Tagged With "Philadelphia ACE Study"
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The City of Philadelphia wants to help its frontline workers better deal with trauma [generocity.org]
A PGW worker is killed by an explosion in 2016 and his coworkers are still dealing with the emotional toll more than two years later. A longtime school nurse calls it quits when the school police officer who broke up fights between students has a heart attack and dies. A parole officer tries to deal with the personal emotional toll when one of his parolees commits a rape and a murder. These are a few of the tales of secondary traumatic stress — the stress that results from indirect exposure...
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The connection between trauma and the dropout crisis [The Philadelphia Public School Notebook]
When reflecting on the factors that derailed them academically, Quad’ir Ford and Nalik Lark-Hightower didn’t mention living in poverty or exposure to trauma as factors. But experts have said that these two distinct yet intertwined conditions in children’s lives can go far in explaining the root cause of the dropout crisis. “Trauma is not a singular event; neither is poverty,” said Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend, executive director of the Philadelphia Youth Network and co-chair of Project U-Turn.
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"The Raising of America Project": New Documentary That Highlights ACEs
Born out of PBS' "Unnatural Causes" documentary , "The Raising of America Project" looks to explore health disparities that exist in a child's development and how this impacts America's future health and prosperity. Episode Four, called...
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One year after Parkland, Philly students, teachers say more counselors needed to deal with trauma from gun violence [whyy.org]
Thursday marks one year since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which set off a wave of activism across the country, as students and youth called for more gun control and safer schools. Young people in Philadelphia and other urban areas seized the opportunity to bring long-awaited attention to gun violence and trauma that impacts them on a regular basis. But some activists, students, and teachers say one year later, not much has changed in the way of...
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Wagner Middle School makes a difference in students’ lives [phillytrib.com]
The best leaders lead by example. At the Gen. Louis Wagner Middle School at 1701 Chelten Ave., students are able to come into their own, succeed in the classroom, and prepare for their future because of the leadership roles and innovative thinking of the administration and teachers at their school. “Some of our goals this school year was continuing to improve our attendance and providing trauma informed training for everyone,” said principal Maya Johnstone. “Last year, we improved our...
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What If There Was a City Official Whose Only Job Was to Make Philly Better for Kids?
The case for a children’s czar in Philadelphia. This summer, the Scattergood Foundation — a behavioral health nonprofit — partnered with data analytics firm Azavea to produce a report on the well-being of children in Philadelphia. The project used a raft of public data to map risk factors that affect the city’s kids — exposure to shootings, family poverty, and educational attainment, for example — as well as the quality of local “assets” that help mitigate those risk factors, like schools,...
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What Philadelphia can learn from its history of citizen-led park projects [Spoke Magazine]
The article that follows, by Jim Saska, written for Spoke Magazine , describes what it has taken to create more green spaces in Philadelphia and how the City stacks up against other cities on this topic. Are there lessons we can learn about visioning, engaging residents, persistence and more that can be applied to our work to create a trauma-informed and resilient Philadelphia? Read the article and share your thoughts J ohn Randolph was paddling a canoe on the lower Schuylkill when...
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With new proposal, trauma-informed care could become standard in Pa. schools [WHYY.org]
If a pair of powerful Pennsylvania state senators get their way, a burgeoning approach to managing student behavior could become a mandate. State Sens. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, and Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, announced a proposal last week to create a “trauma-informed system of education.” The central plank of their proposal is a requirement that all teachers, school board members, and school employees “with direct contact with students” receive trauma-informed training. The details don’t...
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“Family-Centered Health”- New Jersey Pediatrics Brings Together Child Development & Care Resources to Address Trauma
Spurred to create a response to the impact of trauma on children and families from post-Superstorm Sandy, The New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics gathered training and other resource material in order to support pediatricians and...
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FREE SCREENING: "CRACKED UP" film in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
If you will be in Philadelphia, October 11, 2019, Don't miss it!
Tickets are going quickly. Reserve your free seat (at the EventBrite link below) now!
