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Dear Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative Members,
As summer winds down and we are inching closer to the end of 2019, we want to take a moment to express our gratitude for the work that our members do to prevent trauma and promote resilience, healing, and thriving. Every day presents us with more violence, more evidence of the inhumane treatment of children and families at the border, and new federal policies that aim to weaken public benefits and pathways to citizenship. Yet we remain hopeful that our collective efforts will counter these forces, providing the opportunities and resources that families, communities, and systems need to thrive. We thank you for partnering with us in this work.
Lara Altman
Director, Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative
Health & Medicine Policy Research Group
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You're Invited! Trauma-Informed Chicago: Connecting for a Resilient Future
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It’s time to celebrate our accomplishments, connection, and future!
10:00 am – 11:30 am 15 Years to Now: The Journey to Becoming Trauma-Informed
11:30 am - 12:30 pm Lunch
12:30 pm – 3:00 pm Building Connections and Collective Impact
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm What is our vision for a resilient Chicago?
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm An optional celebration featuring creative performances, fireside chats, and the creation of a collective vision board
Volunteer opportunities:
- Table Facilitators - assist in moving the discussion forward and presenting key information from the group.
- Information Specialists - assist in ascribing notes and harvesting key information from the group.
- General Volunteers - roles include assisting with lunch, monitoring the registration table, helping reset the room, and assisting patrons with navigating.
- Wellness Coaches - help attendees meet their wellness needs through art, quiet space, crafts etc. This role will not provide counseling or therapy.
If you are interested in volunteering, please complete the survey or contact james.esparza@cityofchicago.org. Volunteer Orientation will take place on Sept 9th or Sept 10th.
We are proud to partner with the Center for Childhood Resilience, Communities United, Friends of the Children, Illinois Collaboration on Youth, National Louis University, and Strengthening Chicago's Youth for this exciting event.
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Shifting the Focus: Prioritizing the Developmental Needs of Infants and Toddlers through Early Childhood Court Teams - September Webinar
Join the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative on Tuesday, September 17th at 3 pm for “Shifting the Focus: Prioritizing the Developmental Needs of Infants and Toddlers through Early Childhood Court Teams,” a free webinar featuring Dr. Kimberly Mann of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
The Early Childhood Court Team program utilizes a relationship-based approach to support families that have infants or toddlers under the age of four and are currently involved in child welfare services in Illinois. This developmental approach prioritizes the well-being of very young children exposed to early life trauma, engages all caregivers, and ensures increased case collaboration among all sectors of the service array. Families and children are best supported when their complex needs are identified, understood, and approached in an ecological manner that empowers the parental role.
This webinar will describe the strategies used to develop skills, knowledge, and values of the staff to enhance their capacity to respond more effectively to the developmental needs of young children, as well as the successful outcomes of the Early Childhood Court Team. It will also discuss ways that changes to local systems improve outcomes and prevent future court involvement in the lives of very young children by exposing and addressing the structural issues in the system that prevent families from succeeding.
Shifting the Focus: Prioritizing the Developmental Needs of Infants and Toddlers through Early Childhood Court - Webinar
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - 3:00 - 4:00 PM CDT
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Gathering of Communities: Healing Through Justice! Communities United Event
The Collaborative is excited to join hundreds of community members from over 40 neighborhoods across Chicago for “A Gathering of Communities: Healing Through Justice!” Come learn, share, and plan to create a vision for Chicago to become a healing-centered city.
Saturday, October 5th from 9am-1pm
Corliss High School (821 E 103rd St, Chicago, IL).
Help us create a grassroots movement for change. For sponsorship opportunities or to get involved, please contact Evelin Rodriguez at evelin@communitiesunited.org or 773-649-4167.
“A Gathering of Communities: Healing Through Justice!” is convened by Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center, Access Living, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Broken Winggz, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago Freedom School, Communities United, Family Impact, Hands Around the Hundreds, Healing to Action, Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, Illinois Justice Project, Mothers on a Mission, New Life Baptist Church, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, St. Anthony Catholic Church, Strengthening Chicago’s Youth, Swedish Covenant Hospital, Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), and Westside Health Authority.
