Author: Kerry Jamieson

Black Ties & French Fries 2020

Kerry Jamieson Uncategorized

Center for Child Counseling’s annual gala raises thousands of dollars to help children heal from trauma.

February 24: WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – A disco-themed extravaganza was held on Saturday, February 15th, 2020 when Center for Child Counseling (CfCC) hosted its 7th annual Black Tie & French Fries gala at the Club at Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens. Attended by 210 friends and supporters of the organization, the event raised funds to support vital programs the organization provides in the community, which includes helping children and families affected by trauma and adversity.

Highlights of the event included bottomless supplies of French fries and sweet potato fries (a signature of this fun family evening), and a fully-staffed kids’ room with games, face painting, and a magic show with elaborate balloon animals by Karl Koppertop. There was a performance of hoverboard dancing to ‘Dancing Queen’ by Kate Rundels, followed by a delicious dinner buffet. Disco dancing rounded off the evening.

The most touching point of the night came when a young client shared her story during a “Call to Heart” segment. The young woman credits the Center for Child Counseling with giving her the help she needed to heal after trauma and placement in foster care.

For the past 21 years Center for Child Counseling has been Palm Beach County’s driving force in the fight against ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and the lifelong mental and physical health issues associated with them. Proceeds from the event and its fantastic silent auction of over 150 items (including a Trips of a Lifetime segment in partnership with AmFund, a trip in the Goodyear blimp, and a portrait session by Bradford Portraiture valued at $5,000) will help Center for Child Counseling with its direct services as well as supply the equipment and toys needed to fully implement their school-based mental health programs.

ACEs and Military Families

Kerry Jamieson Blog, Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News

We’ve all seen them (and many of us have cried a little) — those YouTube videos of little children reuniting with a returning soldier, often their mom or dad. The child leaps into their parent’s arms and clings on for dear life, tears streaming down their little face. It’s a moment of pure joy. But what happens in the hours, days, and months after those happy reunions? And, even more concerning, what goes through a child’s mind when mom or dad are first deployed? There aren’t too many uplifting online videos depicting those departing moments…because, all too often, they are very traumatic.

The United States military is an enormous operation. There are approximately 1.3 million active duty personnel serving in the U.S. military with an additional 800,000 reserve forces (as of September 2017), according to Defense Department personnel data. This means that 0.4 percent of the American population is an active military service-person. While most work at home, the U.S. has nearly 800 military bases around the world and, although deployment numbers fluctuate daily based on the needs of commanders and shifting missions, a rough estimate is that 200,000 troops are currently deployed overseas. U.S. Central Command says that between 60,000 and 70,000 U.S. troops are now in the Middle East and the Pentagon has directed about 4,500 additional troops to the region after the recent drone attack which killed Major General Qassim Suleimani, an Iranian security and intelligence commander.

Working in the military is a uniquely challenging job, a calling for many, a family tradition for others. Most members of the military come from middle-class neighborhoods, just like the original participants in the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente in the mid-1990s. Increasingly, women are serving in high-powered or even combat roles. As a society, we acknowledge the danger and dedication this takes, which is why we often thank these brave men and women for their service when we encounter them. But are there more insidious dangers lurking at home? Military families, like all families, need to guard against ACEs. While deployment is not an ACE in itself, the circumstances it results in can be detrimental to healthy childhood development and need to be guarded against.

Sudden Loss

One aspect of the military that distinguishes it from other jobs, even dangerous ones, is the very short notice afforded military personnel when they are suddenly deployed. Typically, troops get their orders to deploy many months in advance. In times of stability, soldiers can expect to spend anywhere from three, to six, to  twelve months away. Everyone in the unit has ample time to get their ducks in a row before heading overseas. But, when urgent needs arise or sudden volatility occurs, they must be ready to leave in as little as 18 hours. That’s less than a day to cancel plans, call loved ones, rearrange commitments, and comfort young children who suddenly have to be told that mommy or daddy is going away. Birthdays, sports games, recitals, and graduations may be missed. These dates mean a great deal to children and can’t be rescheduled. These precious moments can’t be replaced and can result in feelings of apprehension, abandonment, and resentment.

Deployment does results in one key ACE, however — the loss of a parent. While the original ACE study asked about parental loss due to death or incarceration, it also asked about divorce. It’s clear that any sudden long-term separation from a parent can throw a child’s world into chaos. It may not help much to explain that, in the vast majority of deployment cases, the absent parent returns, safe and sound. Children perceive time differently. Tomorrow seems like forever away, so a deployment of a few months is almost a lifetime. Children are also very literal up to the age of about 11. If you promise to take them out for ice cream and then have to change those plans, you are “a liar”. Disappointing a young child, who likely finds it difficult to delay gratification, because of a deployment can seem like a crushing blow to them.

In fact, each stage of deployment can be fraught with anxiety and stress of different kinds.

Pre-Deployment
A deploying service-person in the family throws established routines into chaos. Children experience unexpected disruption and uncertainty. Even experienced military families find the adjustment jarring. The shock of a sudden departure of a parent can leave children feeling a kind of bereavement over the loss, which may manifest itself in sullenness, anger, violent outbursts, or refusing to talk or cooperate.

Deployment
The absence of one parent can put undue burden on the remaining parent, even in the most well-adjusted families. Deployment can bring financial and emotional deficits, placing children in the home at greater risk for adversity. In some cases, children need to move from their established home to live with grandparents or other caregivers, a dramatic disruption at a time when they crave the sense of security structure brings. While away, the military parent is at constant risk. Whether or not a child has been told that their parent may be wounded or even die, they are very intuitive and pick up on the anxiety and fear in the home. Even very young children know their routine has changed and may start to “act out”.

Post-Deployment
While disruption results when service-people deploy, it happens again when they return. This means a double dose of unsettling emotions for young brains that are still developing and vulnerable to the negative effects of toxic stress — the kind of stress caused by repeated activation of the fight, flight, or freeze reflex, which results in atypical levels of adrenaline being dumped into the body.