The film "Cracked Up" features Darrell Hammond's childhood struggles with trauma and their lifelong impacts. From IMDb, It's the "incredible story of actor, comedian, master impressionist and Saturday Night Live veteran, Darrell Hammond."
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How do we end the cycle of childhood trauma passed from parents to kids? | Brain Trust [inquirer.com]
By Abraham Gutman, The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 9, 2019 Growing up in Philadelphia can be a traumatizing experience. Poverty, hunger, gun violence, evictions, and mass incarceration are just some of the difficult experiences that bear down on children here. Over the last couple of decades, public health researchers and policymakers have increasingly recognized that the body "remembers” childhood trauma, and these experiences at a young age can predict illness, risky behavior, and...
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How One Philadelphia After-school Program Works to Be Trauma-informed [youthtoday.org]
On an afternoon in October, kids in the Sunrise of Philadelphia after-school program made tissue-paper marigolds, assembled little altars and created masks. It was the Day of the Dead celebration held by Sunrise partner, Fleisher Art Memorial . They wrote poems about people who were no longer with them, either lost to death or simply separated across distance — a possibility in this largely immigrant and refugee community. The activity gave them a chance to explore loss and sadness, which —...
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Philadelphia has a gun violence epidemic. What if it were treated like any other contagious disease? [inquirer.com]
Robert Warner and his crew don’t have medical degrees. But in the midst of Philadelphia’s gun violence epidemic, they are in the business of saving lives. Day or night, Warner and his outreach workers are on North Philly streets mediating disputes, organizing basketball games between youth factions, dissuading folks from violence, and helping young people find jobs. When someone gets shot, they’re in the hospital, helping the victim’s family, and on the street, preventing retaliation. “I...
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JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: Violence Prevention Specialist for CHOP
The Violence Intervention Program (VIP) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is an innovative program that brings the medical home to the patient’s home. VIP establishes a direct and sustainable connection between the hospital and the community through individual and family-directed interventions. We employ a trauma-informed approach in working with 8-18 year old patients who recently received care in the CHOP Emergency Department (ED) or Trauma Unit for an injury due to...
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MARC Booklet 2016: Features Philadelphia
Please find attached the 2016 booklet for the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) project, including Philadelphia and the other 13 communities that have been selected to participate in this 2 year learning collaborative. This is a great summary of the work happening in all 14 communities across the country. I look forward to working with you all as we share and build upon the great work happening in Philadelphia!
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Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities: A Highlight of 2015
Members of the ACEs Connection online community are well aware that experiencing significant adversity during childhood can lead to a myriad of negative health, mental health, social, and behavioral outcomes throughout the life course. The growing body of research around adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can, at times, leave us feeling overwhelmed. As advocates for child health and wellbeing, we may ask ourselves, “how can we treat individuals who have multiple ACEs?”,...
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New federal report surprises: Philadelphia poverty down, income up [philly.com]
Philadelphia’s poverty rate, a stark and stubborn indicator of hard times that has long hindered the city’s reputation, dropped to its lowest level since 2008 — near the start of the recession. At the same time, median household income here rose. The findings, contained in a voluminous report from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday, showed that the city’s poverty rate declined from 25.7% in 2016 to 24.5% in 2018. The number of Philadelphia residents living in poverty dropped by 14,537...
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On the Path to Health Equity: When Foundations and Corporations Support Trauma-Informed, Cross-Sector Networks
Ann Marie Healy used to travel around Pennsylvania talking to community members about “smart” land use planning. Through her work with 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, a non-profit devoted to revitalizing cities and towns, “we would meet with people to share what we had learned about how to approach planning in a more strategic manner.” In one small town, residents questioned the relevance of the pitch. “Isn’t what we’ve learned locally just as important as what experts have found works...
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OPPORTUNITY: Philadelphia Parent Innovation Institute
The Philadelphia Parent Innovation institute will bring early childhood organizations and the families they serve together to learn human-centered design so they can strengthen family engagement in early literacy and language programs for Philadelphia’s youngest learners. Between April 2020-May 2021, organization representatives and parents they support will work collaboratively in small teams and identify a challenge they would like to solve together. The teams will be guided through a...
