Community partners working together
to build health and resilience

May 2022
Community Meetings
PACEs* Action Alliance
*Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences
LAST MEETING:
  • Review of Safe Babies Court and opportunities to serve on the Active Community Team
  • Raising Clark County provider report and family survey
  • View the recording here

NEXT MEETING:
  • TIME: 9 am - 10:30 am Friday, May 13, 2022
  • TOPIC: Partner roundtable - bring your latest announcements, share about your organization, connect with others. Help determine the direction of the PACEs Alliance for Fall - Spring 2022-23.
  • Click LINK or button below:
  • https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81380890000?pwd=c25KZHVhL1pXZkdKNWxXVzhHSjdTUT09
  • Meeting ID: 813 8089 0000
  • Passcode: 691653
  • Dial in: (Meeting ID required)  1.253.215.8782 
All are welcome
Trauma-Informed Schools Workgroup
LAST MEETING:
  • Clark County Public Health presented the Raising Clark County project, including a request for support from partners to "get the survey out" to families. View the recording here.
NEXT MEETING:
  • TIME: 1 - 2:30 pm Thursday, May 12
  • TOPIC: Please join us to hear from Aaron Hansen and Chris Griffith, assistant superintendents of Washougal and Ridgefield School Districts (respectively), Debora Ortner and Paul Hamann, both TOSAs in Ridgefield, about their districts' equity journeys. We will introduce the HOPE framework from Tufts University and consider how it supports equity and resilience.
  • LINK - or click button below: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87413010400
  • Meeting ID: 874 1301 0400 
  • Dial in (Meeting ID required): 1.253.215.8782 
Safe Kids Clark County
Safe Kids Clark County has resumed their monthly meetings on Teams!

NEXT MEETING:
  • TIME: 10 - 11:30 am Tuesday, May 17
AGENDA:
  • Continue to discuss goals and projects for 2022
  • Update on child car seat classes
  • Safe play topics

Check product recalls at Safe Kids Worldwide
SW Washington Healthy Families
NEXT MEETING:
  • May meeting is cancelled
Community Announcements
Final Push for Raising Clark County!
Raising Clark County is a data collection project that aims to elevate the voice of people raising children from conception through the age of five. We are extending the original survey deadline past May 1 in order to include even more input. Please help Clark County Public Health and our amazing partners to give the Raising Clark County survey a final big push.

A variety of translated materials, links to the survey in multiple languages and more are available at https://clark.wa.gov/public-health/raising-clark-county . Please share this link with community partners and people rearing children in our community.

Survey responses may also be recorded verbally at 561.392.8131.
Warning:
Counterfeit Child Car Seats
 
 Counterfeit child car seats have flooded the market in recent years on Amazon, eBay, resale apps and deal-oriented websites. These fake car seats are a threat to kids’ safety because they are usually missing important parts that would restrain the child in a crash event. These fake seats have been known to actually fall to pieces in a crash! They are usually identified by trained child car seat technicians when a new parent takes them to an expert for help with installation.
 
At a recent Safe Kids Clark County meeting, representatives from Safe Kids Multnomah County said they have seen more of these fake car seats over the last year, and they want to get the word out. According to recent news articles, Amazon, eBay and Walmart have identified and removed some, but not all, of these fakes. A recent Washington Post article published details about the problem and included tips to help consumers identify and avoid imposter car seats.
 
Alisa Baer, a New York City pediatrician and CPST instructor, co-founded the Car Seat Lady, an advocacy and outreach organization on the topic. Her website explains how to avoid buying a knock-off and how to choose the right child car seat. Another important warning:
Do not buy used child car seats unless you know the person selling it and its history. A previously-owned seat may have been in a crash, reducing its protective capacity, or it may have expired.
The statewide “Nothing About Us Without Us” workgroup has reconvened. They are seeking people from cross-disability, underserved populations to join their effort to develop a bill for the next legislative session. If you are interested, please see meeting information above and click here to register. Please share with advocates, networks and stakeholders.
Learn the five steps that can empower you to help someone in need. Suicide Prevention Training on May 3 from 5:30 - 6:30 pm. Register here. Learn more at intheforefront.org/LEARN.
Speak up!
HCA survey on access to Behavioral Health Services for children, youth, young adults, and families

Washington Health Care Authority is soliciting input regarding behavioral health services for children and youth. Survey results will inform HCA's understanding of the challenges children, youth and young adults have when seeking mental health and substance use services and will influence HCA's work to address access and network adequacy.

Please share/complete the appropriate survey depending on your role by Monday, May 16. 

