By Laura Gallant, 4/22/24, https://positiveexperience.org/blog/ Environmental justice is a key movement to increasing access to positive childhood experiences through the Environment Building Block of HOPE. This movement was created by people of color to address inequities of environmental protection in their communities. Environmental justice advocates on a policy level to ensure full protection from unequal adverse effects from environmental impacts, such as climate change, and health...

IF survived, early-life child abuse left unchecked typically causes the brain to improperly develop. It can readily be the starting point of a life in which the brain uncontrollably releases potentially damaging levels of inflammatory stress hormones and chemicals, even in otherwise non-stressful daily routines. It can amount to non-physical-impact brain-damage abuse: It has been described as a continuous, discomforting anticipation of ‘the other shoe dropping’ and simultaneously being...

Workshop after workshop asks people to check off their ACE's. Then, presenters tell you about your odds of having all sorts of adverse, unhealthy, or worrisome outcomes. You face doom without mitigation, as the story is told. As a clinician and behavioral scientist, one needs to take a sip of water and some steady breathing before resigning one's self or to affected individuals to the dung heap of life. I recall the first time I heard a breathless clinician talking about ACE's about...

Highlights of my year include time spent and powerful discussions with CRC Accelerator and Fellowship participants. Insight shared by our dedicated participants, graduates, and fellows about what they learned about trauma-informed awareness, resilience building, and PACEs science as a result of the CRC will continue to inspire the movement.

By The HOPE Team, https://positiveexperience.org/blog/ The HOPE National Resource Center (NRC) offers training options at all levels, from introductory workshops and courses to advanced certifications, that will help you expand your practice of HOPE and promote positive childhood experiences (PCEs) in your community and organization. We continually develop and update our training opportunities using feedback from our HOPE community members and partners. It is important for our trainings to...

In honor of Black Maternal Health Week, I was invited by Coordinated Care Services, Inc. (CCSI) to be a guest contributor to their newsletter. After careful consideration I wrote Centering the Black Feminist Perspective: Supremacy Culture is the Barrier Black Maternal Health Never Needed.

Though technology can be helpful for children, too much screen time can be a problem for some families. However, it can be difficult to get your child to reduce their screen time to create more positive childhood experiences. One of the best ways to do this is to entice kids with more exciting opportunities. Provide your children with indoor and outdoor activities that interest and engage them. This fosters creative play, which in turn helps children develop coping skills that will serve...