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PACEsConnectionCommunitiesWashington, DC Metro Area ACEs Connection

Washington, DC Metro Area ACEs Connection

This group explores issues related to adversity, trauma and resilience in the District of Columbia and surrounding areas. We are advocates, trauma survivors, concerned community members, and professionals who share information and develop practical solutions, to support the Washington, DC metro area to become trauma-informed, address sources of adversity, and promote health and resilience.

Tagged With "Campaign to End Child Trauma"

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A Traumatic Failure: DC public schools neglect mental health [centerforhealthjournalism.org]

Alicia Doktor ·
This series was produced as part of the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism Fellowship with a grant from the Fund for Journalism on Child Well-Being. Other stories in this series include: The Cost of Juvenile Trauma HillRag Wednesday, January 9, 2019 “I have to meet this guy and have sex with him. If I don’t, then he and his friends are going to rape my little sister,” a student at Frank Ballou High School in Ward 8’s Congress Heights told her teacher. The teacher...
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ACEs Connection Members meet up in DC

A terrific networking opportunity took place on June 3 in downtown Washington, DC when my daughter, ACEs Connection member Liz Castaneda, Peer Projects Coordinator for Via Hope in Austin, TX (left), along with her son Mateas, and I (center) met for...
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ACEs Connection Network and The Kennedy Forum host pre-premiere of the documentary "Paper Tigers"

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...
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Activists, advocates at White House screen "Resilience", address childhood trauma

Last night, under a full autumn moon and with a light mist in the air, several hundred activists came together for a White House-sponsored evening, “Youth, Trauma and Resilience: Discussion and Film Screening of RESILIENCE.” Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope is a one-hour documentary that chronicles the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) movement in the U.S. With the election outcome undoubtedly on the minds of everyone, Tina Tchen -- assistant to the President,...
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Adoption Advocates Bank on a New Way to Address Childhood Trauma [chronicleofsocialchange.org]

Alicia Doktor ·
According to a coalition of adoption advocates, broader acceptance of an emerging mental health diagnosis has the potential to help traumatized children access the help they need. That’s the goal of the End Childhood Trauma Tour , which stops in five cities this week in the name of promoting awareness of the disruptive effects of trauma on children. The tour started in Minneapolis on Friday before stopping in Chicago. It heads to Boston tonight before moving on to Philadelphia and...
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Almost half of D.C. children have suffered a traumatic experience, according to federal survey [WashingtonPost.com]

Clare Reidy ·
Social worker Darryl Webster has a conversation with Nickolas Armstrong during a town hall at Houston Elementary School in Washington, DC, in June 2016. Houston Elementary has worked to become a trauma-informed school. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post) In the District, 47 percent of children and teens have experienced a traumatic event, such as the death or incarceration of a parent, witnessing or being a victim of violence, or living with someone who has been suicidal or who has a drug or...
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April TiCong Notes

Kimberly T Konkel ·
Notes from April TiCong Meeting April 28, 2016 2:30-4:00PM ET (next meeting May 26, 2016 2:00 – 4:30 PM EDT Please register : https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6551284277068720388 ) Discussion of the PowerPoint Presentation on “Building Resilient Communities through Trauma-Informed Communities – We discussed this draft presentation: meant to be shared after participants have been introduced to ACES 101 and the Physiology/Neurophysiology of Toxic Stress and Trauma. This is the first...
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Baltimore uses trauma research to improve life for poor parents and their children [WashingtonPost.com]

Samantha Sangenito ·
One day, when she was 14 and feeling ill, Daylesha Brown’s mother took her to a Baltimore hospital and did not return for her. Child Protective Services (CPS) placed her in a group home and she was forced to move to other homes for the next three years. “My mother, she pushed me away,” Brown, now 23, said softly. “I was always getting in trouble with my mother.” So last year when Brown discovered her daughter, Sa-Maji, had lead poisoning, a lingering problem in Baltimore where the rate of...
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BREAKING OUR CHAINS ENDING THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE The National Day of Action to End Violence Against Women Living with HIV

Please join DC CARE and our partners Ribbon Consulting Group, PWN-USA, Us Helping Us, People into Living, Trauma  Informed DC Initiative and The Women's Collective for a special lunch event to discuss and explore ways to end the culture of...
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Building a Trauma-Informed Nation conference aims to move the conversation to action