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PA Legislative Victory Is an Opportunity to Celebrate Two Groups that Help and Protect Children
Philadelphia Children's Alliance and Darkness to Light are two organizations that provide support/prevention for sexually abused children. PA's recent legislative victory is a chance to celebrate their hard work.
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47 Philly Gun Violence Prevention Groups Get $700K [patch.com]
PHILADELPHIA — Forty-seven community-based organizations in Philadelphia that offer violence prevention services and support were given each a cut of more than $700,000 awarded by the city. Efforts being funded include job training in areas such as culinary arts, barbershops, and entreneurship; "Peace Pop Up Shops" that offer trauma-informed care for those affected by violence; grief support programming for impacted families; and training for young adults to become "Peace Ambassadors" in...
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A doctor's call for action on childhood poverty [philly.com]
The main aim of pediatrics is prevention. Prevention of diseases, of injury, of emotional problems, of developmental and intellectual delays. Our armamentarium include vaccines; screening instruments; and guidance on development, safety, and nutrition. It's time to add one more item to our tool kit: screening our young patients for health and emotional problems related to poverty. At St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in the heart of North Philadelphia, we see 15 to 20 newborns a day,...
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Academic Pediatrics publishes case study on Philadelphia ACE Task Force
On Tuesday, September 5th, 2017, Academic Pediatrics released a special issue highlighting a comprehensive research and policy agenda for addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting well-being. The issue features an article, Developing a Community-Wide Initiative to Address Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress: A Case Study of The Philadelphia ACE Task Force." Authored by the Task Force's three co-chairs, Lee Pachter (lead), Sandra Bloom, and Joel Fein, along with staff...
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Are Doctors the Key to Ending Philly Gun Violence? [phillymag.com]
The sunlight and the tease of perfectly mild weather lured Nikki Jones and her son out of their low-slung West Philadelphia rowhouse on March 23rd. Jones planted herself on her porch. Nasir , 14, was right by her side. It was late in the afternoon, and the temperature had edged into the 70s. All of the kids in the neighborhood were running around outside, but Nasir didn’t budge. Jones is the kind of mother who worries about of all of the things that can go wrong once her son leaves her line...
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Available for free this week only from JAMA Pediatrics: Philadelphia study finds association between neighborhood features and adolescent homicide
Researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania, and The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway found an association between environmental neighborhood features and violent injuries among youth. To read more, click here . This study will be available for free on JAMA Network for a limited time only.
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Burden of Environmental Adversity Associated With Psychopathology, Maturation, and Brain Behavior Parameters in Youths [JAMANetwork.com]
Raquel E. Gur, MD, PhD; Tyler M. Moore, PhD; Adon F. G. Rosen, BS; et al JAMA Psychiatry . Published online May 29, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0943 KEY POINTS Question What is the association of an adverse environment, including low socioeconomic status and traumatic stressful events, with psychopathology, neurocognition, and brain parameters in puberty among children and young adults? Findings In this community-based cohort study of 9498 participants, low socioeconomic status was...
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‘Burnout is real’: The importance of engaging in self-care practices when faced with secondary trauma [whyy.org]
Chera Kowalski remembers working at McPherson Square Library when overdoses became a more common occurrence in Kensington. It was 2015, and Philadelphia saw 696 overdose deaths that year — a 52% increase from just two years before — eighty percent of which involved opioids. There were more than twice as many overdose deaths than homicides. At the time, library staff didn’t have naloxone — an opioid overdose reversal medication — or the training to administer it. The best staff members could...
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Call for Submissions: Third Annual Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference
The 3rd Annual Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference: Promoting Equitable Access to High Quality Services for Vulnerable Children and Families , will be held on Thomas Jefferson University's East Falls Philadelphia Campus July 29 th -August 1st, 2019 . This unique training conference will provide an intensive, collaborative, and engaging experience to providers, educators, and leaders across health, education, and social service disciplines, as well as to community members invested in...