PTSD and Other Issues
When service personnel return home, they can bring serious challenges with them. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) varies by war/operation but affects between 11% and 30% of service-people. Symptoms can include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, all of which can be terrifying for a child to witness. PTSD sufferers can experience problems relating to others, too. They can have trouble showing feelings or affection, difficulty sleeping, irritability, angry outbursts, lack of concentration, and a heightened startle response (”jumpiness”). In the most extreme cases, the returning parent is barely recognizable as the same person who left, which is undoubtedly traumatic for a child.

Shannon Hawkins, Director of Community Engagement at a private health foundation that funds Center for Child Counseling’s Fighting ACEs campaign, recalls her childhood as a military kid. “Noise, or any type of unexpected sound, affected my father deeply after he returned from serving. He would jump at the slightest thing and, as a child, I remember how quiet we had to be inside the house to avoid triggering him. It was a new reality after he came back.”

Countless families report the same experiences and the children in these homes may have difficulty with:
• Fears and worries about the parent-soldier’s safety, especially if exposed to combat
• Absence/separation from the parent-Soldier, especially during lengthy deployments
• Changes in family routines, roles, and responsibilities
• Intense emotions in the family
• Changes in the relationship with the deployed and nondeployed parents
• Relocation to a different geographical area to live with a new caregiver
• Exposure to troubling media coverage, especially if the mission is in a combat zone
• Reintegration of the parent-soldier into the family

Heightened Risk Factors
It’s important to remember that one of the ACE study questions addresses mental illness (“Did you live with a household member who was depressed, mentally ill, or attempted suicide?”). With rates of depression higher among military personnel than the civilian population, this ACE is a definite risk factor for military children.

Domestic violence was another ACE identified in the original study (“Did you see or hear household members hurt or threaten to hurt each other?”). There was a 177% increase in Intimate Partner Violence within the military between 2000- 2010 at al time when national rates were decreasing. Clearly, this is another potential ACE risk factor for military children.

A third potential ACE involves substance abuse (“Did you live with someone who had a problem with drinking or using drugs?”). Studies indicate a higher prevalence of binge drinking among military personnel than the population at large.

Benefits for Military Families
As a counterpoint to some of the challenges facing military families, the military does provide benefits for its children not afforded to the everyone in the civilian population. These can be considered protective factors.
• Universal healthcare coverage
• Comprehensive/affordable daycare
• Steady employment (lack of extreme poverty/lower rates of physical neglect)
• Paid family leave for both parents
• In general, military families score higher on scales for parental education, residential stability, and positive family function

Despite the uncertainty and possible exposure to ACEs that threaten military families, the majority of them find ways to cope and manage very well. Studies reveal that most people who enlist in the military do so for positive motives including patriotism, altruism, and self-improvement. The military instills routine, discipline, and the idea of self-sacrifice. When taught appropriately, these lessons can help a child learn resilience. Remember that resilience is the ability to be flexible and thrive during times of undue stress, or the ability to rebound from adversity as a strong, healthy, more resourceful person. Children’s reactions to the stress of deployment, their coping skills, and the level of their resilience can differ depending on their age, stage of development, personality, prior life experiences, and former challenges, as well as the number and efficacy of the support systems available to them. We can all play a part in helping children thrive during their parent-soldier’s deployment.

What Can You Do?
Young children may experience feelings of abandonment or anger when a parent leaves, regardless of the reason. Some children don’t know where to turn with the big feelings they are experiencing. Others may be told to be proud or “be brave for Mommy,” which may contradict the complex sadness or anger they are naturally feeling.

Secure relationships, effective communication, critical thinking, and thorough preparation are key to successful family functioning during deployment.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open: Adults can gain insight into what children understand about their parent’s deployment by listening to what they have to say and asking them about their thoughts and feelings. Rather than avoiding talk of the absent parent, it helps children to speak freely, express their concerns, and work through their emotions. Sometimes, acknowledging a feeling or a fear can go a long way to dispelling it.

Try to Retain a Routine: As far as possible, provide security for children in military families by giving them the comfort of established routines. Children crave boundaries, which make them feel safe. Keeping to a set schedule where children know what to expect helps to minimize anxiety about the unknown, which they are naturally feeling.

Provide Regular Reassurance: When the topic of the military or war comes up in the media or at school, you should share with your child anything you know about the safety of their parent. You might say: “I know you saw on the news today that they were fighting in Tehran. Mommy isn’t anywhere near there. She is safely working in the communications office very far away from all that.”

Craft a Countdown: It may help to create a tangible way of showing that time is passing. A simple chalkboard updated daily showing the days until dad returns, for example. Or, you can find two jars and a number of marbles or pennies correlated to the number of days your loved one will be away. Put all the marbles or pennies into one jar. Each day, move a marble from the “days left” jar to the “days passed” jar, so your child can see the time diminishing and that things are moving towards reunification.

Stay Connected to the Deployed Parent: A regular connection, if possible, provides vital reassurance to a young child. These days, technology can facilitate face-to-face video calls; letters, emails, and photos also help children to stay connected.

Make a Deployment Bucket List: You can help your child craft a list of things they look forward to doing when mom or dad returns. It’s great for them to set some goals for themselves to work towards, too. For example: “By the time dad gets back, I will be able to ride my bike.”

Establish New Family Traditions: Even little tokens help maintain a sense of family in the absence of one parent. You can share memories of “funny things dad does” at the dinner table. You can make your own rituals and routines to build cohesion – the key is that you do it together and on a regular schedule.

Art Projects & Journaling: Some children draw or paint pictures and build a portfolio to share when mom or dad returns. Older children can write diary entries to share their private thoughts, although it’s important to encourage them to share openly with a trusted adult rather than keeping feelings bottled up inside. Pinterest has some great military art project ideas and ideas for Veterans Day that are suitable for kids of differing ages.

Visit a USO Center: The military offers many support sites (online and tangible) where military spouses and children can find support.

