Tagged With "Depression and Children"

Daun Kauffman, member of the Philadelphia ACEs Connection group, has an op-ed in the Daily News that exhorts the reader to consider the significant impact of ACEs on children in Philadelphia when thinking about the issue of education and charter...

Thanks to everyone who came to CCTC’s panel discussion on mobilizing a public health response to toxic stress and for joining ACEs connection to continue the discussion. Now we want to hear from you: how does Philadelphia go about creating a...

At the Philadelphia ACE Task Force Community of Practice Meeting on October 18th, 2017, representatives from the School District of Philadelphia presented their plan for Trauma-Informed Schools. Please use this space to provide any feedback for the School District. Key questions include: What did you like? What would you change? What would be your recommendations for next steps? Their presentation and our full meeting minutes are attached for your reference.

   Camden is starting a community effort, @CamdenHealing10, to bring together people across sectors (education, juvenile justice, etc) and also support community driven paths to address the decades long, intergenerational trauma experienced...

This forum will house updates from the Philadelphia ACE Taskforce (PATF) and the designated working groups to further the goals of the Philadelphia ACE Taskforce. History In April 2012, the Institute for Safe Families (ISF) formed the Philadelphia Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Task Force to develop policies, practices, and research within pediatric settings that mitigate conditions arising from toxic stressors and ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) and that increase the health and...

On June 4, 2014 Philadelphia lost Paul Fink, MD.  Dr. Fink, a psychotherapist, psychiatry professor, and speaker, was a fierce advocate for his beloved specialty. "I have been an activist most of my life," he  wrote . "Part of my role and...

Multiplying Connections and the Southeast Regional Key will be offering a foundational course on trauma informed practice specifically designed for early childhood educators.  Providers who work with young children will have the opportunity to:...

Sara R. Jaffee, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and Reader in Gene-Environment Interplay at King’s College London, and Cindy W. Christian, Chair, Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention at The Children’s...

It seems to me that educating more people--primary care providers, early childhood professionals, k-12 staff, social service providers, etc.--about trauma and ACE's, and how to approach working with children and families who have experienced trauma, is one of the main places to concentrate efforts. All of these groups gather for professional development, and a workshop on trauma and ACE's should be a part of the curriculum for each of these groups.

A huge challenge is going to be to change the disciplinary parenting style that is so deeply rooted in our culture. This is particularly challenging due to the multi-generational nature of parenting. Parents often raise their children the way they were raised. In our society, when we want to correct negative behavior, most of us immediately think of discipline, punishment, and consequence. We need to begin to steer people away from the idea that negative sanctions will promote positive...

We have an extraordinary moment before us here. Yesterday's event framed the issue of trauma and the effects of toxic stress so well, but it is now incumbent on the participants to take the next steps. I agree with strategies that include the sharing of narratives and storytelling (Julie Campbell's example yesterday was clear and inspiring), but we also need to engage and implore our payors and policy makers to include ACEs as a routine part of all health screening. The link between ACEs...

We must have multi-generational solutions that acknowledge and address parents'/caregivers trauma histories and ACEs. Just as we know that it is difficult for children to learn when they are experiencing symptoms related to trauma the same can be true for adults. I'm involved in two programs serving young children and caregivers to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma transmission by focusing on and treating parents' trauma and its affects on their parenting. In one, we are using the...

Thank you. I think it could be a combination of both grassroots and institutional. For example, my organization, PCCY, has trained early childhood professionals and school staff on the behavioral health system in general, and how best to connect children to it (including information on health insurance). So little by little, and with the efforts of others, as well, we've been able to spread the word more broadly about behavioral health and put resources into people's hands to assist them in...

Does a map/flow chart/list exist that shows what systems an "average" child in Philadelphia interacts with? I realize that every child is different but I am trying to think what systems should we prioritize first. How can we impact the most children at once?

Sorry for this spammy post, but: I think that a greater effort needs to be made to change public attitudes as well. Obviously this needs to start with the professions, as noted above, but it can't be limited to them. One of the hardest things about growing up with trauma is that you feel defective and isolated, and other people often treat you that way, too. As a traumatized child it gets harder to establish and maintain productive/trusting relationships, even though traumatized children...