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Call For Workshop and Poster Submissions: Third Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference
The 3rd Annual Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference: Promoting Equitable Access to High Quality Services for Vulnerable Children and Families , will be held on Thomas Jefferson University's East Falls Philadelphia Campus July 29 th -August 1st, 2019 . This unique training conference will provide an intensive, collaborative, and engaging experience to providers, educators, and leaders across health, education, and social service disciplines, as well as to community members invested in...
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Cast Your Vote in the Scattergood Design Challenge Today!
Looking for some inspiration? Check out the 20 trauma-informed product ideas submitted to the Scattergood Foundation's Design Challenge and cast your vote by this Friday, February 13th. The winning idea will be crowdfunded by the Foundation...
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City Health Dashboard Now Available! A new tool can help Philadelphia measure itself
The City Health Dashboard is now available. According to its creators it is a useful tool for "empowering cities to create thriving communities." This user friendly platform allows people to look at 36 measures of health, the factors that shape health, and drivers of health equity to guide local solutions for 500 U.S. cities. A quick look at Philadelphia revealed these indicators of our health and well-being Philadelphia had an income inequality score of -24.2 , compared to an average of...
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City's Office of Education releases findings from community school meetings [Philly Voice]
Strengthen city support for schools. Empower parents and community members. Increase access to and opportunities for neighborhood resources. Those are the three most important things that Philadelphia residents want from Mayor Jim Kenney's community schools initiative, findings based on months of discussions with stakeholders and the Mayor's Office of Education. On Wednesday the office released a report on its findings after 14 roundtable discussions with principals, teachers, students,...
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Clergy embrace trauma informed training in Greater Philadelphia region
An exceptional all-day “Trauma-Informed Training for Clergy” event was held in Philadelphia in May 2017, organized by JSR Educational Enrichment Strategies, Inc. Founder and President Doris Smith-Ribner, Retired PA State Appeals Court Judge. Judge Smith-Ribner recognized the need for this training particularly for those on the front lines of dealing with the impacts of trauma and its prevalence within Philadelphia—the Clergy. Here is her report from that meeting. Highly-regarded trauma...
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Could we have a revolution in Philadelphia Schools?
School District of Philadelphia staff - teachers, counselors and administrators - have been filling every available opening in the Institute for Family Professionals' trauma trainings that are offered to the school district and others through funding from United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Rebecca Pepper Sinkler- former editor of The New York Times Book Review and editor of SafeKidsStories shares the perspective of staff who attended in "Could We Have a...
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Creating Community-Driven Messages that “Catch On” in Philadelphia
How do you create a story so powerful that no matter who is spreading the message, it moves through communities, almost like a virus? This very question is the focus of an upcoming project in Philadelphia. After the Atlantic Health...
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Developing a Trauma-Informed Public Policy Guide
On November 13, 2014 the ACEs Connection community managers held a casual ACEs Meet-Up to discuss with interested individuals: “ How do we build a trauma-informed city? “ The group of participants had a discussion around starting in...
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District finds that creating more trauma-informed schools requires a change of culture [thenotebook.org]
“The world of thinking about trauma, the importance of school climate and social-emotional learning is 20, 30, 40 years behind the world of instruction." Joanna Schwartz, a 2nd-grade teacher at Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary School, was about to take a scheduled break and desperately needed a place to have peace and quiet. But the only place she could find was a broom closet. A few years earlier, in another school, Schwartz said teachers were baffled by a 3rd grader who continually fell...
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Dr. Lee Pachter & Dr. Tina Cheng of Philadelphia ACE Taskforce Comment on Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases in JAMA
Dr. Lee Pachter from the Department of Pediatrics, St Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Dr. Tina Cheng from the Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, are both members...
