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Understanding and Addressing Childhood Trauma
Everyone experiences scary or difficult events in their lives. For some children, these events can be so frightening or dangerous that they can have a lasting impact on their well-being. Trauma refers to the physical, cognitive, and emotional responses to an event (or events) that is physically or...
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Addressing Social Determinants of Health Among Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
Over 582,000 individuals on a single night in 2022 across the country were struggling with one of the key social determinants of health: homelessness. The Point-in-Time (PIT) census counts sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. The PIT count is...
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Expanding Affordable Housing and Jobs Programs as Strategies for Addressing the Mental Health and Overdose Crises
Our society is grappling with mental health and overdose crises. In the United States in 2021, 22.8% of adults experienced mental illness,1 and more than 106,000 Americans died from drug-involved overdose.2 As the leader of a New York City nonprofit provider of shelter, housing, health, and...
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A Trauma-Informed Approach to the 1115 Waiver: A Critical Ingredient for Success
Despite an increasing recognition and surge of evidence that trauma is pervasive and has significant negative health consequences, the traditional healthcare system has not yet been configured in a way that is adequately responsive to this knowledge. Conversely, the system creates barriers to...
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A Case for the Discerning Application of Treatment Models: Proceed with Caution
In recent decades we have witnessed a proliferation of models for the treatment of behavioral health conditions, many of which enjoy robust evidence bases that support their application in accordance with overarching principles and intended outcomes. In many respects, we inhabit a “Golden Age”...
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Want to Help Underserved Communities Succeed? Adopt a Trauma-Informed Model at Your CEO Table
2020 was a year to remember. Not only did the United States –and the world– grapple with a pandemic of epic proportions, but our country was also forced to take a deeper, harder look at the pervasive and deadly impact of racial inequality and systemic discrimination, as the continued violence...
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24 Organizations Team Up in Westchester’s First Trauma-Informed Systems Change Collaborative
Exposure to traumatic stress is increasingly understood as a common denominator among children, youth, and adults across service systems. Experiences surrounding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma impact individuals everywhere. The pandemic and other recent events, nationally and...
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Trauma-Informed Care: Children in Crisis
We know that most if not all of the people we serve at the Institute for Community Living (ICL) have experienced multiple traumas in the course of their lives. This is true for every ICL program, whether in behavioral health clinics and crisis services or housing for people living with mental...
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Integrating Trauma-Informed Care Into Organizations Serving Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
In recent years, there has been a large focus on understanding how trauma interacts with other factors to create unique vulnerabilities in people. Individuals who have experienced intense or frequent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) exhibit more health and behavioral difficulties throughout...