The first day of  Building a Trauma-Informed Nation  began with a greeting by Gary Slutkin, founder and director of  Cure Violence . He wished a “good morning” to those in the West and a “good afternoon” to...
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Building a Trauma-Informed Nation conference aims to move the conversation to action: Part II

Father Jeff Putthoff, SJ, Founder, Hopeworks N’Camden (center), was ecstatic about the reach of his presentation the day before—well beyond the Department of Labor (DOL) auditorium in Washington, DC and out across the country to more than...
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Building Community Resilience: South Dallas [Moving Health Care Upstream]

An exciting initiative—Building Community Resilience collaborative established by Nemours (part of Moving Health Care Upstream )— is underway in five communities across the country to help child health systems connect with community-based resources to address social determinants (e.g., housing and access to public transportation) in places where children live, learn and play. This post by ACEs Connection member Wendy Ellis includes a short video (less than 3 minutes) about the initiative and...
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Can School Heal Children in Pain? Yes, it Can!

Leah Harris ·
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...
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Children's Law Center: Addressing Trauma in DC Schools

Leah Harris ·
June 23, 2015 First published by the Children's Law Center .   Forty percent of DC high school students witness violence in the course of just one year. About 4,000 DC public school students are homeless. There are over 1,000 DC children in...
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Councilmember David Grosso meets with Trauma-Informed DC Initiative reps

Members of the Trauma-Informed DC Initiative met with At-Large City Councilmember David Grosso and Christina Henderson, Education Committee Director, on November 4 to follow up on a number of issues raised at the Initiative’s School-to-Prison...
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D.C. City Council Considers Keeping Suspended Students In School (npr.org)

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...
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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser leds "FitDC" Ward by Ward

I had a chance to talk ACEs on a Ward walk with Mayor Muriel Bowser and her Health Department head Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt on Saturday. It was gratifying.  Will work with the DC Trauma-Informed Initiative on follow-up.      
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‘Expansive’ Juvenile Justice Reform Bill Close to Law in DC [JJIE.org]

Samantha Sangenito ·
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...
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First comprehensive briefing on trauma held in the U.S. House of Representatives

Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Wendy Ellis, Olga Acosta Price (obscured), Monica Battle, Kathryn Larin, and Whitney Gilliard ______________________________________________________ The first comprehensive trauma briefing in the U.S. House of Representatives was held on July 26 to an audience of Hill staff, interns, and advocates. The briefing included substantive content from a variety of perspectives—academia, government, education—and unexpected moments of moving personal testimony. Rep. Danny...
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How to help former inmates[Washington Post]

The Washington Post just published the following opinion piece by prison reform activist, Taylar Neuvelle, who was also interviewed recently by Scott MacFarland of NBC News Washington, DC about the condition of the DC jail . Neuvelle also participated...
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Leading Organizations Partner on a Campaign to Heal Childhood Trauma [prweb.com]

Alicia Doktor ·
“Calo Programs partners with three non-profits, on a five-city, childhood trauma awareness bus tour, ending on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Calo Programs , innovators in healing the effects of early life trauma in young people, is partnering with three of the nation's leading authorities on attachment, trauma and adoption: the American Adoption Congress (AAC), the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) and the Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh). Together...
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New Kaiser Permanente Partnership Aims to End Chronic Homelessness in 15 Communities

Karen Clemmer ·
Press Release March 11, 2019 AUSTIN, Texas — At the annual South by Southwest Conference, Kaiser Permanente today announced a partnership with Community Solutions to help accelerate efforts to end chronic homelessness in 15 communities (scroll down for list) within Kaiser Permanente’s national footprint. As part of the new partnership, Kaiser Permanente will provide $3 million over a three-year period to Community Solutions’ Built for Zero initiative, which uses real-time data to help local...
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Northeast and Mid-Atlantic trauma leaders share successes and challenges at May 1 networking meeting

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...
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October 27: Twitter Chat for Youth Justice Awareness Month

Leah Harris ·
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...
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Pause in the Action: Trauma-Informed DC leaders take a Saturday to plan for the future

The first year of Trauma-Informed DC (TIDC) has been action filledthere have been several large public events ( screenings of Paper Tigers and Wounded Places, a School to Prison Pipeline forum and more) as well as small gatherings that have helped gauge where community interests lie and that have built a network, now comprising nearly 600 people. The founder of TIDC, Leah Harris, felt the time seemed right to pause and take stock of what had been accomplished and plan for the future. Harris...
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Poor Planning and Lack of Oversight Lead to Foster Care Crisis in District of Columbia [The Chronicle for Social Change]

