Tagged With "early childhood"
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Employing an Adaptive Leadership Framework to Childhood Adversity Screening [pediatrics.aapublications.org]
By Susannah Stein, Arin Swerlick, and Binny Chokshi, Pediatrics, January 2020 Providers of pediatric health care have been motivated and inspired by the research on childhood adversity, which has shown that in the early stages of life, critical neurodevelopmental pathways can be disrupted through exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resultant toxic stress.1,2 Early detection of ACEs and subsequent intervention has the potential to decrease the development of associated poor...
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Ending family trauma starts with understanding the root causes of adverse childhood experiences
Trauma, the result of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), can only be prevented if we have an understanding of the root causes of childhood adversity. We know that a quarter of our children will endure at least three ACEs, which means living in households where adults misuse substances, are threatening or violent, have untreated mental health challenges, are abusive and neglectful, are dissolving marriages or are incarcerated. (We are not even talking about the one in eight children in the...
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Family Resilience And Connection Promote Flourishing Among US Children, Even Amid Adversity (www.healthaffairs.org)
Abstract below and link to open access article written by Christina D. Bethell , Nangerel Gombojav , and Robert C. Whitaker and published in Health Affairs Link to open access article written by Christina D. Bethell , Nangerel Gombojav , and Robert C. Whitaker .
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Five Strategies for Engaging Family Partners [nichq.org]
Families have an unmatched impact on their child’s health, especially during the early years of life when children’s rapidly developing brains are laying the groundwork for their future health and wellbeing. To be the best advocates for their children, families need the right supports, whether they be access to public assistance programs like Medicaid and housing, opportunities to build a strong relationship with their child’s health provider, or resources that empower them to support their...
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Five Things You Wish Your Community’s Early Childhood Programs Knew [CitiesSpeak.org]
By NLC Staff on May 10, 2019 Cities, towns, and villages are places of innovation and solution finding. If you want to improve early childhood wellbeing—local leaders are key partners. The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Learning Community is a program of Boston Medical Center’s Vital Village. The learning community’s goal is to support local early childhood coalitions and build their capacity to work together with the broader community to improve the wellbeing of our...
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From Compassion Fatigue to Healing Centered Engagement: Turning Trauma Informed Values into Action
To pave the way for a truly strengths-based approach to full healing and recovery for both service users and burned out staff, we must educate them on (1) the central role of primal body responses to trauma (past and present), and (2) the early development of adaptive thoughts and behaviors in response to
traumatic experience.
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Growing Resilient Kids
Resiliency is defined as the ability to bounce back from stressful events we encounter in life. When something we encounter is so overwhelming to us that we become stuck in it, that is one definition of trauma. Resiliency can be viewed as the antidote to trauma. In fact, when we effectively process trauma we have experienced, we often come out the other side far more resilient than before. Our nervous systems have a higher stretch capacity, so to speak. How do we help our kids stretch and...
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How Collaboration Fosters Safer Communities for Kids [RWJF.org]
Oct 3, 2018, 11:00 AM, Posted by Martha Davis Collaborative approaches can help ensure kids grow up with a solid foundation of safety and with a support system for those who are affected by violence. As the executive director of Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility in the late 1990s, I worked closely with the local police department, the Women’s Law Project , and the district attorney. At the time, these forward-thinking professionals were frustrated. They were arresting the...
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How Making Music Can Help Students Cope with Trauma [KQED News]
By Juli Fraga, MindShift Podcast, KQED News, July 15, 2019 Studies about the Ten Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have shown that most people have experienced one of these traumas in childhood, such as being abused, having a parent who is incarcerated, experiencing homelessness, among others. The trauma one experiences in childhood can affect adult mental and physical health in later years, especially if a person has multiple ACEs. While the harm can have lasting impacts, health...
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How Neuroscience Can Help Your Kid Make Good Choices (greatergood.berkeley.edu)
Self-regulation may sound like a tall order—but it’s also the best choice, according to Erin Clabough, a neuroscientist, mother of four, and author of the book Second Nature: How Parents Can Use Neuroscience to Help Kids Develop Empathy, Creativity, and Self-Control . Self-regulation is a skill that we need whenever we want to make a good choice or work toward a goal, especially when strong feelings are involved—in ourselves or others. Unfortunately, the qualities that support...