Katherine thank you! I appreciate that you have reminded all of us that as we think about large macro systemic solutions we must also keep in mind these day to day interactions with children, adults, and families who have experienced trauma and how they can contribute to retraumatization. I completely agree with you that often children who have experience trauma are labeled and marginalized because of their behaviors, which as you point out, are legitimate and normal reactions to trauma.

I absolutely agree. I work in Camden and I try to provide clinical intervention to variety of children, adolescents and families on a daily basis whose problems are so confounded and escalated because of their poverty.

Great to hear about these efforts! Monica Sullivan is a certified Yoga and Mindfulness Instructor as well as a trainer of the Becoming Trauma Informed training. This year she has been offering a new course called the Mindful Classroom for Early Childhood Educators. Monica just returned from a conference on Mindfulness and Education so expect to see more from her about how mindfulness tools and practices can be used effectively with children who have experienced trauma and adversity. We also...

I'm a little late to this discussion, but I was trained to teach trauma sensitive yoga through the Street Yoga Teacher Training: www.streetyoga.org . This summer I am running a trauma sensitive parent-child yoga group, Yo-Fam, for families in behavioral health treatment at my agency. So far, the interest has been astounding and I'm scrambling for more mats. This will be my first attempt at such a group, but if it goes well, would love to bring more to the area. I am very interested in the...

I am hoping that the powers that be recognize that our children need counselors & social workers in our schools to help our kids and support our teachers around trauma-informed care!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! You hit it out of the park! I had been an inner-city Philadelphia school teacher for many years (both school district & charter) and left feeling ineffective and frustrated for just the reason you stated (although I didn't have a name for it then). I am now back in school studying to be a social worker and having just completed a certificate program in trauma, I learned about ACEs and the impact on families and on children's learning. It is my hope to...

Daun Kauffman shares real stories of what our Philly children have endured and what is behind the behavior in the classroom. Here is his extended blog on ACEsConnection that goes with the Philly.com article: http://acesconnection.com/profiles/blogs/failing-schools-or-failing... .

A few (very few) "real stories" of real children, all from only one room in only one year, in only one school, all less than 9yrs old ! At least 12+ more children dealing with chronic or complex trauma in that same room that same year. Sadly, NOT an unusual year. It is hard to read the stories and I fear we lose readers with the intensity. Imagine living it with the children hour by hour, day by day, semester by semester, while (of course) your focus is "raising test scores" with less and...

Very insightful article!! I agree with Daun whole-heartedly. He expressed very real and problematic concerns our Philadelphia School systems face daily. Being in the Trauma Counseling Program at Philly U has instilled in my mind (and my class-mates), that the superficial "surface" issues we witness from children are only the tip of the iceberg - there are more than likely underlying concerns to be uncovered. Families living in urban, poverty-stricken areas are exposed to micro and chronic...

I used the numbers available from the public study. I tried to obtain additional data access with other questions and manipulations, but no luck. The "45%+" with 4 or more ACEs is for the Zip Codes Comprising "North Philly", where I have taught for 13 years in same neighborhood. The Zip Code map is found on page 17 of the study. The caution is the statistical reliability of small sample size. The reliability concern is why I tried to lump North Philly Zip codes into an aggregate (they're all...

Hello! As a RN who has spent the last 13 years providing home care to women who have a history of ACE's and as a woman who spent 50 out of my 55 years living with the day to day effects of chronic toxic childhood stress, I am thrilled to see this platform introduced into the schools. In my work I have discovered that the Cylce of Poverty is so closely tied to the Cycle of Our Stories, which often include the Cycle of ACE's. As crazy as it sounds, families need to first be aware of their...

I live in Philadelphia and I am a curriculum developer, trainer, author and consultant on issues related to childhood trauma, child welfare, juveniles justice, education and related fields. I am also a caregiving parent. I provide trainings across the country and locally have provided several for The PA Council on Children, Youth and Family Services (PCCYFS) agencies, DHS, and Mental Health Partnerships as well as a few Philadelphia schools and Head Start organizations. I have also worked...