November 2018

Study: 4.6 Million American Kids Live in Homes With Unlocked, Loaded Guns. A study published in the Journal of Urban Health determined that people who own guns for protection are less likely to store them securely. More than 40% of children under 18 years old are living in homes with firearms that are not stored properly. The statistics are staggering and troubling. A recent Washington Post article found that over 215,000 children have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine in...

Ten Things Grieving Children Want You To Know 1. Children want to be told the truth about the death: Tell them in age-appropriate and direct language Ask them if they have any questions and clear up misconceptions 2. Children look to you as a role model for how people grieve: Share your feelings with them as long as they are relieved of the task of having to “fix it” Each child will grieve in their own unique way They will grieve alone in an effort to shield you from their pain 3. Children...

Twenty-five kindergarten children ran around the gym like crazy tense cars with me after we made our paper plate INNER STEERING WHEELS to show Tension X's and Calm smiley faces. When I signaled, we took deep belly button breaths to SWITCH GEARS from tense to calm. It is the foundation for self-regulation. Earlier in the day a class of 4 year old preschoolers did the same. And, yes, I am always in costume when teaching children. KNOWING the difference of the feeling inside from tense to calm...

While the day an adoption is finalized or guardianship is legally established is indeed important, by no means is it the end of the journey for a family. Under the best of circumstances, maintaining healthy family connections and ensuring family wellbeing requires preparedness, thoughtfulness and patience. In the adoption and foster care communities, navigating this journey can be even more challenging. Even though it has long been understood that there is an acute need for pre-and...

PHILADELPHIA and GREENVILLE, Pa. — Back when he still lived with his family, when school was across the street from his home in West Philadelphia, Johnathan Hamilton used to plow through reading assignments and research religious questions online. He stumbled over fractions — math was always a struggle — but started getting into philosophy as an early teen. Then, at 15, his relationship with his parents grew violent, and Hamilton went to live in a city shelter for foster youth. When a bed...

As I rushed into the intensive care unit, the description I overheard was terse and chilling: "13-year-old, no past medical history, GSW to head … neurosurgery following." I entered the child's room to find his weeping mother taping something on the wall behind his bed. The lights were low. The undulating hum of the ventilator and the low pitch of the drains protruding from her son's misshapen skull filled the room with sounds familiar to those of us who know what a "GSW" – gunshot wound –...

Cortney is an advocate, speaker, survivor, and activist. Please join us as we discuss Cortney's healing journey from trauma to triumph, her mission to provide others with a space to share their stories, her speaking joys, and much more.

The Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative is proud to present "Making the Connections: Understanding the Impact of the Opioid Epidemic and the Implications for our Work," a FREE webinar highlighting the links between intergenerational trauma and the opioid epidemic.

I am in love with the idea of utilizing our own healing experiences to help those who are looking for guidance and a comforting hand to hold. I know when I was in despair, I was flailing in my efforts to find answers.

Join the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) on November 29 as it hosts the first webinar in its Culture of Health Webinar Series. Date/Time : November 29, 2018, 4:00 – 5:00 pm EST The National Academies report Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity identified 9 social determinants of health and how these determinants impact our health and the health of our communities. The report also defined health equity as the state in which everyone has the opportunity to attain full health...

Dr. Flojaune Cofer and Ben Duncan , each from public health backgrounds that focus on health disparities, addressed ACEs in the context of health equity for their panel entitled ACEs, Race, and Health Equity: Understanding and Addressing the Role of Race and Racism in ACEs Exposure and Healing . Cofer and Duncan co-presented to a standing-room-only audience at the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access co-hosted by ACEs Connection and the Center for Youth Wellness Oct.16-17 in San Francisco.

BREATHE FOR LIFE © John W Travis MD, MPH Adult humans normally breathe at the rate of one breath every six to eight seconds and inhale an average of sixteen thousand quarts of air each day. If nothing is done to restrict breathing, it will happen naturally and fully. But people continually inhibit natural breathing in many ways—poor posture, tight or binding clothes, "speed eating," exposure to noxious substances, smoking, lack of exercise, plus habitual patterns of emotional stress. When...