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...
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Profiles compare DC data with near-by jurisdictions in MD and VA

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...
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Southeast Residents Lack Hospital With Trauma Center, Despite Great Need [washingtoncitypaper.com]

By Amanda Michelle Gomez, Washington City Paper, August 30, 2019 October 30, 2018 was different—that was the day the job got personal for Beverly Smith-Brown. She works for the Alliance of Concerned Men, where she’s on alert 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to respond when residents suffer gunshot and stab wounds in Southeast D.C. While working as a trauma-informed advocate at a crime scene in Ward 8, she got a phone call from her sister: Her nephew, 25-year-old Taquan Smith, was shot...
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Statement for the DC Public Roundtable on Trauma-Informed Public Schools

Leah Harris ·
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,...
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This Bakery Offers A Second Chance For Women After Prison[NPR]

****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...
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To manage the stress of trauma, schools are teaching students how to relax [WashingtonPost.com]

Samantha Sangenito ·
One morning before math, the fourth-graders took a little vacation. To soft music, they walked through woods, climbed a mountain and lifted off with imaginary wings, flying over an ocean, a gentle breeze on their faces. One student saw a school of fish; another spotted a rainbow. “I see it!” the others piped in, their eyes squeezed tight. “I see it, too!” With the sound of a chime, they were back in their yellow-and-blue school uniforms in a classroom overlooking a blighted neighborhood that...
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Trauma Glasses Message!

Brenda Yuen ·
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Trauma Informed DC Community Meeting to be Held April 23

Leah Harris ·
"The single most important thing that we need today is the courage to look this problem in the face and say, this is real and this is all of us. I believe that we are the movement." Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Center for Youth Wellness   Adverse...
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Trauma Informed Washington, DC Holds Second Community Meeting

Leah Harris ·
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...
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Turnaround for Children releases new paper and announces hiring for key positions

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,...
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U.S. Senator Heitkamp spreads the word about trauma to Senate colleagues and urges advocates to do more

At a March 8 breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C., the featured speakers—U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota (left) and Judith Sandalow, Executive Director of the DC Children’s Law Center (CLC)—used the vivid image of children growing up with “black mold climbing the walls,” referring to unsafe physical and emotional environments at home and in communities, exacerbated by poverty but not limited to poor households. Heitkamp described how the science now explains what we already...
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Unconditional Care

Kerry Fair ·
Join us in Hagerstown, MD, for the next training in our series focused on trauma informed strategies for the community! Unconditional Care features three dynamic speakers focused on how addressing issues of self- care and self-awareness lead to the outcomes we all are striving for children, families and neighborhoods. Group rates are available for organizations registering ten or more attendees, contact Kerry Fair at 240-513-6370 or kfair@besterhope.org to arrange. Our last several trainings...
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Washington, DC, forum examines trauma-informed approaches to end school-to-prison pipeline

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...
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Washington, DC, City Council Education Committee probes how trauma-informed schools can help students

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...
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Washington Post Article Outlines Trauma Research & ACEs Impact on Population

Brenda Yuen ·
In-depth article on at-risk mothers, adverse childhood experiences, and trauma research! This article was published in the Washington Post on Monday, August 21, 2017: https://www.google.com/search?q=washington+post+Trauma+research+aids+at-risk+mothers+by+Mark+Beckford&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
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Webinar Learning Series begins tomorrow: State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity, Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST (1:00 PM EST)

Reminder of tomorrow's ( Wednesday, January 10, 10am PST/1:00 PM EST) webinar on State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and...
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Webinar Learning Series: State Policy Approaches to Addressing Childhood Adversity, January 10, 10am PST (1:00 PM EST)

Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity and ACEs Connection . We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: Overview of State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity and Highlights from Oregon, Tennessee, and Wisconsin Date: January 10th, 10AM PST (1:00 PM EST) Speakers: Elizabeth Prewitt, Policy Analyst, ACEs...
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Why I’m Doing a One Woman Show about Inherited Family Trauma

Leah Harris ·
I was raised by Jewish grandparents who grew up during the Great Depression. (I guess this makes me an honorary Baby Boomer, even though I’m technically Generation X.) My grandmother loved to tell me stories told to her by her father, my great-grandfather Max Schumacher, who emigrated to the US from Poland in 1914, and died before I was born. “Your great-grandfather was sitting on the stoop with this little girl, and a Cossack rides by on his horse and pop! shoots the little girl in the...
 
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