In some cases, the benefit of being raised in a military family far outweighs the potential ACEs it might bring. Michelle Brown, whose father served in the United States Air Force until she was 16, says: “The lessons I learned as a ‘military brat’ made me who I am today. There may have been some hardships, like having to make new friends after every move, but my parents also taught me coping skills. Now, I make friends easily, I am dedicated, and I’m tough. The military equipped me for life’s changes. I don’t regret a thing about growing up military.”

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ACEs: From Theory to Reality

Kerry Jamieson Blog, Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News

For the past few years, our blog has shared information on ACEs: citing world-renowned studies and organizations, sharing solutions and strategies, and communicating ideas for building a more trauma-informed community. We know that knowledge is empowering, so a big part of our work involves letting people know about the lifelong mental and physical impact Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have on children. At some point, however, it helps to turn our attention away from theories and refocus it on reality…the real children who are affected, the real work we do, and the very real need for financial support.

But first, let’s recap the basics…

The Undisputed Facts

  • ACEs are traumatic experiences that occur in childhood as a result of abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction.
  • ACEs were first explored in a study conducted in the mid-1990s by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and insurance giant Kaiser Permanante.
  • More than half the US population has at least one ACE (out of a possible score of ten); many people score far higher.
  • Breakthrough research in neurobiology shows that ACEs disrupt neurodevelopment and can have lasting effects on brain structure and function, which is why ACEs can dramatically alter the course of a person’s life.
  • ACEs are a root cause of many social, emotional, and cognitive impairments that lead to health risks, increased exposure to violence or revictimization, disease, disability, and premature mortality.
  • ACEs have huge financial costs to society, too. They burden social and healthcare systems and result in lost productivity.
  • The good news is that introducing just one positive, adult influence to buffer the effects of ACEs can make all the difference to a child.
  • Children can also be helped to develop their innate resilience, helping them cope with and overcome adversity and ultimately lead full, happy lives.

At Center for Child Counseling, we address all these issues by focusing on very young children because this approach offers children the best possible chance to heal.

When some people look at this issue, they are compelled by their hearts to act. For others, a concrete, facts-based argument is more persuasive. Setting aside the desire we all have to protect abused of children, as taxpayers we should be concerned about the cost of unaddressed childhood adversity, too.

The Real Cost to Communities

The CDC estimates the total lifetime economic burden resulting from new cases of fatal and nonfatal child maltreatment in the United States was approximately $124 billion in 2008. A decade later, that cost has undoubtedly skyrocketed. In sensitivity analysis, the total burden is estimated to be as large as $585 billion.

Another study conducted in Washington State showed that up to 67% (an astonishing two-thirds) of behavioral and physical health problems that cause people to seek social services are attributable to ACEs. Many of these services are funded by the taxpayer. There is no doubt that doing the right thing morally (addressing the suffering of children) will, in the long-term, save us a great deal of money.

Just One Example Costs Us Billions

Let’s consider just one damaging adult behavior – excessive alcohol use. An ACE score of just 1, (which covers six out of ten Americans) can cause sufficient trauma to make a person twice as likely to become an alcoholic. Alcoholism is the most common addiction in the United States with 17.6 million people–one in every 12 adults–suffering from alcohol abuse. Several million more engage in risky, binge-drinking patterns that could lead to problems with alcohol. The cost of excessive alcohol use in the United States reached $249 billion in 2010, or about $2.05 for every alcoholic beverage consumed!

But beyond all this data are real children and we need to think about them as individuals. Brutal Russian dictator, Joseph Stalin, understood how easily big issues can become banal. He famously said: “If only one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that’s only statistics.” Taking in the big picture can sometimes obscure the very human toll of an epidemic or even dilute the urgency to act. We look at every one of our clients as a precious individual. Our work is focused on quality care for one child and one family at a time. Let’s consider some of the children we help every day.

The Real Children

The greatest heartache of watching children struggle is the knowledge that each child is brimming with potential. When that potential is fulfilled, the world benefits in uncountable ways. The converse is true, too. The world loses when children don’t grow up to thrive and contribute.

At Center for Child Counseling, we’ve helped children like siblings Jessica and Josiah, who experienced severe violence in their home and eventually witnessed their parents’ murder-suicide. Four-year-old Shawn was removed from his substance-addicted mother because he was living in dangerous conditions after a neighborhood drive-by shooting riddled his home with bullets. Four-year-old Raj, three-year-old Nicola, and two-year-old Titus were removed from their home after their parents’ overdosed on opioids. These three tots were so neglected that their little bodies were shutting down from severe malnutrition.

Of course, we help many other children, too. Children who are struggling to adjust to school or children who aren’t coping well with a separation or divorce in the family. We can help them all.

The Need in Real Terms

The greatest return on any investment comes when that investment effects future generations. Breaking the intergenerational cycle of abuse, neglect, and dysfunction that defines an ACEs household offers exponential benefits going forward. It results in stronger communities, a lower burden on social services, an larger tax base, and greater security for schools and neighborhoods.

“For us, fighting ACEs is a moral imperative as well as good financial sense,” says Center for Child Counseling’s CEO, Renée Layman. “A society that turns a blind eye to the suffering of children isn’t one we would want to live in…and if we do choose to live in it without addressing the issue, then we choose to rain down a storm of societal ills on ourselves and future generations.”

We Know Better, We Must Do Better

Rather than throwing up our hands and bemoaning the sky-high costs and devastating prevalence of ACEs, at Center for Child Counseling, we’ve chosen to take action.

We currently run seven robust programs through which we offer direct services to children and families and educate the community to recognize and address the issue of ACEs. While some programs receive full or partial funding through public agencies, grants, or government programs, there is a lot of work that remains sadly unfunded. In other words, we could be doing so much more!

Funding is needed to implement the full model of our existing projects like our School-Based Mental Health Program, which has crucial prevention and early intervention components. We need support to grow skilled, experienced therapists, ensuring that Palm Beach County offers cutting edge programs and advocacy that is based on best practice and evidence-based models. You can help us by taking a training on ACEs and many other subjects through our Institute for Clinical Training or by simply enjoying yourself at one of our upcoming events.