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Penn trauma surgeons: Racial disparity 'profound' in Philly gun violence [www.phillyvoice.com]
A group of surgeons and epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine are calling for more research on firearm injuries and the establishment of a national database to track them, citing racial disparity among Philadelphia victims as the "elephant in the room" of gun violence. Trauma surgeons partnered with colleagues at the Penn Injury Science Center to build on previous research about patterns of gun violence in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Their research,...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force 2019 Highlights
It has been a busy and productive year for the Philadelphia ACE Task Force culminating in a big win for our Policy work group. Last week, on December 10, 2019, the Philadelphia City Council approved Resolution No. 19098900 , "Calling upon the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to recognize Secondary Traumatic Stress as a workplace hazard, recommend steps to address mental health injury as a psychological hazard in the workplace as they do with physical injury, and create a...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group, an ad hoc group of ACE Task Force Members and Community Partners, convened on Tuesday, May 10 th at Friends Center. This meeting served as first re-convening of this group since work that had been done in 2015 around developing messages about ACEs, trauma, and resilience that “catch-on”. The group began by discussing some of this former work and reviewing some guiding principles as they move to narrow messages and test them with focus groups throughout Philadelphia.
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force ACEs Messaging Group Meeting
The ACEs Messaging Group met on Tuesday, July 12 th at Friends Center in Philadelphia. The team reviewed the work from their previous meetings, discussing the target audiences and major themes that will be used to tailor the messages they plan to create. One group member presented an activity for the group called a Messaging Box, which was developed by a communications firm, Spitfire Strategies . The Message Box includes four quadrants: The Value Message: The message must tap into the target...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Community Education Work Group Meeting
The Community Education Work Group met on Tuesday, January 19th at the CityLife Neighborhood Clinic in Philadelphia, PA. Representatives from the CityLife Neighborhood Clinics gave the group an overview of the work that they do, explaining that they often see the impact that ACEs have throughout the life course in the seniors they serve. Group members were interested in potential opportunities to develop intergenerational programming. The majority of the meeting was spent reviewing and...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Community Education Work Group Meeting
The Community Education Work Group met on Thursday, February 18th at the Health Federation of Philadelphia. The group began with a review of the work they had done in 2015 to convene Philadelphia ACE Task Force professional members with community members to learn more about trauma and messaging. The group then discussed directions for the ACEs Messaging Group (AMG) project, funded by the First Hospital Foundation , giving consideration to target locations for messaging and focus groups, the...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Full Body Meeting
The Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) met on Tuesday, February 16th. The group began with brief introductions and members expressed excitement for the meeting. The PATF staff and leadership then provided updates about recent accomplishments including new funding from the First Hospital Foundation to develop and disseminate messages about ACEs, trauma, and resilience; the success of the premiere Philadelphia ACE Film Festival, which featured the premiere of Paper Tigers and a screening of...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Practical Interventions Work Group Meeting
The Practical Interventions Work Group met on Thursday, February 25th, 2016 at the Center for the Urban Child at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Following the December meeting in which the decision was made to organize a Philadelphia treatment resource guide by individual ACEs, Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) staff attempted to develop tools to collect referral data from PATF members. The group reviewed the referral materials including the excel document that had been created to...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Practical Interventions Work Group Meeting
The Practical Interventions workgroup of the Philadelphia ACE Task Force met on Thursday, May 5 th at Friends Center in Philadelphia. The group discussed the survey that was developed to capture data from the Philadelphia ACE Task Force membership related to regional agencies/organizations that provide services to youth and adults who have experienced trauma. There was a lively discussion about final edits to the survey, which will be made in the coming weeks. Group members then suggested...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Workforce Development Work Group Meeting
The Workforce Development Work Group met on Wednesday, January 20 th at Friends Center in Philadelphia, PA. The group began with updates of recent work, including work that had been done in 2015, which was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This work was focused on encouraging graduate level programs incorporate ACE-related information into their curricula. The work resulted in local and national environmental scans as well as a training in trauma-informed care for Temple...
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Philadelphia ACE Task Force Workforce Development Work Group Meeting
The Workforce Development Work Group met on Wednesday, March 16 th , 2016 at the United Way Building in Philadelphia. The group began with a reflection about the last full Philadelphia ACE Task Force (PATF) meeting and were excited about future opportunities for impactful work throughout the city and region. Following this discussion, the group discussed some current projects of the Work Group, including the development of focus groups with teachers in the School District of Philadelphia and...