Blog

Today, I’ve been thinking a lot about beginnings and childhood . I was chatting with some friends the other night about parenthood, and it spurred on these reminiscences I suppose. Now, none of us have children of our own, but I’ve worked as a nanny for many years and a teacher before that. They have their own experiences with little ones in their family. We were tossing ideas around about what types of parents we would want to be – lenient or strict, open or cautious, etc. – but my thoughts...

One way to help build a child's resilience is to help them and the adults in their sphere of influence understand alcohol and other drug use disorders and their impacts of families. Nearly 80 million Americans are affected by someone's drinking (this does not include those affected by someone's other drug use). These nearly 80 million are the wives, husbands, moms, dads, children, brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, boyfriends, girlfriends, and close friends who are...

Calling all Grandparents raising their grandchildren or "Kinship" caregivers... I have become the full-time guardian of my grandson. In this new role, I have found there is much lacking in regards to support for "Grand Families" and other Kinship caregivers. Often we grandparents and kinship caregivers assume our roles outside of foster care, which presents many challenges. Additionally, for grandparents, the role of returning to parenting a child can be socially isolating, financially...

Bringing Connections Matter to North Carolina By: Nadia Moreta and Taylor McDonald, Partnership Engagement Managers, Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina What does it mean to be trauma sensitive and how can we build resilience in our community? Educators, social workers, parent educators, faith communities and more are looking for answers to these questions. Connections Matter NC is an evidence-informed training and public awareness campaign Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) is...

By Monica Ortiz Uribe, National Public Radio, September 15, 2019 Many migrants coming to the U.S. to ask for asylum fled violence and political strife at home. This mental toll is largely going unaddressed. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: Many migrants traveling to the U.S. to seek asylum are traumatized at every juncture. Our next story includes upsetting details about that trauma. Some migrants are fleeing violence and political strife in their home countries. Some become the targets of gangs...

By Zaidee Stavely, EdSource, September 16, 2019 Kindergartners across California could soon be spending more time in their classrooms if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill approved by the state Legislature last week. The legislation, Assembly Bill 197, introduced by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, would require every public elementary school, including charter schools, to offer at least one kindergarten class the same length as 1st grade, beginning in the 2022-23 school year. Schools...

By Susan Kellam, The Baltimore Sun, September 12, 2019 My first true love lived down the hall. On hands and knees, I would crawl into his room. “Where Baba?” — my very first words. In a home tattered by divorce and bitterness, I endured the strife glued to my older brother Robert. He was the one most likely to succeed. I was the one most likely to do foolish things, fall in love with the wrong men and leap headlong after college into New York City without a job or a place to stay. Determined...

By Mark A Bellis, Karen Hughes, Kat Ford, et al., The Lancet, September 3, 2019 Background: An increasing number of studies are identifying associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and ill health throughout the life course. We aimed to calculate the proportions of major risk factors for and causes of ill health that are attributable to one or multiple types of ACE and the associated financial costs. Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched for...

By Dana G. Smith, California Health Care Foundation, August 1, 2019 When babies are born dependent on opioids, typically they are whisked away from their mothers, put into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), dosed with morphine to get them through withdrawal, and gradually weaned off the drug—a process that can take weeks. Research now suggests that this long-established standard of care may be the worst way to care for a newborn with opioid dependency, or neonatal abstinence syndrome...

By Christina Bethell, Jennifer Jones, Narangerel Gombojav, et al., JAMA Pediatrics, September 9, 2019 Question : Are positive childhood experiences (PCEs) associated with adult depression and/or poor mental health (D/PMH) and adult-reported social and emotional support (ARSES) independent from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)? Findings : In this cross-sectional study, adults reporting higher PCEs had lower odds of D/PMH and greater ARSES after accounting for ACEs. The associations of...

This nonprofit focuses on a mediation intervention based on healing attachment issues. I found the resources plentiful, and I highly recommend their podcast. Mettagroup

By April Dembosky, KQED, September 14, 2019 On her 21st birthday, Keris Myrick was in the cereal aisle of the grocery store. She was throwing boxes of Cheerios on the ground, yelling back at the voices in her head. Food is poison, they told her. If you eat you will die. “So I actually stopped eating for about four months,” Myrick said. “I just told my mother it was stomach pains.” It took years before Myrick admitted the problem was not in her stomach, but in her head. She was eventually...