Toddlers and preschoolers who grow up amid poverty and racism are at a developmental disadvantage and face lifelong social, health and economic consequences that hinder health equity, according to a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). This includes Latino kids, who are prone to hardships in early childhood. Experiencing poverty and racism in the first five years of life can “set off a vicious cycle of inequities” from obesity, stress, and developmental problems that affect adulthood and future generations. Fortunately, the report explores ways to overcome or prevent these damaging effects. “Reducing child poverty, eliminating structural racism, and providing universal high-quality early care ...
Our own Amanda Merck recently joined HiMama’s The Preschool Podcast to talk about addressing childhood trauma in early childcare and schools to build better futures for Latino and all children. HiMama, which offers tools to help educators improve childhood development, hosts The Preschool Podcast every Tuesday with its co-founder and CEO Ron Spreeuwenberg and a guest. Merck, who curates content for Salud America! on early childhood development, joined podcast episode #103, Impacts of Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences, on July 3, 2018. Merck spoke about the critical formative years from 0 to 5 in a child’s development and how childhood trauma, like abuse and poverty, affect a child’s body and brain. However, early childcare educators are rarely trained to deal with ...
Most Americans view child abuse and neglect as a public health problem, a sentiment more strongly shared among Latinos (81%) than their White (76%) and Black (74%) peers, according to a new survey. The national survey of adults, led by Research!America and the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect, also found that Latinos were more likely than their peers to list child abuse and neglect as local problems, too. More than 1 in 3 Latinos also said they know know someone who has experienced child abuse and neglect. “The survey reveals that child abuse and neglect is all too pervasive and must be addressed as a public health problem,” said Mary Woolley, president and CEO, Research!America. “Robust funding for research and public health programs is essential in order ...
About half of U.S. children suffer abuse, poverty, parental incarceration and other traumas. These kids face deep physical and mental scars that impair development, learning, and health. How can schools support and help students dealing with trauma? The new Salud America! “Trauma Sensitive School Action Pack” is a free guide with coaching to help school personnel talk to decision-makers, build a support team, craft a system to identify and support traumatized students, and more! The Action Pack was created by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Salud America! Latino health program at UT Health San Antonio, with input from John Hernandez, who created a unique system to help traumatized students at East Central ISD in San Antonio. Get the Action Pack! The Action Pack ...
To become a productive adult, a child needs more than great academic experiences. Social and emotional learning experiences, for example, can instill responsibility, integrity, and justice in our youngest children. Schools, communities and healthcare professionals play a big role in addressing trauma and stimulating social and emotional development, which requires an understanding of how childhood trauma impacts kids’ brains, bodies, and behavior. We at Salud America! created an Action Pack to help your school take steps to become more trauma-informed/sensitive to reduce absenteeism and misconduct and help students become healthy, productive members of society. Let’s use #SaludTues on June 19, 2018, to see Action Pack and tweet how schools can become trauma-informed to ...
Childhood Trauma is a big reason many students miss school. Whether its neglect, abuse, or poverty, trauma hinders a child's brain, body, and future success. How can schools help students deal with trauma and reduce absenteeism? Register for our webinar on May 29, to get free tools and support to help you start a Trauma-Informed Care system in your school district! Our webinar will feature John Hernandez, director of student services at East Central ISD in San Antonio, who pushed district leadership for support, fund advocates at each campus, and eventually created a trauma-informed identification and monitoring system into his district's existing software program. What: How to Start a Trauma-Informed System in Your School District
Time/Date: 12 p.m. CST, Tuesday, May 29, ...
Texas school districts are suspending young students at alarming and disproportionate rates, according to a new report by Texans Care for Children. The report identified 64,773 in-school suspensions and 36,475 out-of-school suspensions of pre-K through second-grade students in Texas in 2015-2016. Students who are black, male, or in special education or foster care were disproportionately suspended. Taking preschoolers out of class denies them valuable learning time and spurs negative thoughts about school and how they fit in. Suspended students are more likely to have poor grades, continue misbehaving, and drop out of school, which harms lifelong mental and physical health. Latino kids especially risk not getting the social support they need for healthy development and disease ...
A bus pulls up to a school for Pre-K to eighth grade. A preschooler wearing only a diaper, carrying a lunch box (which turns out to be empty), gets off the bus. This was the shocking testimony by Vermont Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Rieber to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Working Group as he shared how childhood trauma like poverty and neglect affects what judges, educators, and social workers are seeing. The Vermont legislature established the six-member ACEs Working Group in 2017 to look at the health and human services landscape with regards to childhood trauma and science behind ACEs. In 2018, the group introduced four ACE-related bills to improve trauma support and treatment within state government, health care and education.
Legislative Working ...
Child advocates in California (61% Latino) are asking organizations to support the proposed Family Urgent Response System to provide foster youth and their caregivers with immediate help when they need it most. The proposed system would support a new toll-free hotline to give kids in foster care and caregivers immediate help with mental health crises, and require counties to prepare mobile response teams to provide on-site assistance. Your organization can join more than 75 others in signing a letter to support this proposal by April 3, 2018.
Family Urgent Response System In February, 2018, Assembly Member Dr. Joaquin Arambula introduced the Family Urgent Response System bill (AB-2043) to the California Legislature to support foster youth and caregivers. California ...
