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I co-authored an Op-Ed with Dean Donna Nickitas from Rutgers-Camden Nursing School and Donna Mazyck, Executive Director of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN). MLK wrote about the "fierce urgency of now," a message that rings as true today as it was when he shared it more than 50 years ago. Addressing the public health crisis of gun violence requires that sense of fierce urgency and action. This Op-Ed, published today, the very weekend following the aftermath of yet another mass...

Please join this June 6 webinar on Florida’s early childhood courts (aka “safe babies courts”) hosted by the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health and co-sponsored by the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice and ACEs Connection. Background: Every six minutes in the U.S., an infant, toddler or child under the age of 3 is removed from their homes for alleged abuse and neglect and placed in state custody through the child welfare system (Zero to Three).

Less then 5 years ago long-time trauma informed advocates, Sandra Bloom, MD and Andrea Blanch, PhD, brought together a small group of similarly-minded folks to talk about forming a new national organization focused on trauma informed policy and practice. Months later the Campaign for Trauma Informed Policy and Practice CTIPP was born. In May of 2019, CTIPP was selected by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to receive its Distinguished Service Award for meritorious service to the...

I’m hearing it all… Trauma-Aware. Trauma-Sensitive. Trauma-Responsive. Trauma-Informed. Trauma-Empowered. Trauma-Invested. …and the latest I’ve recently heard, Trauma-Attuned Environments. Then there is the biggest conversation of all of them that has but one word, Resilience . I’ve recently learned that this single word has multiple viewpoints, definitions, hopes, and even triggers for a large number of people. I am just one person and I occupy a relatively small parcel of the world, but...

Laurel Morales, NPR, May 29, 2019. Neda Billie has been waiting to turn on lights in her home for 15 years. "We've been living off those propane lanterns," she says. "Now we don't have to have flashlights everywhere. All the kids have a flashlight so when they get up in the middle of the night like to use the restroom they have a flashlight to go to [the outhouse]." Billie, her husband and their five kids live in a tiny, one-room hogan, a traditional Navajo home. Their three sheep graze on...

Tina Rosenberg, NY Times , May 29, 2019. If you want a job at Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, N.Y., just north of the Bronx, it’s yours. There’s no background check, drug test, credit check or call to references. Greyston won’t even interview you. You just go into the bakery and put your name and contact information on a list. When a job comes open and your name is next, you start work as a paid apprentice. Greyston was founded in 1982 by Bernie Glassman, a Buddhist Zen master from Brooklyn. He...

Ivo, Daily Infographic , May 31, 2019. Each and every day there are hundreds of media outlets fighting for your attention. Some are here to inform you, while others just want you to hear their opinion. So where do you go for the most honest news? Ever since the 2016 US presidential election, the term “ fake news ” has been thrown around from all sides. Opposing sides slinging mud at each other create a feeling of distrust and paranoia within the public. Readers are almost forced to pick a...

By P. Berman & K. Hecht & A. Hosack, I don’t know what to say. I want her to know I am trying. I am not begging her to stay with me! Another few weeks went by without a letter. Larry was struggling but had made it through the first few chapters of the book; he had never been able to read well. The library assistant Manuel had become like a friend to him. He sat next to him and helped him read through the book. Manuel must have been great at school because he knew the definitions of a...

The U.S. Army issued a tweet ahead of Memorial Day weekend with a question for service members and veterans: "How has serving impacted you?" Among the thousands of responses: harrowing tales of trauma, depression and sexual assault. Soon after the U.S. Army tweeted its question, thousands of responses began flooding in. Many people tweeted about the positive impact military service had on their lives, but others posted stories of post-traumatic stress disorder, illness and suicide brought on...

Join a webinar highlighting how two providers have incorporated trauma-informed care into their substance use disorder treatment practices, shaping the experiences of their patients and staff.

By A. Hosack, P. Berman & K. Hecht Claire would have married m e if I had asked. I wanted her but not marriage! Will I lose her? Larry was thinking hard as he walked towards the library. He had prided himself on always taking charge- being a real man. He had never let Claire take charge. He had only really listened to her talking when they were laying together after sex. She had always said she loved him. He had never said he loved her. He just said she was his and that had always...

Are we ignoring the elephant in the room? Aren't parents who engage in parenting behaviors and practices generally recognized as supporting their children's healthy development the most important source of resilience? And if this is the case shouldn't we be figuring out how to make better parents? Probably the most resilient person I'm aware of is Elizabeth Smart. Kidnapped at 14 and raped daily for months this young woman has recovered and seemingly thrives. Why? She comes from a Mormon...