Blog

By Jessica Pryce and Amelia Franck Meyer, The Imprint, January 4, 2021 Although child welfare reform has been a topic of conversation for many years, what is often meant by “reform” is evolutionary or incremental change, which are efforts to make the current system better, but not fundamentally different. But many systems leaders who operate significantly improved versions of the current system agree that it still falls short of meeting the needs of families. The Biden administration...

(l to r) Elaine Miller Karas co-developer of CRM; Jim Sporleder, former principal of Walla Walla High School; and Edwin Weaver at the 2018 ACEs Conference & Pediatric Symposium in San Francisco. After watching the late Jamie Redford’s 2015 film, “ Paper Tigers ,” about a Washington state high school where ACEs integration transformed graduation rates, Edwin Weaver knew he had to take action. Weaver is the executive director of Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley , providing social services...

Hey everyone, its Anissa here! For those of you who may not know I am the Youth Systems Navigator for TAY Oceanside! TAY Oceanside is a drop-in and outreach program for youth experiencing instability in North County San Diego. A week ago, I drove down to St. Vincent’s Shelter to help do a supply drop off to help our young participants. I got lost in the drive, I got lost in my mind, as I reflected deeply on this year. I realized how drastically my life has changed. How I went from a...

By Sarah Duran, December 21, 2020 San Antonio. SAN ANTONIO — There's no place like home for the holidays and that is exactly where Ellie, Daisy and J.P. Seastrunk will be spending Christmas this year with their newly adoptive family. The 6-year-old twin sisters and their 10-year-old brother were adopted in October after spending three years in the foster care system. "I pretty much fell in love from the moment the idea was put in front of me and we made a commitment to go ahead and say yes.

By Kenyon Lee Whitman and Brianna M. Harvey, The Imprint, December 2, 2020 Black foster youth are caught in a nexus of incarceration which is formed by their engagement with child welfare, education and policing. Our recent brief published by UCLA’s Black Male Institute on Los Angeles County public schools serves to elucidate these grim realities. California public schools educate over 46,000 K-12 students in foster care, and about a third of them attend Los Angeles County public schools. An...

ACEs Connection, the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy & Practice ( CTIPP), and the Relentless School Nurse will be hosting a Zoom discussion on Tuesday, Dec, 15th at 7p.m. EST about parts 1, 2, and 3 of Whole People. We hope you can join us: Pre-Registration Link Quotes from Childhood Trauma (Part 1 of Whole People): If you have yet to watch the Whole People series, you can still do so by visiting the PBS website. There is no cost to watch. 101 | Childhood Trauma | 102 | Healing...

By Kenyon Lee Whitman and Brianna M. Harvey, The Imprint, December 2, 2020 Black foster youth are caught in a nexus of incarceration which is formed by their engagement with child welfare, education and policing. Our recent brief published by UCLA’s Black Male Institute on Los Angeles County public schools serves to elucidate these grim realities. California public schools educate over 46,000 K-12 students in foster care, and about a third of them attend Los Angeles County public schools. An...

The Transform Trauma with ACEs Sciences FREE Film Festival continues this weekend. Please join us to watch parts 1, 2, and 3 of the PBS Whole People series at your convenience, on ACEs Connection, by clicking play on the videos below: Whole People | 101 | Childhood Trauma | Episode 1 (27 min) Preview: Whole People | 102 | Healing Communities | Preview | Episode 2 Whole People | 102 |Healing Communities Episode 2 (27 min) Whole People | 103 |A New Response | Episode 3 (27 min) This is one of...

CARING AND CAPABLE KIDS 51 Songs with Resources for Social Emotional Learning Music Therapy and Developing Resilience Empathy Trauma-Informed Lens Caring and Capable Kids book INNERCHOICE Publishing https://www.innerchoicepublishing.com/book/caring-and-capable-kids/ A two-pager is attached with links, too.

By Megan Conn, The Imprint, November 25, 2020 As students across the country struggle to keep up with their schoolwork while sheltering from the coronavirus, tens of thousands of foster youth will now have access to one-on-one support from a free tutoring program being rolled out nationwide. A few months ago, leaders at the online tutoring platform Learn to Be reached out to offer their help to iFoster, which connects foster youth to resources. The two quickly set up a pilot program to match...

By Elizabeth Amon, The Imprint, November 15, 2020 She had been homeless and struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts over three difficult years, when Elsa St Clair was released in January from an Idaho psychiatric hospital. Today, the 24-year-old enjoys a reliable internet connection in a Spokane apartment that she’s decorated with the flag of Eastern Washington University, where she hopes to study nursing. In preparation for her future career, she is about to start an online...

At Ready4K , we talk and write a lot about parental self-care. It’s absolutely key that every caregiver find time and strategies to de-stress and relax even if it’s just for a few minutes. But did you know that kids need self-care too? So how do we help kids learn to care for themselves? In this article, Ready4K content manager Fran Lartigue provides specific ideas for helping kids learn simple self-care strategies that can last for a lifetime. Read the article >>