When I heard this vignette, I realized the full potential of the documentary  Paper Tigers  to change how people think about childhood adversity and mobilize them to demand trauma-informed practices and policies—in schools, in...

James Redford, director of  Paper Tigers , a documentary about the journey of students and teachers at a trauma-sensitive alternative high school in Walla Walla, Washington, posed a provocative question in a  recent blog :  can school...

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Washington, D.C., city council member David Grosso about his proposal to ban out-of-school suspensions in the District's public and charter schools. GROSSO: Well, studies have shown us that over the past number of years, as people have looked at suspensions - that once you've been suspended once, you're more likely to be suspended again and again and again and again. There have been schools now in D.C. that have chosen to not do suspensions at all already, and...

Legislation called cutting edge by national experts on juvenile justice reform has been unanimously passed by the Council of the District of Columbia. “We looked at best practices from across the country and really pulled together what we think is going to transform our juvenile justice system,” said Democratic councilmember Kenyan McDuffie , who sponsored the bill along with seven other councilmembers. “More importantly, it’s going to modernize the juvenile justice system to hold young...

PART I: MOTHERS ON THE INSIDE Tonya Kamara, 54, seems to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Southeast Washington, DC, with her one-year-old grandson, Anthony, and her 26-year-old nephew, who is between jobs. Her two daughters also live with herwhen they are not incarcerated. Anthonys mother, April, age 32, and her 25-year-old sister, Latonya, both struggle with a history of mental health problems and drug addiction, which has led to cycles...

Leaders in ACEs/trauma/resilience movement from nine states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and the District of Columbia gathered for a networking call on May 1 to learn about flexible funding opportunities for states under the CARES Act, ways to get involved in advocacy, and share their successes and challenges in building statewide coalitions. The meeting of leaders was organized by ACEs Connection and the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) in response to COVID-19...

Supporting Court-Involved Youth in the District of Columbia: A Twitter Chat for Youth Justice Awareness Month  Tuesday, October 27, 12 - 1 pm ET President Obama proclaimed October Youth Justice Awareness Month. In honor of #YJAM, the Trauma...

The latest report from the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), the agency monitoring the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), contained a startling revelation. For the first time in 15 years, children in the District of Columbia have spent the night in agency offices (and even motels) because there were no foster homes available. Foster homes are scarce around the nation, but the crisis in the District was a direct outcome of decisions made by the...

Two data briefs are attached on Adverse Childhood Experiences in the District of Columbia compared to national data and to data in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland and to data in Arlington County and Alexandria.  The profiles...

Statement for the Record for the Public Roundtable  “The Value of Investing in Trauma-Informed Public Schools and Support Services” The Council of the District of Columbia Committee on Education June 23, 2015   Elizabeth Prewitt,...

****Hanna Teklu speaks at August, 2015 School to Prison Pipeline event**** This NPR story describes how Together We Bake has helped women who have been imprisoned gain invaluable work experience and regain lost independence. I met one of those women, Hanna Teklu, when she told her story at a forum on dismantling the school to prison pipeline last August at the University of the District of Columbia David E. Clark School of Law, sponsored by the DC Trauma-Informed Initiative and ACEs...

Approximately 30 people from around the Washington, DC metro area gathered on April 23 at the Benning Neighborhood Library for the second community meeting of the Trauma Informed Washington DC Metro Area Initiative. The participants included trauma...

Michael Lamb, Executive Director, Washington D.C., Turnaround for Children sent the following message about a new paper, Building Blocks for Learning, just released by Turnaround and three new positions it is seeking to fill. Take a look: "Hi friends and colleagues, it’s an exciting time for Turnaround in Washington, D.C. as we work towards our vision that one day all children in the US attend schools that prepare them for the lives they choose. In addition to our exciting work in schools,...

The video of the [S&R Foundation] Illuminate Series conversation, The Adversity Epidemic: Science, Schools, and Social Equity is available on the Illuminate website, and can be viewed here: http://www.illuminateseries.or...-and-social-equity-0 . Introduction: Human beings are the only mammals on the planet whose thinking, feeling and learning brain develops extensively after birth. Young brains are wired for growth, but their anatomical structure is...

A diverse group of school staff, mental health professionals, justice advocates, and city employees recently crowded the Moot Court Room at the University of the District of Columbia David E. Clark Law School to begin dismantling the school to prison...

Two-and-a-half years ago, a school administrator confronted District of Columbia Councilmember David Grosso with a stark and surprising reality when he visited the Walker-Jones Education Campus to learn about a literacy intervention program. At the...