March 2017

Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Dick Durbin at the Dec. 1, 2016 Congressional Briefing on addressing childhood trauma ________________________________________________________ The “Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act” ( S. 774 , H.R. 1757 ) was introduced on March 29 in the Senate by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) with co-sponsors Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and, for the first time in the House of Representatives by Chicago Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL7).

The ABCs of ACEs: Addressing the long-term health effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences - Healthy Debate from André Picard’s Tweet

This brief provides a framework for understanding self-regulation and its development in an ecological-biological development context. [For more go to http://fpg.unc.edu/resources/seven-key-principles-self-regulation-and-self-regulation-context]

Dennis Walton remembers swimming in the new Calvin Moody indoor pool in the dead of winter. Built in 1978, the 54,000-square-foot complex was a year-round gathering spot in what was then called Franklin Heights, on Milwaukee’s north side. “It had a music system built into the pool so you could listen to the music underwater,” recalls Walton, 42, a lifelong resident of the neighborhood. “Beethoven. The local radio station. Everything.” The pool was surrounded by middle-class bungalows and...

Over the last few years, Rhode Island has emerged as a national leader in the drive to put personalized-learning programs into actual classroom practice. Now education leaders in Providence, the state’s capital and most populous city, are looking to scale their early efforts statewide, pushing district leaders to think bigger about pilot programs and technological infrastructure, while also commissioning new research on how an understudied learning model could drive student performance. [For...

In recent decades, women have been making significant headway in becoming dentists, doctors, and lawyers—professions which require a significant amount of education and postgraduate training. According to some theories, this growing number of women with advanced degrees should help bridge the gender pay gap. And yet, for all three professions, not only does the gender pay gap persist, the differences that can’t be explained by simple factors, such as hours worked or age, might actually be...

The discrepancies in earnings, wealth and other markers of financial success between black and white Americans are stark. Black Americans, for instance hold much less wealth and have higher rates of unemployment. But perhaps more unsettling than the gaps themselves is the fact that even as many black Americans make progress that should help bridge the divide, such as by working more hours, they have yet to see tangible or enduring economic advancement. [For more of this story, written by...

The challenge of educating urban students within the context of poverty, trauma, abuse, and other socioeconomic factors that contribute to students’ lives can be overwhelming and seemingly impossible for urban educators. Research from the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) studies demonstrates, however, that urban students are at significantly higher risks for negative health factors as adults because they lack resiliency fostered in safe, loving environments. Eric Jensen, author of...

Women who suffered multiple traumatic events as they were growing up are at significant risk of serious depression beginning in the years leading into menopause, according to a University of Pennsylvania study released Wednesday. However, the findings by the Penn researchers also suggest that a single trauma may be associated with greater resiliency later in life. [For more of this story, written by Rita Giordano, go to ...

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel economics writer John Schmid spent a year exploring the real reasons for Milwaukee's stalled economy - and it's not just poverty and unemployment. It has a lot to do with generational trauma.

Close to 500 attendees packed the Kepler Theater at Hagerstown Community College in Hagerstown, MD, the morning of Friday, March 24 th on the campus for the sold out event “Building Resilience”, an event organized by the San Mar Initiative, Bester Community of Hope. Following two successful events in 2016 focused on trauma informed practices, the training focused on the next steps of a community wide discussion to build greater awareness and implementation of beliefs and strategies bringing...

When we think about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we most often think of soldiers traumatised by their experiences of war. But the statistics tell another story. While about 5-12% of Australian military personnel who have experienced active service have PTSD at any one time, this is about the same ( 10% ) as rates for police, ambulance personnel, firefighters and other rescue workers. And while these rates are significant, they are not vastly different to rates in the general...