide participating organizations, systems and communities with the tools and skills to...

Today's Headline: Author of Parenting Book Sentenced to Prison for College Admissions Scam My Reaction: What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What kind of topsy-turvy world do we live in? What is going on with parenting? And yes, the ACE Study proves it. Most, if not all, of the ten original adverse childhood experiences are associated with unsupportive, harmful parenting. I don't know why this is happening, but the solution is to return to parenting behaviors and practices generally recognized as...

By P. Berman, K. Hecht & A. Hosack I deserve this. I am so worthless. All I had to do was get off the bus. I couldn’t even do that right. Claire didn’t ask the bus driver for help. She didn’t think she deserved help from anyone. She had made this mistake. She would have to fix it herself. Awash in thoughts that she was always wrong, she was always stupid, and she was always a waste of space, she kept moving her feet in what she thought was the right direction. Claire had learned so much...

By A. Hosack & P. Berman & K. Hecht I’m not fired, I’m not fired, I must get back to work. I have to help my next patient! Claire still feels like a total failure and is struggling to do her job. She forces herself up from the chair and notices she still has the full cup of coffee the dentist gave her. She tries to take a sip, but it just makes her stomach hurt more; she throws it into the trash and walks quietly to her workspace and cleans everything up to be ready for the next...

By K. Hecht, A. Hosack & P. Berman What did I do? She is yelling at me. She sounds so like my mother. I must keep it together! Claire was having a very stressful day at work. Nothing she is doing is working like she has come to expect but she is trying to act professionally despite that. She has been cleaning a seven- year- old boy’s teeth- they were very dirty. She was doing her normal thing, trying to be friendly by talking to his teeth as if they were alive. She said to them, “dear...

Temporary free access to highly cited articles making an impact in Paediatrics & Child Health ( PCH ) has just been opened up by Oxford Academic. If you're a research hoarder like me, you'll want to check this out. https://academic.oup.com/pch/pages/highly_cited_articles

By Anya Tullman, The Daily Pennsylvanian, October 21, 2019 A student-run conference in the School of Nursing Saturday drew nearly 200 students and community members to talk about incorporating mental health awareness into health care. The "Reimagining Mental Health" conference featured speakers from across the Philadelphia and Penn communities who discussed harm reductionist and trauma-informed approaches to health care. "Harm reduction" refers to the practice of medical professionals...