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How to Help a Child Struggling With Anxiety [npr.org]
By Cory Turner, National Public Radio, October 29, 2019 Childhood anxiety is one of the most important mental health challenges of our time. One in five children will experience some kind of clinical-level anxiety by the time they reach adolescence, according to Danny Pine, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health and one of the world's top anxiety researchers. Pine says that for most kids, these feelings of worry won't last, but for some, they will —...
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How to Use "Children Impacted by Addiction: A Toolkit for Educators" Thursday, November 1st @ 11 a.m. ET
President & CEO Sis Wenger will address the plight of children living with addiction - an adverse childhood experience (ACE) often accompanied by additional ACEs - in their families, and its impact on their ability to be successful in school. A walk through the toolkit will be included. Register for the webinar here>> NACoA, in collaboration with Addiction Policy Leadership Action Network (APLAN), is proud to announce Addiction Policy Forum's release of Children Impacted by...
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“I Like to Move It, Move It!” – How Dance and Rhythm Can Reduce the Impact of ACEs (stresshealth.org)
As it is, more and more researchers studying the healing power of rhythmic movement on people who’ve experienced trauma from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as abuse, neglect, or parental mental illness or substance abuse issues. Among these researchers is Dr. Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist and senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy in Houston who advocates dance, drumming, walking and other rhythm-based movements to help kids with trauma. In a book about trauma and the power of...
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Improve Birth and Perinatal Outcomes with a Trauma Sensitive Approach
The Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health is excited to bring together 10 talented practitioners to explore the Trauma Informed Practices that help improve birth outcomes and support human development right from the very start. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (1998) launched the importance of trauma and trauma informed care in our health and educational systems. We suddenly had a measure of how early experiences in childhood could correlate with adult disease.
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Increasing Resilience: Primary Healthcare Providers' Opportunities to Promote Protective Factors Before and After Childhood Trauma [avahealth.org]
By Machelle D. Madsen Thompson and Bart Klika, Academy on Violence and Abuse, March 2020 Lifespan research reveals that although ACEs are common, many people are able to move toward recovery and achieve reportedly good functional status. This resilience does not occur in isolation but is supported by a composite of protective factors that empower a child to return to functional status following ACEs. Resilience is observed when a child is immersed in positive influences, such as supportive...
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Infancy and early childhood matter so much because of attachment (theconversation.com)
We are born to connect. As human beings we are relational and we need biological, emotional and psychological connection with others . Attachment is the relational dance that parents and babies share together. You can think of this when you see a baby look at their parent and they catch each other’s eyes in a wonderful gaze: the parent smiles and the baby smiles and then the parent kisses and the baby coos. Or, when an infant cries to tell their parent they are hungry, and the parent picks...
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Inside the Adverse Childhood Experience Score: Strengths, Limitations, and Misapplications [ajpmonline.org]
By Robert F. Anda, Laura E. Porter, David W. Brown, et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, March 25, 2020 INTRODUCTION Despite its usefulness in research and surveillance studies, the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) score is a relatively crude measure of cumulative childhood stress exposure that can vary widely from person to person. Unlike recognized public health screening measures, such as blood pressure or lipid levels that use measurement reference standards and cut points...
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Interview: Trauma-Informed Care with Transition-Age Youth [psychologytoday.com]
Last month, an article titled “The Tragedy of Baltimore” in the New York Times Magazine described the upsurge in violence in a city long known for its “blight, suburban flight, segregation, drugs , racial inequality, [and] concentrated poverty.” At the center of the storm are transition-age youth, who too often face long odds and challenging futures in the communities where they live. I recently had the opportunity to talk with Patricia Cobb-Richardson , MS. For the past 20 years, she has...
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It Makes Sense
I felt inadequate and ill-prepared to speak to licensed mental health professionals about ACEs. But when I was asked to attend the 40th Annual Training Institute on Behavioral Health & Addictive Disorders in Clearwater, Florida to represent ACEs Connection, I was honored and eager. My background is in health planning, not mental or behavioral health. I review health data and look for gaps and inequities. My time is spent looking for and addressing the health needs of a community. So,...
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Join Feb. 18th webinar on addressing ACEs in public policy
Please join this ACEs Connection co-sponsored webinar "Making Meaningful Change: Addressing ACEs through Public Policy" on Feb. 18 (11:30 am-1:00 pm ET) presented by the Health Federation of Philadelphia and MARC (Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities). In this webinar, three nationally recognized experts will discuss policy and advocacy strategies on a local, state, and national level using evidence from studies they have conducted with legislators and the general public. Speakers...