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Trauma-Informed Schools Act of 2019 Introduced in the House
The Collaborative applauds Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-MA-5), Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL-5), and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) for introducing the Trauma-Informed Schools Act of 2019, legislation that will define “trauma-informed practices” for the first time ever in federal education law. Among other key priorities, the bill promotes restorative practices and other positive approaches to discipline that address the underlying causes of behavior, including trauma. This bill would also align key federal funding sources to invest in teacher professional development and after school programs, with a goal of providing educators the training and resources they need to utilize trauma-informed care.
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Remembering Dr. Carl Bell, Chicago Psychiatrist Dedicated to Helping the African American Community and Treating Childhood Trauma
The Collaborative was saddened to learn of Health & Medicine partner and adviser Dr. Carl Bell’s passing this month at the age of 71. Born and raised in Hyde Park, Dr. Bell dedicated his life and work as a psychiatrist to treating childhood trauma resulting from violence. Inspired by his pediatric psychiatry patients, Dr. Bell led a 1980 study on 536 children’s experiences with violence on Chicago’s South Side, as well as its long-term psychological effects--one of the first of its kind. A prolific author, Dr. Bell published over 400 books and journal articles on the effects of violence on children, post-traumatic stress, and violence prevention strategies.
He is also remembered for his tireless activism and advocacy on behalf of Black Chicagoans and Americans. On NPR’s All Things Considered, host Michel Martin remembered Dr. Bell’s dedication to his patients. She explained, “In 2012, the Southside Community Mental Health Council he started closed after 37 years for lack of funding. On the days following its closure, he sat outside in his car with a laptop, files and a prescription pad waiting for patients who might not have gotten word so he could greet them and try to help them get their meds and find other resources.”
“His past motivated his work,” Dr. Bell’s ex-wife, Tyra Taylor-Bell, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “He saw friends and classmates who never had a chance to grow up. Then he saw it in schools as an adult. He saw where the problems were, so he did something about it.”
You can read more about Dr. Bell’s work here. He is survived by his ex-wife Tyra Taylor-Bell, his three children Briatta, William, and Cristin Carole, and grandson Benjamin.
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Trauma-Informed Policymaking: Leading Change in Illinois
July Webinar
On Monday, July 29th, the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative hosted a free webinar, Trauma-Informed Policymaking: Leading Change in Illinois. Increasingly used in organizational transformation and service delivery contexts, the trauma-informed framework is equally as important for policymaking and budget/resource allocation—especially given that policies have caused significant trauma to, and continue to traumatize, families and communities. We talked about our new Trauma-Informed Policymaking Tool and learned from groups using TI practices in their policy and advocacy work.
You can read the Trauma-Informed Policymaking Tool slides here, the Cabrini Green Legal Aid slides here, and the VOYCE slides here.
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Watch the recording of the webinar here!
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The American Academy of Pediatrics has released its first policy statement on the impact of racism on childhood health and development. The statement, authored by Dr. Maria Trent, Danielle G. Dooley, and Jacqueline Dougé, encourages practitioners and researchers to not only examine how racism may affect patient behavior, but also their own. “Pediatricians and others involved in children’s health need to be aware of the effects of racism on children’s development, starting in the womb," Dr. Trent said.
The New York Times interviewed several pediatric and adolescent health specialists to get their feedback on the statement and why it is so necessary for health providers to look at racism as a health determination in the lives of children.
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In the wake of the Trump administration’s announcement that they plan to detain undocumented children who enter the United States with their families indefinitely, ending a long-standing guideline of capping childhood detention at 20 days, PBS Frontline takes an in-depth look at the long-term effects of childhood detention. Interviewing people who grew up in Romanian orphanages, as well as experts like Jack Shonkoff at Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child, the article examines the potential health and development consequences of this border detention policy on children.
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