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Philadelphia Group Blogs

Is Universal Pre-K Worth the Cost? [ChildTrends.org, Trend Lines]

"A new working paper released by the Upjohn Institute and Georgetown University’s Center for Research on Children in the United States suggests that the benefits of universal pre-K exceed the costs of administering such programs. This study, which I co-authored, examines the Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) universal pre-K program in Oklahoma. We found that the benefits (specifically, increased earnings and reduced crime of TPS pre-K participants as adults) outweigh program costs by almost 2-to-1.

It’s As Simple As Following the Manual… Or Is It?

How implementing trauma Informed care is like building an IKEA shelf. I just moved across the country to the Philadelphia area to start working as an Americorp VISTA in Camden, New Jersey. I am working with the Healing 10 collaboration to bring a trauma informed paradigm to Camden, arguably one of the most traumatized cities in the US. At the moment, I am in the midst of both trying to understand my new job in trauma informed care and set up my apartment in a new city. Obviously, trips to...

I Faked Happiness Every Day. Then a Drug Addiction Story Saved Me.

From the viewpoint of anyone else on this planet, I had the world. I was a Villanova cheerleader, had a master’s degree, countless friends and family, vacation home on the Vineyard, Kappa Kappa Gamma… the list goes on. While it may seem to many people that the most difficult question I would face every day would be what I was going to wear, for me the real question was, How in the world am I going to get out of bed today and pretend to be happy? My mother is a nurse practitioner and my...

Teens teach trauma care to Camden schools [Courier Post]

"Gemyra Wynn doesn't need to go into the details of her childhood in Camden. After sketching out how adverse childhood events can traumatize people and cause lifelong health consequences, the 17-year-old can just offer her ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) score — it's seven out of 10 — and leave it at that. The same goes for her fellow instructors, 16-year-old Aunyay Fussell and 15-year-old LeBaron Harvey. They each survived psychologically trying experiences. But these students are...

Philadelphia's Village of Arts and Humanities a finalist in A3C Action Initiative

A3C strives to empower, engage and energize the community that shape and define hip-hop culture. The A3C Festival will continue to provide the best platform for artist discovery, while celebrating hip-hop’s trailblazers, influencers and milestones. In partnership with Atlanta’s Center for Civic Innovation, the committee is pleased to announce seven finalists for the second annual A3C Action initiative, where organizations across the country submit ideas that use art and music as a vehicle to...

Letters: Relieve stress for Philly teachers, too [philly.com]

Kerri McGinley, PhD a former teacher and principal with the SDP, thoughtfully responds to my letter to the editor regarding the end of kindergarten suspensions with her own letter (below). Dr. McGinley urges all to consider teacher stress too. Thank you Dr. McGinley for raising this important point, reminding us that addressing employee stress and secondary traumatic stress is an imperative if we are to develop the trauma informed education and other systems we strive for. Ease teachers'...

Philadelphia's new Green Light Fund ED is not interested in reducing poverty. He wants to end it. [www.generocity.org]

Omar Woodard is staring at his palms as he sits quietly in a café chair. He knows what he’s trying to say, but he seems tangled up on a thought. The stretch of silence is very much out of character for the amiable young nonprofit director from 20th and Cecil B. Moore. He’s a lingo-savvy conversationalist who, in just six months as executive director of GreenLight Fund Philadelphia , has learned how to talk shop with the best of Philly’s impact intelligentsia. These lulls are typically where...

New Continuing Education Course for Nurses: "Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress and Working with the Child Welfare System"

Do you have clients with health concerns, injuries, or acute/chronic illnesses? According to NSCAW, 28% of children in foster care have a chronic health condition, and 12% have two or more. About 35% of children in child welfare have either a health condition or special need. Your clients with medical conditions will likely have frequent contact with the health care system. Since many have experienced prior trauma, when faced with medical issues they are at greater risk for illness- or...

Letters: Curtailing kindergarten suspensions is a good first step [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

Leslie Lieberman, staff to the Philadelphia ACE Task Force, wrote this letter to the editor about the end of kindergarten suspensions in the Philadelphia School District: Curtailing K suspensions a good first step The School District of Philadelphia will no longer use suspension to discipline some of its youngest and most vulnerable students ("SRC curtails kindergarten suspensions," Friday). The Health Federation of Philadelphia applauds this decision, which is grounded in a growing...

Putting the Power of Self-Knowledge to Work [New York Times]

David Bornstein, journalist and author on positive social change, describes the work of the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) medical and social change movement, in this article, which references ACEsConnection and the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) network, of which Philadelphia is part. Read below for thought-provoking commentary: " Putting the Power of Self-Knowledge to Work. " "Thirty years ago, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing gave a series of...

Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting

The ACEs Messaging Group, a subgroup of the Community Education Workgroup, met on August 9 th to further discuss their project to develop messages about ACEs and resilience. They reviewed the work from their previous meeting, during which they broke into small groups based on target audience focus and developed Message Boxes, an activity developed by Spitfire Strategies . The youth message group discussed the need to validate the adaptive behaviors that youth present when they have...

Kudos SDP for ending Kindergarten suspensions!

Last year 448 kindergartners were suspended from schools in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). Last week, t he School Reform Commission announced... that it has approved revisions to the Student Code of Conduct that will remove suspensions as punishment for Kindergarten students. The Philadelphia ACE Task Force applauds this change which is based on a growing awareness in the SDP that many of the challenging behaviors that precipitate suspension of young children have their roots in...

Check out the new Community Health Explorer for Philadelphia

To view the Community Health Explorer, click here . The Community Health Explorer is a joint project between the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health and Office of Open Data and Digital Transformation . The Explorer is intended to provide easy-to-use, responsive and accessible visualization tools for viewing the vast amount of data collected annually for the Community Health Assessment (CHA). The CHA is a systematic assessment of population health in Philadelphia, highlighting...

The Philadelphia ACE Task Force Launches its New Website!

Fellow Philadelphians! Have you ever wanted to learn more about the movement in Philadelphia to become a trauma-informed city? The Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) has a new web resource for you! On Monday, August 15th, the PATF launched its new website, www.philadelphiaACEs.org , to keep you informed about our current and past projects, events, and resources for families, community members, providers, and policy makers. Website Highlights Learn about the Philadelphia Expanded ACE Survey,...

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