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Jones: Day 2: Soda, cigarettes and trauma: How Adverse Childhood Experiences alter brain chemistry, cultivate unhealthy habits and prompt premature death
Patients would carry soda into Dr. Gerard Clancy’s office, with cigarettes tucked away for after therapy. Often victims of abuse or violent crime, they would seek soothing but risky behaviors to cope. Overweight. Chronic pain. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Type II diabetes. His former patients will die younger than they should, he said. Clancy conducted therapy sessions until he became president of the University of Tulsa in 2016. At his psychiatry clinic, he saw firsthand how a...
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Life Expectancy by Zip Code: Where You Live Affects How Long You Live
Life expectancy is highly correlated with ACE scores and complex childhood trauma. Enter your address or zip code to know what the health outcomes are in your neighborhoods and communities. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Life Expectancy Calculator
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Many Youngsters Aren't Ready for Kindergarten, Pediatricians say [chicagotribune.com]
By Serena Gordon, Chicago Tribune, July 29, 2019 The start of school is just around the corner, but a leading pediatricians' group warns that many kids entering kindergarten lack the skills they need to succeed in class. To help parents get their young ones ready to start school, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a report on what helps boost success as well as what factors may hinder kids’ school experience. “We’ve kind of focused on the acquisition of pre-academic skills,...
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Marin Community Clinics in California screen babies for ACEs, provide support in effort to prevent trauma
When Marin Community Clinics (MCC) first considered screening their patients for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) they already had decided that if they were going to prevent children from acquiring ACEs, they had to take a radical approach.
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Maternity Group Home Program Funding Opportunity. Applications Due 07/25/2019 [Admin for Children & Families]
Funding Opportunity Application Due Date: 07/25/2019 Maternity Group Home Program *See attached pdf for more info. Description: The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families' Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) announces the availability of funds under the Transitional Living Program’s Maternity Group Home (MGH) grant program. The purpose to provide safe, stable, and appropriate shelter only for pregnant and/or parenting youth ages 16 to...
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New Report Calls for Statewide Coordinated Response to Protect New Jersey's Children from Adverse Childhood Experiences [finance.yahoo.com]
By PR Newswire, Yahoo Finance, July 30, 2019 NEWARK, N.J., July 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report released today details the challenges New Jersey faces in addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and sets forth opportunities and actions for a coordinated statewide response to mitigate their lasting effects on children's health and well-being. ACEs are stressful or traumatic events, including abuse, neglect, domestic violence, household mental illness, household substance misuse,...
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Nothing Matters More Than Hope -- Including Resiliency
“In every published study of hope, every single one, hope is the single best predictor of well-being compared to any other measures of trauma recovery. This finding is consistently corroborated with other published studies from top universities showing that hope is the best predictor for a life well-lived."
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NPR: New Data Confirm Adverse Childhood Experiences Are Widespread : Shots - Health News.
PUBLIC HEALTH Childhood Trauma And Its Lifelong Health Effects More Prevalent Among Minorities September 17, 2018 12:20 PM ET TARA HAELLE Nearly 62 percent of respondents had at least one ACE and a quarter reported three or more. The remaining respondents had at least two ACEs, including 16 percent with four or more such experiences. Elva Etienne/Getty Images When researchers first discovered a link in the late 1990s between childhood adversity and chronic health problems later in life, the...
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Opioid treatment plans must include a trauma-informed approach [TheHill.com]
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the opioid epidemic claimed the lives of more than 64,000 people in 2016, nearly double the number of people who died in deadly automobile accidents. These numbers are shocking, and yet they don’t begin to communicate the full impact of this deadly epidemic. In fact, there is a growing consensus among brain science experts that addiction may actually be a symptom of an even larger problem — one that can have its roots in childhood trauma.
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Crisis in Care Report
The Greater Rochester Health Foundation convened the Commission on Children’s Behavioral Health in the Finger Lakes in spring 2015, in response to concerns from parents, child care providers, schools, pediatricians and children’s mental health clinicians. They consistently raised alarms about the shortfalls of our region’s children’s behavioral health system: the demands placed on it, its capacity, and in some cases, its quality.