If you see the logic of helping very young children before they fall apart, or if the black-and-white economic argument is more powerful to you, please consider a donation or corporate sponsorship, As the year draws to a close, you have the opportunity to make a real difference in a real child’s life. Because beyond the data and the statistics, a little child is waiting, asking for help from a caring therapist who can undoubtedly make their 2020 a much happier, healthier year.

Sign up now for news, events, and education about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive emails from: Center for Child Counseling, 8895 N. Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33410. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email.

Preventing ACEs Makes Sense: Common and Financial

Kerry Jamieson Uncategorized

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has issued a report outlining what we at the Center for Child Counseling have long advocated:

1) ACEs are a social scourge that negatively impact communities, societally and financially;
2) Preventing ACEs requires a public health approach and needs to be funded; and
3) Early intervention is the key to long-term success.

The CDC were part of the first large-scale survey into ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). That first study identified ten childhood experiences that could be linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes later in life. These experiences fell into the broad categories of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction.

60% of Americans have at least one ACE but many people have plenty more, with one in six people reporting four or more ACEs. The effects of these cumulative experiences add up. “The more types of ACEs a person has, the higher their risk for negative outcomes, which will limit their opportunities their whole life,” said CDC’s principal deputy director, Dr. Anne Schuchat.

One focus of the CDC’s research involves the physical health outcomes experienced by people reporting high ACE scores. A score above four puts a person at dramatically increased risk of dying from five of the ten leading causes of death in the United States, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and suicide.

But these health outcomes are preventable, if we can focus on intervening in young children and provide positive buffers that can help mitigate the effects of ACEs. Preventing childhood trauma could potentially prevent 1.9 million cases of coronary heart disease, the leading killer in this country. Similarly, it could prevent 2.5 million cases of obesity and 21 million cases of depression. The financial savings for society in general are astronomical.

The CDC has identified key ways where we can use prevention tactics and a public health approach to improve not on the experiences of young children but the environments and communities in which they live.

These suggestions include:

  • Strengthening economic supports for families
  • Promoting social norms that protect against violence and adversity
  • Ensuring a strong start for children
  • Teaching skills including resiliency
  • Connecting youth people to caring adults and activities
  • Intervening when necessary to lessen immediate and long-term harms

We’ve discussed many of these solutions as part of our blog series on ACEs. You can read the blogs here.

Center for Child counseling has always promoted a prevention and early intervention approach when it comes to very young children. As the preeminent Palm Beach County-based childhood mental health agency, we believe the earlier we intercede on behalf of a child’s best interests, the better. We specialize in working with children aged birth to 12 (although we help families with teens as well). The CDC’s approach is one we’ve been advocating for years by providing children with coping skills, promoting stronger families and communities to support improved mental health, and by educating parents, teachers, and workers in other child-related sectors to be positive buffers in the lives of our children.

You can read the CDC’s full report, entitled “Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Leveraging the Best Available Evidence” here.

ACEs and Juvenile Justice

Kerry Jamieson Blog, Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News

Since the beginning, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the criminal justice system have been inextricably linked. The original 10-question survey acknowledged this by asking whether a child had a parent who was incarcerated. The effect of this kind of sudden loss on a child can be potentially devastating in the absence of a compensating buffering influence. But adversity and the justice system cross paths in many ways, let’s explore some of them here and discover ways in which we can become better at helping children with ACEs and those adults trying to address their own negative childhood experiences.

In the United States, there is undoubtedly a link between literacy and incarceration. 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally low literate. These are likely youngsters who have been struggling at school. Partner with that the fact that juvenile incarceration reduces the probability of high school completion and increases the probability of incarceration later in life and you can see that early negative indicators like poor social skills and self-regulatory difficulties (often identified as early as kindergarten) are reliable in tracking poor future outcomes. It seems depressing to be betting against our children in this way but the correlation between early struggles and ultimate incarceration are so clear that these metrics are, sadly, reliable. It’s our job to intervene and disrupt the pipeline of despair that moves children from childhood adversity to contact with the juvenile justice system to adult incarceration. We need to help children before they fall apart through prevention and intervention services and improved education for those working in the juvenile justice system.

ACEs Among Juvenile Offenders

By the time any child comes into contact with law enforcement and the judicial system, it’s highly likely that they have already experienced trauma and adversity in their lives. 90% of young people in the juvenile justice system have at least one extreme stressor and usually far more. In fact, juvenile offenders in Florida have starkly higher rates of ACEs than the population as a whole, according to a study conducted by the state’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the University of Florida. The study (“The Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) in the Lives of Juvenile Offenders”) surveyed 64,329 juvenile offenders, only 2.8% reported no childhood adversity compared to 34% surveyed in the original CDC study. That means 97% of them had at least one ACE. 50% of the offenders surveyed reported 4 or more ACEs putting them in the high risk category (this compared to just 13% in the original study). This data is incredibly significant because numerous studies link a high ACE score with chronic disease, mental illness, violence, being a victim of violence, and early death. When you raise a child with violence, they have a tendency to become violent. Fortunately, the same is also true when you raise a child with love and kindness.

Who Are These Children?

But let’s consider the children behind the statistics because all of them are children under the age of 18. Children in the juvenile justice system have committed offenses that range from vandalism and delinquency to DUI and drug offenses to more serious crimes like assault, rape, and murder. In the US, the most common crime committed by juveniles is theft. This can include shoplifting, robbery, burglary, and other property theft. There may be a tendency to think of boys as more prone to ‘delinquency’ but the percentage of girls in the juvenile justice system has increased over the decades, accounting for approximately one-third of all arrests.

