May 2019

Over the last several years, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (JDRDC) of Fairfax County, Va., has been working on transformative efforts around juvenile justice in an effort to keep low-risk youth from entering the system and address disparities for youth of color. One large area targeted by these efforts was the diversion programming and Juvenile Intake Office. In Virginia, intake officers are decision-makers. It is their responsibility to review charges from petitioners...

The research on brain stimulation is advancing so quickly, and the findings are so puzzling, that a reader might feel tempted to simply pre-order a genius cap from Amazon, to make sense of it all later. In just the past month, scientists reported enhancing the working memory of older people, using electric current passed through a skullcap, and restoring some cognitive function in a brain-damaged woman, using implanted electrodes. Most recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved a...

Several factors have been associated with the development of asthma and asthma-related morbidity and mortality. Exposures in the environment such as allergens and air pollutants have traditionally been linked to the risk of asthma and asthma outcomes. More recent literature has identified chronic psychosocial stress as an additional environmental exposure to consider in relation to asthma. Adverse childhood events (ACEs) and chronic and toxic stress have been associated with chronic diseases...

In 2012, Waupaca County's health and human services department was hemorrhaging employees, particularly within its child protection and juvenile justice programs. "There was just a lot of turnover," said Chuck Price, who took over as director of the department around that time. "We needed a culture of change." Price and his colleague, deputy director Shannon Kelly, recalled a culture that seemed to place a higher value on bureaucratic outcomes than on fostering positive human connections.

Once in a while, you come across a special person who lights up a room, even virtually. This describes Annalyce D'Agostino (Annie) who is the creative mind behind Blooming Buddies Workshop. Imagine Blue's Clues meets Tinker Bell, that is what I think of when I watched Blooming Buddies first episode. Annie is our guest blogger this week. I am passionate about early education and bringing the best and most innovative experiences to my students. When I showed my preschool students Blooming...

Deadline is May 20, 2019 The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health will present a thematic report to the 74th UN General assembly in October 2019 on the role of medical education in strengthening the health workforce, including doctors and other health workers. For a detailed explanation of the feedback sought, please see the relevant extended note . In a snap-shot the Special Rapporteur...

In a culmination of 3 years of the collective impact work of ACEs Connections' online community ACE Nashville , Nashville's mayor David Briley made the following proclamation: Mayor Briley has declared May 14 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Awareness Day to underscore the importance of understanding, preventing and treating childhood trauma in order to improve the health and future prosperity of our entire community. ACEs describes stressful or traumatic childhood experiences that are...

Each year for the past 20 years, First 5 San Mateo County has spent nearly $7 million to help meet the needs of children from birth through age five, and support their families. In 1998, First 5 was established and funded in California by Proposition 10, which funneled tobacco tax dollars into transforming the early childhood system and guaranteeing better outcomes for all counties in the state. In January 2018, the First 5 San Mateo County started a planning committee based on incorporating...

The concept of resilience has gained prominence in recent years as a key goal of efforts to adapt to climate change and to reduce disaster risks. This view holds that while some stresses and shocks may be unavoidable, resilient societies will be better prepared to cope, recover and adapt – or even to make fundamental changes for transformation. Yet for all the interest in resilience, it has been criticized for failing to account for power relations and how the complexity of social dynamics...

What if we could connect with the parts of ourselves that are hidden inside of us. The kid in us who wants attention, who is creative and spontaneous. The artist in us, the story teller, the writer, the visionary, the helper. Or for people who have grown up with addiction in their childhoods, that part might be the forgotten kid who lives inside, with their head still hanging down. Who is still waiting to be noticed. The child in them who is still in pain, still mistrusting of deep...

PTSD, Complex PTSD, Childhood PTSD -- why does it seem like SO many people have it these days? Are people actually experiencing more trauma in this generation, or is something else going on? In this video I give you ten guesses why so many people feel they have it, and how our culture can change to support people in healing. More Resources: If you were affected by abuse and neglect in your childhood, you may want to take my course, Healing Childhood PTSD. If past trauma is affecting your...

NEW YORK — Christina Young remembers the day the cops came for her at school. She was 15 years old — a sophomore at Murry Bergtraum High School for Business in lower Manhattan. She and four of her friends were sitting together at a table in the school’s large and chaotic cafeteria. It was lunch time but they weren’t eating. They didn’t like eating lunch at school. They didn’t have a reason why really, they just didn’t like to. Instead they used the time to hang out, and listen to music on...