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Panel Discussion: The Need for Promotion and Prevention Efforts
A panel discussion of local representatives from different professional disciplines discussed the data that highlights the need for prevention and promotion efforts. Each panelist provided a single background slide to serve as context for the overall discussion that took place at the Summit. Amy Scheel-Jones: Chief of Planning at Monroe County OMH Dr. Leonard Brock: Executive Director of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative Jackie Campbell: Director of ROC the Future Dr. Michael...
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Parent Handouts: Understanding ACEs, Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs (English)
Please see the main post for these parent handouts in the ACEs Connection Resources Center. These two flyers ( Understanding ACEs and Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs ) can be downloaded, distributed, and used freely. One is brand new and the other is a revision. Both flyers were made with generous support from Family Hui, a Program of Lead for Tomorrow. Translations of these flyers are in progress and will be shared by Family Hui and updated on ACEs Connection when available.
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Parental Disengagement in Childhood and Adolescent Male Gun Carrying [pediatrics.aappublications.org]
OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between parental disengagement in childhood and adolescent gun carrying and determine whether this association is accounted for by externalizing problems and affiliation with delinquent peers during early adolescence. METHODS: The sample included 503 boys (55.7% African American, 40.6% white, 3.7% other) recruited from first-grade classrooms in Pittsburgh public schools. Multi-informant assessments were conducted regularly (semiannually then annually)...
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Parents who had severe trauma, stresses in childhood more likely to have kids with behavioral health problems [ScienceDaily.com]
A new study finds that severe childhood trauma and stresses early in parents' lives are linked to higher rates of behavioral health problems in their own children. The types of childhood hardships included divorce or separation of parents, death of or estrangement from a parent, emotional, physical or sexual abuse, witnessing violence in the home, exposure to substance abuse in the household or parental mental illness. "Previous research has looked at childhood trauma as a risk factor for...
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"PCEs" and "ACEs" Are Two Sides of the Same "Childhood Experiences" Coin
This collection of reports, shared with edited highlights, is posted in hopes of raising awareness of the importance of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). Please share widely on social media. 1. Seven Early Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) with Potential Benefits in Adulthood Below are the seven items on the positive childhood experience (PCEs) psychometric analysis. For each item, respondents are asked to respond "yes" or "no" to a prompt, "Before the age of 18, I was..." Able to...
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Police Need ACE Training to Better Understand Impact of Childhood Violence, Study Says [cypnow.co.uk]
Written by Nina Jacobs, Friday, May 1 2020 - Police officers should be trained in understanding the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on young people in order to tackle an increase in child to parent violence, new research suggests. The study was commissioned by Northumbria Police. A report commissioned by Northumbria Police, Policing Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour: responding to vulnerable families , makes the recommendation as part of a wider strategy to...
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Positive Relationships Can Buffer Childhood Trauma and Toxic Stress, Researchers Say [bostonglobe.com]
By Kay Lazar, The Boston Globe, October 15, 2019 Traumatic events and toxic relationships during childhood can cast long shadows, often damaging mental health well into adulthood. But a growing body of research suggests sustained, positive relationships with caring adults can help mitigate the harmful effects of childhood trauma. And specialists say pediatricians, social workers, and others who work with kids should take steps to monitor and encourage those healthy relationships — just as...
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Power of Family Resilience to Protect Children From Bullying [sciencedaily.com]
By American Academy of Pediatrics, Science Daily, October 25, 2019 Studies show that children exposed to childhood trauma known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at increased risk of being bullied or bullying others. New research being presented at the American American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2019 National Conference & Exhibition suggests that family resilience -- the ability to work together to overcome problems, for example -- reduces this risk. The research abstract,...
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Power of Family Resilience to Protect Children From Bullying [sciencedaily.com]
By American Academy of Pediatrics, Science Daily, October 25, 2019 Studies show that children exposed to childhood trauma known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at increased risk of being bullied or bullying others. New research being presented at the American American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2019 National Conference & Exhibition suggests that family resilience -- the ability to work together to overcome problems, for example -- reduces this risk. The research abstract,...
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Preventing ACEs is a social moonshot.