These young people are obviously making bad choices but the ACEs they suffer from are not one of those bad choices. Their ACEs have been thrust upon them since birth. They have accumulated the trauma, risk factors, and toxic stress associated with high ACE scores. They come from troubled homes where substance abuse is rife, many have suicidal or mentally unstable parents, they are abused or neglected, they’ve witnessed violence at home and in their communities, and many of them have suffered the loss of a parent to death, divorce, or the criminal justice system. Often, their exposure comes from multiple types of interpersonal victimization—polyvictimization—but also from other childhood adversities (such as separation from their biological parents and/or impaired family relationships). In other word, these children have been traumatized from all sides before they ever commit an offense.

Without removing culpability for their crimes, it is important to consider the context in which those crimes were committed and how much blame can be laid at the feet of children for their actions. We’ve already learned that the human brain is not fully developed until the early twenties, making tweens and teens physiologically incapable of fully understanding consequences in the way a mature adult would.

The Current Situation

Each year, the United States locks up more than 130,000 young people under the age of 18 at a total cost of $6 billion, or an average of $88,000 per inmate. Currently, there are 70,000 juveniles living in correctional institutions. A study co-authored by MIT economist Joseph Doyle found that juveniles who were incarcerated for their offenses are 23 percentage points more likely to end up in adult jails later in life compared to those who were sentenced to alternates like counseling, rehabilitation, or community service. Put another way: 40 percent of kids who went into juvenile detention ended up in adult prison by the age of 25. Apparently, non-custodial sentences garner better results and it seems that locking kids up is just a great way to create future adult criminals.

Despite these facts, the juvenile justice system isn’t going away. Given that we know incarcerated kids are traumatized, at the very least, we need to work towards a more trauma-informed juvenile justice system.

What Exactly is a Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice System?
(Based on SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma-Informed)

A trauma-informed juvenile justice system…
• realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery
• recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system
• responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices
• seeks to actively resist re-traumatizing already-traumatized children

Some juvenile justice systems across the country are committed to this approach. They’re talking about parent and caregiver trauma, and how best to reach and engage families in the process. They’re also developing best practices in cross-system collaboration with child welfare, the education system, and healthcare providers. They’re trying to break down the barriers to ‘continuity of care’ while still respecting established privacy legislation.

Goals for the Juvenile Justice System

Here are a few steps recommended to help make the juvenile justice system better at managing and helping the children in their care who suffer from high ACE scores:

1. Make trauma-informed screening, assessment and care the standard in juvenile justice services.
2. Abandon juvenile justice correctional practices that traumatize children and further reduce their opportunities to become productive
members of society.
3. Provide juvenile justice services appropriate to children’s ethno-cultural background that are based on an assessment of each child’s
individual needs.
4. Provide care and services to address the special circumstances and needs of girls.
5. Provide care and services to address the special circumstances and needs of LGBTQ (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual/questioning) youth.
6. Develop and implement policies in every school system across the country that aim to keep children in school rather than relying on policies
that lead to suspension and expulsion and ultimately drive children into the juvenile justice system.
7. Guarantee that all violence-exposed children accused of a crime have legal representation.
8. Help (rather than punish) victims of child sex trafficking.
9. Whenever possible, prosecute young offenders in the juvenile justice system instead of transferring their cases to adult courts.

Prevention Would Preclude a Lot of Pain

No matter how sophisticated our juvenile justice system becomes, however, it’s clearly still better to prevent children ever getting on the path to incarceration in the first place. Prevention wins every time over the negative implications of incarceration for the individual and the cost, socially and financially, to society as a whole.

Every recent study on juvenile offenders strongly suggests that efforts should be focused on the early identification of ACEs and intervention to improve a youth’s life circumstances. This approach of intercepting the issue upstream will reduce the likelihood of criminal activities and the resulting impacts on the system.

Recent studies suggests:
• Funding primary prevention efforts like educating parents about encouraging a child’s brain development
• Making sure that health professionals are screen for ACEs at periodic intervals during childhood
• Educating school personnel on the signs and symptoms of ACEs, as well as the fact that maladaptive, antisocial behaviors often stem from
them. Suspending or expelling students from school may deprive youth of the safest environment they can access. In-school programs to
address bullying, disruptive behavior and aggression can help youth in safe environments while they learn regulatory skills.
• Ensuring that law enforcement and judicial awareness of ACEs will enhance the likelihood that the root causes of problematic behaviors will be
addressed with social and behavioral health services.

Prevention and early identification of ACEs will improve the general health of communities and reduce costs in medicine, social services, and criminal justice. Nancy Hardt, one of the authors of the Florida-based study says. “Development of educational curricula, health programs, and policies to detect and treat physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and substance abuse among youth has the potential to reduce their involvement in the criminal justice system.” She also acknowledged that increased primary prevention will require collaborative efforts and effective communication across health, education, and community programs. We concur!

Schools provide a unique opportunity for experts like the therapists from the Center for Child Counseling to make a difference in children’s lives since teachers often see emerging issues long before the before the criminal justice becomes involved. As Hardt declares: “It’s time for justice, law enforcement, healthcare, and schools to all get together on behalf of these children who are experiencing ACEs.”

Together, we can build our children’s defenses, despite their ACEs, to make good choices and avoid going down the wrong path to incarceration and all its associated sadness, lost opportunity, wasted potential, and pain. You can help support our unique prevention and early intervention model in schools by donating directly to our School-Based Mental Health Program here.

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The Issue of “Other ACEs”

Kerry Jamieson Blog, Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News, Uncategorized

The concept of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is based on the 10-question survey originally developed for the first large-scale study on the subject conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and insurance giant Keiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997. Using a purist’s definition of ACEs means we only consider the ten questions designed to identify incidents of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction that might cause the kind of sustained toxic stress that define adversity and have lifelong mental and physical health implications.
Specifically, the initial questionnaire sought to unearth experiences that included:
• Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse
• Loss of a parent/caregiver to death, divorce, or incarceration
• Substance abuse and mental illness in the family or home

Keeping to the original ten questions allows for the accurate collection of data, as it ensures we compare ‘apples to apples’ and generate clean results. However, being a trauma-informed and ACEs-aware member of society doesn’t just mean knowing what ACEs are. We need to become a kind of mental detective to understand what else ACEs might be. We must identify situations that could be traumatic and develop insight into what causes feelings of sustained fear and anxiety in a child. It’s a bit like the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. One is a narrow, clear definition and the other seeks to understand implications beyond the literal (often limiting) definition.

