May 2017

T he “fuck you” project crystallized one Friday night last year. As Emily Temple-Wood video-chatted with friends, an email pinged in her inbox: “There are alternate realities where I raped you and got away with it,” it read. “In those realities it’s legal for me to rape you as long as I want and as hard as I want. I am dead serious.” The note came from someone with a history of harassing the 22-year-old medical student. This man hates women, Temple-Wood thought to herself. Then she had...

As she walked along a New York City street on an October night seven years ago, Katie Kozlowski was so upset that her boyfriend had stood her up that she didn’t even notice the taxicab before it hit her head-on and threw her across the road. She was able, amazingly, to pick herself up from the gravel, deeply startled but completely unharmed. The accident prompted Kozlowski to reflect on her life. After suffering through a string of abusive relationships and bouts of heavy drinking and...

The sighting took place on a hot day in May, in the lobby of the Sierra Vista Public Library, not far from the rack where local kids can borrow donated bikes. A blond woman in white tennis shoes nudged her twin sister, nodding toward a man who had just walked past. “That’s him,” she whispered. It was the kind of gesture you might make if you saw Mick Jagger heading into the men’s room ahead of you in the hour before a Stones concert — a mix of admiration and disbelief at seeing in the flesh...

Defining Health Equity and Key Steps to Achieving Greater Health Equity This RWJF report defines health equity and identifies crucial elements to guide effective action to reduce disparities in health status. Also included in the report are alternative definitions of health equity for different audiences that may have varying backgrounds and perspectives, and examples of specific terms that often arise in discussions around the concept. The Issue Health equity surrounds and underpins all of...

Michelle Guymon is a hero in the world of child sex trafficking prevention. Seven years ago, she had no idea Los Angeles County had a child sex trafficking problem Now Guymon is director of the Child Trafficking Unit for the Los Angeles County Probation Department and is part of the group that aims to make LA’s efforts to combat child sex trafficking a model for the nation. [For more of this story, written by Kristy Plaza, go to ...

Hillary Larkin talks about improving Emergency Department care for sexual assault and why she hates the term "rape kit."

Shannon Royce is the new director of the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS Center). Below is a letter she issued to the more than 300 members of the Trauma-Informed Congregations Community of Practice group, many of whom are ACEs Connection members. Members of the group has been meeting virtually, and regularly, for more than a year to learn about each others' work, as well as notable developments in the...

From Gail: ACN member Barbara Stern shared an email with me about "Lifestyle Medicine" including information from Dr. Dean Ornish, considered the "father" of Lifestyle Medicine. I read the note (included below) and saw a link to view the free introductory video. I have been following Dr. Ornish for some time and link his work on reversing heart disease so decided to watch the video. Although no one interviewed mentions ACEs, they talk about getting to the root causes of many behaviors which...

When Dawn Cretney from the UK sought in “Ask the Community” section of ACEs Connection practical advice and support for parents and teachers to help children and young people affected by the Manchester terror attack , she referenced the wisdom of “look for the helpers” as did writer Anthony Breznican in his touching tribute to Mister Rogers on the PBS News Hour Friday night. I’ve come late to the fan base of Fred Rogers but fortunately, there is still time left to impart my new appreciation...

A colleague of mine -- here in New Zealand!! -- recently passed the attached PDF, from Scotland, onto me. It concerns a relatively recent, and still developing, proposed trauma training framework. This might be helpful to others wishing to go further in introducing TIC in their own services. It includes a consideration of ACEs. Naturally, it needs to incorporate culture-specific additions or modifications to suit your local conditions. The document as it is likely has broad application.

Child care experts say it's dangerous for infants to sleep in the same bed with their parents. Now, researchers report that "baby boxes" and parent education can help reduce the unsafe practice. Bed-sharing is linked with sleep-related deaths in babies, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and accidental suffocation and strangulation, according to background information with this study. For the study, researchers at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia recruited more than...

State law recognizes that schools primarily serving expelled students, dropouts and students who had trouble coping in traditional schools should be held accountable for academic performance – but by different measurements. This month, the California State Board of Education began a more than year-long process to determine what those metrics should be, which schools should be measured by them and how the schools should fit into the larger system of accountability and school improvement the...