The end of August has always been about transitions. Here in Chicago, we cling to the last days of summer before settling into the brisk chill of autumn and to students in the city, and across the country, beginning a new year of school. Of course, this school year will be markedly different from those in the past. Remote learning and social distancing are the new norm for children, and educators and parents alike are looking for ways to best support children in these uncertain and sometimes frightening times. Chicago, like the rest of the nation, has also continued to reckon with the legacy of white supremacy and police violence.

Here at the Collaborative, we’re also facing a transition as we say goodbye to Director Lara Altman this month. Under her leadership, the Collaborative reached new heights—emerging as a leader in advocacy for trauma-informed practices and resilience throughout Illinois. We wish her all the best as she embarks on her new journey. We also want to welcome Bridget Gavaghan, who will be joining the Collaborative in September as our new Director. Bridget comes to us with years of experience in advancing state and national initiatives, including with the National Human Services Assembly, and Prevent Child Abuse America. We are thrilled to have her knowledge and experience on board. 

As a new season approaches, we have a renewed sense of purpose and energy at the Collaborative. We look forward to collaborating with all of you and continuing to move our work forward throughout the school year and beyond.

Thank you,

Madison Hammett, MPH, MSW
Senior Policy Analyst, Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative

“Why Race Matters When it Comes to Mental Health” by Lola Jaye, BBC News

The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have inspired protests and demands for racial justice in not only the United States, but throughout the world. In this piece for the BBC, psychotherapist Lola Jaye details how racial trauma has impacted Black Britons and how ignoring race in mental health treatment can cause more trauma and harm for patients. She also discusses how deeper connections and pride in identity can improve mental health outcomes for Black patients, and the role providers play in preventing and mitigating racial trauma.

“Childhood Trauma Can Speed Biological Aging” by Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite, Harvard Gazette

A new study out of Harvard University has found that experiences of childhood trauma may not only lead to poor health outcomes later in life, they may also speed up the pace of aging from an early age. Investigator and psychology professor Katie McLaughlin found that violent or traumatic experiences led to accelerations in pubertal development, brain development, and cellular aging.

“If you’re growing up in an environment where there are constant threats around you, the network of brain regions that are involved in social and emotional processing becomes more efficient at processing threat-related information, which could accelerate processes like synaptic pruning where that network is getting rid of connections that it doesn’t need and becomes efficient more quickly for kids who are growing up in dangerous contexts,” said McLaughlin. The team now hopes to use this research to determine which psychosocial interventions developed for survivors of trauma might be the most effective at slowing this aging process.

“The Mental Health Trauma of the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis” by Kelly Glass, Glamour Magazine

The disparity between Black and white women’s maternal mortality rate in the United States has been well documented—Black women die of childbirth complications at a rate 3 times that of white women. Those who survive childbirth though are also potentially left traumatized by feeling uninformed and unsupported by health care personnel who may ignore their wishes and concerns.

In this article for Glamour Magazine, writer Kelly Glass interviews Black patients and doctors on their experiences in the labor room, as well as what can be done to prevent birth trauma. Elyse Fox, a mental health advocate who struggled with finding support for her birth trauma and postpartum depression, discusses founding Sad Girls Club—an online and in-person support group for Black mothers centered around the unique challenges they face in getting support for birth trauma. “Like most Black women, I was likely to just take care of everybody else because this is the way it has always been,” says Fox. “Then it came to a point where I crashed and had to learn how to communicate that I need support.”