As discussed in an earlier blog, we know that it’s really the repeated activation of the body’s natural flight, flight, or freeze response that causes the damage that might result in issues and challenges down the road. This prolonged toxic stress in the absence of positive buffers is what results in developmental issues, so whatever might cause toxic stress should draw our focus, not a strict list of specific yes or no answers.

By now, we also have a greater understanding of the mirror issue of Adverse Community Environments. Children growing up in communities where socio-economic deprivation is prevalent are likely to suffer higher doses of adversity, so we can expect higher levels of toxic stress among children in areas where poverty, discrimination, violence, substandard housing, and general lack of opportunity, economic mobility, and social resources are common.

Along with generally adverse environments, let’s consider some other negative experiences that weren’t explicitly identified in the original study but which can clearly result in toxic stress in the absence of effective buffers.

Accidents and/or Medical ACEs

Most of us have had an accident or undergone surgery of some kind in our lives. While stressful, these experiences fall into the short- or mid-term, tolerable type of stress because we deal with them, heal in an appropriate time period, and move on with our lives. This is especially true if the procedure is scheduled and we have time to plan for it; stress increases in correlation to the speed of the onset of the incident/condition, the complexity of the issue, and long-term, unexpected consequences of the event itself. The same is true when a child experiences the absence of a parent/caregiver due to an accident, or when a child experiences an accident or unexpected hospitalization.

The original ACEs study identified incarceration of a parent/caregiver as a potential ACE. The creators of the study obviously envisioned the long-term implications of the loss of a primary source of attachment from a young child’s life, but it’s not just death, divorce, or incarceration that can remove a caregiver. A severe accident that suddenly results in the loss of a parent can be difficult for a young child to understand. It can result in a change of caregiver or even a complete change in the home environment, leading to uncertainty, insecurity, failure to securely attached to an adult figure, and the toxic stress associated with those events. The same can also be true when a child endures an accident themselves, or suffers a severe illness that removes them from their home, especially when it involves insecurity and long periods in a hospital or rehab facility.

Of course, millions of children experience these events and come through them unscathed thanks to devoted parents, skilled counselors, and caring medical staff. Again, it is not necessarily the experience itself but rather the absence of a positive buffer in the face of the experience that really counts. This is why it’s so important to ensure that experiences are adequately explained and properly processed by children. It can make all the difference between an experience that results in healthy memories of personal resilience or one that causes lifelong psychological scars.

Institutionalized Abuse ACEs

The countless sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the world over the past few decades illustrate another type of ACE that has plagued our children. While sexual abuse is included in the original study, the institutional nature of church- or faith-based sexual abuse adds a whole new layer of complexity to this traumatic experience. Often, the abuser is associated with goodness and virtue; in some cases, the abuser is a direct appointee or representative of God himself in the child’s mind. Intertwining issues of religion, deep trust, and faith with the abuse scenario is psychologically devastating.

The millions of suffering victims worldwide show how insidious this kind of abuse can be. Survivors may require highly-skilled therapists to help them work through the issue while still maintaining their faith (should they wish to do so).

Child sex trafficking is an established system of abuse (albeit a black market one) that occurs in every country. In some regions of the world, a very real child sex tourism industry thrives. This degrading and catastrophic abuse results in extreme and complex ACEs among the victimized children as well as the adult victims who have endured these practices in their past.

Culture-Related ACEs

Certain cultural norms are accepted in parts of the world but abhorrent in others. These ‘hot potato’ issues pit individual/religious/personal rights against the accepted morality of the dominant culture and are deeply sensitive. One example of a cultural ACE is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which is a silent scourge that affects 200 million girls and women in approximately 30 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It is a growing issue in western society due to increasing immigration. FGM includes all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The mutilation is performed, usually by unskilled practitioners with little to no medical training, on girls from infancy to +-16 years old and is a violation of basic human rights — undoubtedly an ACE. The “ceremony” itself is traumatic, often conducted without anesthetic, and the lifelong consequences associated with it can be devastating. The numerous physical issues of infection, difficulty urinating of passing menstrual flow, infertility, pregnancy and childbirth complications can start in childhood and last for a lifetime. The guilt, shame, sense of otherness, and silent stigma of FGM can mean decades of suffering for victims of the practice.

Child marriage s another traumatic experience that is most common in certain Eastern culture but also still entertained by some cults and splinter groups in the United States. These circumstances may seem rare but without a doubt they do occur and would certainly qualify as adverse experiences for children.

ACEs Caused by War or Unrest

Societies in turmoil expose children to extraordinarily damaging experiences. Innocent victims of war, unrest, riots, or corrupt or inhumane political systems (such as the historic period of apartheid in South Africa or the current oppression of North Korea) undoubtedly carry the wounds and scars of their childhoods with them into adulthood. Many have witnessed brutal crimes like murder and rape, the results of terrorism such as explosions and genocide, as well as torture and the decimation of their communities. Again, this may seem extreme, but remember that millions of children worldwide are exposed to these events. Increased global mobility and the rise in numbers of people seeking refugee status in haven countries for these very reasons, it is not unreasonable to think we may encounter children suffering the effects of these devastating issues.

Racism Causes ACEs

Some types of ACEs are very prevalent closer to home. Studies show that racism is a deeply affecting adverse experience. Children from many minority groups (based on race, religion, disability, or national origin) suffer high doses of toxic stress resulting from the prejudice and hatefulness of others. You can learn more about how minorities experience ACEs to a disproportionate degree in our previous blog on ACEs and Minorities.