We are enjoying amazing community dialogue as we launch the nation's first data-driven, cross-sector and systemic program focused on preventing adverse childhood experience, trauma and maltreatment. We are addressing the social determinants of health, increasing ten vital family-focused services to create community and home environments where children are safe and families thrive. This is a social moonshot. Join the ride. www.ResilienceLeaders.org
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Public Health Matters Blog Posts: Using trauma-informed care to guide emergency preparedness and response
"Exposure to a traumatic event or set of circumstances can negatively affect a person’s mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual well-being for a long time after the initial incident. We know that not all individuals respond to trauma in the same way and we know that individuals with a history of trauma, especially childhood trauma, are more likely to experience psychological distress and are at increased risk for the development of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with future...
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Racism Kills: What Community-Level Interventions Can Do About It [Rewire.news]
In the first two installments of this series, we addressed promising approaches for buffering the impact of racism on health—learning cognitive and emotional strategies, known as self-regulation , for coping with stress and building cultural connections that buffer the impacts of toxic stress. Both of those arenas are born out of social science research showing a connection between these elements and improved health outcomes, even in the face of significant adversity. But these individual...
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Recognizing and Attending to Intergenerational Trauma
A mother brings her 8-year-old son to the pediatrician after his teacher repeatedly asks her to have him evaluated for ADHD. The trauma-informed pediatrician knows that childhood trauma exposure can resemble hyperactivity associated with ADHD. The pediatrician asks the mother to privately complete an adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) questionnaire and asks to do one with the son as well. The questionnaire reveals that the son had witnessed his mom being physically abused by her last two...
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Request for Proposals - Health Equity consultant for early childhood initiative
From American Academy of Pediatrics, March 2020 The American Academy of Pediatrics is currently soliciting proposal bids for a number of AAP early childhood projects related to the work of the National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness. The deadline for the RFP-01 Health Equity Consultant is April 3 rd . You can access that specific RFP here: https://downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/719190-RFP-01.pdf The AAP is committed to supporting the health and well-being of all children.
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Research roundup: Prospective ACE study and commentary about it; ways of asking about trauma; research on the power of internal resilience in juvenile offenders and a companion essay
Association of Childhood Trauma Exposure With Adult Psychiatric Disorders and Functional Outcomes JAMA Open Prospective Study Delves Deeper Into Mental Health Effects of Childhood Trauma Psychiatry From Treatment to Healing: Inquiry and Response to Recent and Past Trauma in Adult Health Care Women's Health Issues Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychological Distress in Juvenile Offenders: The Protective Influence of Resilience and Youth Assets Journal of Adolescent Health Adverse...
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Research roundup: Two-gen study highlights case for early intervention; mitigating adversity in foster children; testing an expanded ACE survey
Linkage between teen mother's childhood adversity and externalizing behaviors in their children at age 11: Three aspects of parenting Child Abuse & Neglect Decision-making in foster care: A child-centered approach to reducing toxic stress in foster children Children and Youth Services Review Expanding Concepts of Youth Adversity: Relationships With a Positive Patient Health Questionnaire–2 Journal of Pediatric Health Care
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Resource for Explaining ACEs and Assets in Monroe County
The Monroe County Office of Mental Health (MCOMH) and CCSI have recently partnered to create an information resource about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) that can be shared with the general public in Monroe County using local data. Our intention is to further educate our community about the prevalence of ACEs, how ACEs affect the behaviors and health of our youth and how development of protective factors can improve their lives. The data points selected and methods to communicate them...
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Resource: Guide for Early Childhood Development
Healthy development in the early years of life provides the building blocks for lifelong health, educational achievement, and responsible citizenship. What can we do during this incredibly important period to ensure that children have a strong foundation for future development? This guide explains how children develop in their earliest years, why that time period is so important, and the practical ways we can support early childhood development (ECD) and improve outcomes for children and...
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Resource List - Trauma Informed Approaches and Autism Spectrum and Other Developmental Disabilities
Resources for individuals, organizations, and communities moving along trauma and hope-informed pathways in order to: Prevent and mitigate adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Promote resilience and safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Promote equity and racial justice. Prevent substance abuse and promote mental health. … so that all children, youth, families and communities have equal opportunity for educational success, economic stability, health, and well-being.
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School Discipline Practices: An Issue Brief on a Public Health Crisis and Opportunities for Reform [changelabsolutions.org]
Early childhood education sets the foundation for a student’s future well-being and success. However, the widespread use of exclusionary school discipline (ESD) aggravates pre-existing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and deprives students of essential opportunities for learning and growth. Examples of harmful and counterproductive ESD practices include suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, and corporal punishment. These practices can compound feelings of isolation and...