Technology-Associated ACES

Technology is evolving at a rapid pace, often faster than we can come up with ways to protect our children from exposure to unhealthy experiences. There has been a movement to include bullying (especially cyber bullying) as an ACE, as it can be protracted, isolating, and extremely emotionally damaging. In the worst cases, elements of blackmail may be involved where bullies hold the threat of sharing inappropriate or damning images or videos over the heads of their victims. The suicide rate among young and very young children is often correlated to bullying. There have been cases of suicide by children as young as 8 or 9 due to their inability to cope with the intense anxiety and fear of being in such a situation without perceived adult support.

The onus is on parents, teachers, and caregivers to:
1) Be vigilant in monitoring their child’s screen time and online interactions
2) Make sure their child knows they are always available to talk things through no matter what the situation might be
3) In general, it is appropriate to complete a contract with younger children that clearly includes an agreement of how/when the cellphone will be used, that the adult will always have free access to any of the child’s online activity, and that there are consequences for breaking the rules. Kidsafe Foundation has some great tools on their website, including internet safety tips and ideas for phone contracts.

Another aspect of increased screen time is the possibility of exposure to damaging age-inappropriate and material. This could include things like films with mature content, violent video games, and pornography. Depending on the nature and intensity of the material, repeated exposure can be considered an adverse experience particularly if a child sees very dark materials on a regular basis. Bear in mind that predators use pornography to groom and desensitize young children and make them vulnerable to abuse. While adults have the developmental ability to process and assess extreme material, young children do not. Early exposure to adult material can have a host of potential mental and physical health implications later in life including guilt, anxiety, inappropriate sexualization in very young children, promiscuity or sexual acting out, eating disorders, substance abuse, and many others.

Unearthing All ACEs

These examples of other ACEs are by no means a definitive list. Hopefully, they offer a starting point for a new way of thinking about ACEs because childhood trauma is not limited to the ten experiences identified in the original ACEs study. We need to work under the “spirit of the law” to identify what might be traumatic and cause long-term toxic stress in a child, causing developmental delays, brain functioning abnormalities, and difficulties with learning, forming happy relationships, and being a positive member of the community.

As we practice using our trauma-informed radar, more and more examples of potentially damaging experiences might come to us. By understanding what could negatively affect a child in the long term, we can equip ourselves to provide the antidote. We can only be effective buffers against trauma if we fully understand not only what ACEs are but what else they might also be.

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Teachers as Buffers Against ACEs

Kerry Jamieson Blog, Fighting ACEs PBC, Latest News, Uncategorized

We give teachers unprecedented access to our children. We entrust them to educate our children but we also allow them to influence our children’s thoughts, attitudes, and behavior for many hours every day. Fortunately, most teachers are special, dedicated people who care deeply for the well-being of little ones. Teachers also have a profound opportunity to positively affect the life of a child with ACEs. For this reason, teachers can be powerful buffers against adversity and should have all the knowledge and support they need to meet this enormous challenge.

We all know that teachers are basically superheroes. Many of us have a special teacher in our past, someone who came into our world at a crucial time and possibly changed the course of our lives. Even people who don’t have fond memories of school acknowledge that being a teacher is a calling more than a career, especially since teachers are often considered overworked and underpaid. Teachers tend to give of themselves above and beyond what could reasonably be expected. The very best teachers sacrifice their personal time and money to give their students richer learning experiences. These caring professionals may sometimes feel unappreciated, but they play a crucial role in supporting our children – not only in their academic pursuits, but in their development as flourishing, fulfilled human beings.

School is a Pivot Point in a Child’s Life

A child’s first experiences, positive and negative, come from interactions with their immediate family members or caregivers. After the age of 5 or 6 (and often younger) a new area of influence enters their lives: kindergarten or school. At school, children meet peers and teachers. Adjusting to mixing with other children who are not siblings is a challenge even for a well-adjusted child. For a child who has not benefitted from strong family supports, it may be almost impossible. Their backgrounds have not prepared them for life lessons like:
• Sharing, fairness, and negotiation;
• Self-expression of emotions, creativity, and personality;
• Kindness and compassion; and
• Simply getting along with others.

Sadly, every year millions of children start their school careers with very little preparation from the home front. They may come from chaotic, deprived, or even abusive backgrounds. They are among the 20% of little ones starting school disadvantaged by at least two ACEs. This puts them at risk for mental and physical health issues and diminishes their ability (at a bio-chemical level) to behave appropriately and be academically successful. There’s no doubt that teachers of very young children are up against many challenges!

Teachers likely spend more time with young children than their parents do. They are uniquely positioned to identify:
• Children struggling to adapt to school;
• Children with learning difficulties like dyslexia, ADHD, and numerous other concerns; and
• Children with physical challenges like vision, hearing, or coordination issues.

So, while already tasked with a full load of teaching and testing requirements, teachers are also often responsible for the social-emotional wellness of the little people in their charge.

Why Do Teachers Play This Role?

Of course, teachers don’t necessarily relish this aspect of the job. Their primary assignment is to educate but many are thrust into the position of having deal with emotional and behavioral issues simply to maintain order in their classrooms. It can be a constant battle to ensure that the many children trying to learn are not disrupted by the few who are “acting out”. How teachers approach this juggling act is absolutely crucial.

Throughout this series, we have learned about the alarming prevalence of ACEs. The statistics show that every classroom in America has several children who are trying to cope with experiences that even adults would struggle with. These issues are amplified in neighborhoods experiencing Adverse Community Environments (the mirroring component of the Adverse Childhood Experiences issue). Schools are challenged when they are located in areas troubled by inequity, poor resources, gang violence, weakened social supports, high rates of unemployment, and poor maintenance of communal areas like parks, roads, and sidewalks. These schools, which would benefit the most from prevention and early intervention childhood mental health services, often receive the least attention. Their teachers may be facing the most daunting and complex problems.

Organizations like the Center for Child Counseling can make the most impact in these neighborhoods. Our skilled therapists are co-located in more than 30 schools (as well as numerous community centers) in at-risk zip codes but they alone cannot have as much influence as the numerous teachers working in those areas’ schools.

What is the Most Important Thing in a Classroom?

It’s not the behavior of the children, the number of students, or the facilities available in the school. When it comes to building successful children, the most important aspect of every classroom is the ATTITUDE OF THE TEACHER. Children are sponges who absorb words, feelings, and the atmospheres in which they live. They look to their teachers to provide examples and guidance about how to behave. The way teachers choose to respond to every situation with a child either escalates or deescalates that situation.

A child who smashes a toy in a rage can be labelled in a teacher’s mind as bad or naughty. However, the behavior can also be identified by the teacher as an indication of some intense emotion that child is experiencing. By avoiding the label of “bad”, teachers can decide to see this behavior as an opportunity to intervene and teach a great child who is full of potential! Accepting a child for who they are, even in moments when their behavior is challenging, means teachers can reserve judgement and avoid sending the message to a child that they are disliked, a failure, or simply a bad kid.

Attitude and acceptance work hand in hand to help build self esteem and resilience in children, and we already know that these qualities serve as antidotes to the adverse experiences they may be experiencing at home or in their community.

Special Care for Educators

Of course, all teachers were once children, too! Many teachers still carry the burdens of unresolved childhood adversity with them. They can bring their own pain, sadness, and insecurity into the classroom where children’s behavior can serve as a trigger that churns up past emotions. It’s vital for teachers to identify their own ACEs, what triggers negative feelings in them, and key ways to cope not only with a child’s behavior but their own responses to it.

We Offer Support for Teachers

Our training, designed specifically for teachers, offers practical, useful advice to help teachers become more trauma informed, so they can be the strongest possible buffers for our children. Society has assigned teachers a sacred role and we need to equip them to fulfill their calling to the best of their ability.

Our specialized therapists co-located in elementary and middle schools throughout Palm Beach County provide direct support to both students and teachers — a model that’s truly unique. Our approach offers prevention, early intervention, and targeted services for children while also creating a wraparound supports for teachers that build a positive learning environment throughout the school.

If you’re a teacher, or the parent of a child, ask for our training at your school. We offer basic and advanced modules through our Institute for Clinical Training. As members of the community, let’s support our teachers because they really are the front-line troops, the crucial buffers, against adversity in our war with ACEs.

Sign up now for news, events, and education about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive emails from: Center for Child Counseling, 8895 N. Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33410. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email.

Safari, Ltd. Delivers More Than Just Toys…

Kerry Jamieson Latest News, Uncategorized

A recent donation of boxes full of toys from Safari, Ltd. will make a big difference in the lives of children receiving Play Therapy at Center for Child Counseling to help them heal from trauma and abuse.

July 1, 2019 — Play Therapy is one of the most effective ways of working with children who have experienced abuse or trauma. Highly-skilled, specially-trained childhood mental health therapists, like those at the Center for Child Counseling in West Palm Beach, Florida, use toys to communicate and interact with children as young as two years old. “Play is a child’s language age and toys are their words,” explains the Center’s CEO, Renée Layman. “We use established best-practice techniques and we operate Play Therapy rooms at our Child and Family Center and in numerous community-based locations.”

Safari, Ltd. has made a tremendous difference in the lives of children visiting the Play Therapy rooms by donating a truckload of their toys to the Center. Since 1982, Safari has created hand-painted learning toys for kids — from dinosaurs, to wild animals, to mythical creatures. Their detailed models help children understand the world they live in. They fuel the imagination, promote creativity, and give hours and hours of playtime fun. Most importantly, they’re built to last!

“This donation means the world to us,” says Stephanie de la Cruz, Center for Child Counseling’s Director of Clinical Services. “Our clients use sandboxes to build scenes and tell stories; they use the toys to express their fears and show us situations and experiences. Toys are crucial elements in our work. The quality of Safari’s toys makes them both beautiful and durable.”

Many of the Center’s clients need financial assistance with their services. “Not having to outlay money for toys means we can use that money to support direct services for the children we help. That means more children will get the therapy they need to begin to heal,” says de la Cruz. “We’re so grateful to Safari for giving back in this way. Their gift will bring so much joy to children who, we believe, always deserve to be playful, hopeful and healthy.”

Abigail Beebe, Chair of Florida Bar Family Law Section, Chooses Center for Child Counseling for $5,000 Award

Kerry Jamieson Uncategorized
Courtesy of Capehart Photography
Representatives of Center for Child Counseling, Eddie Stephens and Lauren Scirrotto, accepting the award from Abigail Beebe.

The 2018-2019 Chair of The Florida Bar Family Law Section, Abigail Beebe, has selected Center for Child Counseling as the recipient of a $5,000 annual honorarium which is awarded each year to a deserving local nonprofit selected by the outgoing chair for their work on behalf of children interacting with the judicial system.

June 28, 2019: West Palm Beach: The area of family law in Florida’s courts present some of the most challenging and emotional cases in the legal system. Situations involving children and families can be sensitive at best and fraught with tension and anger at worst. That’s why the outgoing Chair of the Florida Bar Association’s Family Law Section, Abigail Beebe, awarded a $5,000 honorarium to a local childhood mental health nonprofit, Center for Child Counseling, which works to help children and families experiencing trauma and abuse begin to heal. “I wanted to select an organization that was getting to the root of what causes so many of our families’ issues in the first place,” explains Beebe. “Center for Child Counseling addresses adversity in individual homes and families interacting with the court system as well as social inequity in the community at large. They bring a special kind of compassion and commitment to their work and really advocate for the best interests of our children.” The honorarium is allocated to the outgoing Chair each year to be awarded at their discretion.

Lauren Scirrotto, LMHC, Chief Program Officer and Eddie Stephens, Board Member (and Family Law Section Member) accepted the check on behalf of Center for Child Counseling. “I work with the Center because I know the effects Adverse Childhood Experiences had on my life as I was growing up,” says Stephens who is an equity partner at Ward Damon. “It’s so important to provide children with positive adult role models that can help buffer the effects of this kind of adversity and keep children on a healthy path in life.”

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