An incredible opportunity! Free Parenting Group for parents of children ages 2 - 5. Based on The Incredible Years Curriculum and sponsored by ESD 112, Washington Health Care Authority and Unite! Washougal. Tuesdays and Thursdays for five weeks starting at 11 am on May 10. Tuesdays in person, Thursdays online. Register in advance to reserves your space, secure childcare and lunch.
Fun! Friends! Outdoors! Skills! Safety!
Southwest Washington Police Activities League is sponsoring a Bike Rodeo from 9:30 - 11:30 am on Saturday, June 18 at Evergreen High School. No registration necessary. Open to kids in Kindergarten through 6th grade. Bring helmet and bike. More details here.
Knowledge and Resources
Learning Opportunities

If you read no other link in this newsletter, please take a minute to think about what researcher and author Suzanne Zeedyk has to say in her blog post on the PACEs Connection website about why our culture still doesn't appreciate the impact of ACEs.

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Trauma-informed schools know that restraint and seclusion are counterproductive and traumatizing. If you want to learn how to actually reduce and possibly even eliminate these practices, join Dr. Ross Greene and his colleagues for this FREE, virtual workshop on Tuesday May 10 from 10:30 am - 12:30 pm. The webinar is primarily geared toward educators, and will include educators who have successfully accomplished the mission in their schools. And it'll be recorded and posted on the Lives in the Balance website so you can refer back to it and make sure others see it. Register here.

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The ways health care providers communicate with patients is just as important as the ways they communicate with each other about their patients. Electronic health records are a vital tool in this process, but a new review of recent research shared by the CDC indicates that providers might communicate unconscious racism and bias in their patients’ history and physical notes, a practice that could compromise care. 

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Life Options Network is ready to provide assistance to pregnant and parenting families. Schedule a 30-minute appointment to shop at the Network's free store for baby and children's items by emailing LifeOptionsHelp@gmail.com or by sending a text message to 360-524-2480. Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 am - 2:30 pm. By appointment only.

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Practice the Pause is a beautiful website loaded with resources to help individuals and groups practice mindfulness and self-care. Created and generously shared by the Greater Columbia Accountable Community of Health as part of their Cope. Calm. Care. Campaign for Community Resilience.

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In his article, "How Nature Helps Us Heal", printed in Greater Good Berkeley, author Dr. Leif Hass discusses the role nature can and should play in helping to build and restore mental health and resilience.

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Should financial literacy courses be mandatory in high school? Read more of what Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has to say on the subject in this Learn4Life article.

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Suicide Prevention: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders will host a series of virtual workshop exploring the current scope of activities, gaps, challenges, and opportunities to prevent death by suicide. Links to register for each session available here.

  • May 12: 8 am - 1 pm PT. Suicide data assessment.
  • May 13: 8 am - 1:15 pm PT. Suicide prevention in indigenous communities - Part 1.
  • June 10: 8 am - 1:15 pm PT. Suicide prevention in indigenous communities - Part 2.

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Washington State Firearm Tragedy Prevention Network (FTPN) spring meeting takes place at 11 am Wednesday, May 18
Can a building be trauma-informed? Absolutely! In the article, Trauma Informed Design is Changing the Education Space, DIRTT discusses how TI concepts are applied to create a safe and inclusive space in today's schools.

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What's the difference between "empathy" and "empathic accuracy"? The answer may surprise you! Find out more in this blog post by Kognito.

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PACEs Connection has hosted a remarkable series of webinars on historical trauma, examining the topic from a variety of perspectives. On May 19, the series will focus on Historical Trauma in the State of Hawaii and U.S. Territories. Register here.

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A Fine Parent will offer their free online Positive Parenting conference May 17 - 24. To get the alerts and registration links, join here. These conferences are the real deal and feature world-renowned experts in the fields of parenting, child psychology and more.

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May is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Month

The following is shared with permission from Pathways to Healing (PTH) and the Cowlitz Tribe.

May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). But before it had that designation, it was simply the birthday of Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe from Lame Deer, Montana. Hanna was reported missing in July 2013. She was sexually assaulted and murdered before her body was found five days later.

Unfortunately, Hanna’s story happens all too often. Indigenous women and girls experience violence and victimization at higher rates than any other ethnicity.
 
Montana congressional delegates persuaded the U.S. Senate to pass a resolution declaring May 5 as the National Day of Awareness for MMIWG as a way of drawing attention to the need for ongoing grassroots advocacy and change to laws and policies, and increased allocation of resources to end the injustice of the high rates of MMIWG.

In honor of MMIWG, the Cowlitz Tribe has planned activities and events that are open to Cowlitz Tribal members, community members and tribal employees. . Traditions, inclusion and respect are all paths to healing and community resilience.

  • Monday, May 2: Yard Sign Awareness Awareness Activity. Join PTH at the Cowlitz Tribe office in Vancouver from 10 am - 2 pm to create yard signs for display at tribal offices or your home. Office location: 7700 NE 26th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98665

  • Tuesday, May 3: Red Dress Project: PTH will be displaying red dresses throughout Cowlitz tribal offices to represent the spirit of the many Indigenous women who have been victimized by violence, missing and murdered.

  • Wednesday, May 4: Tree of Healing Community Activity. Join PTH from 10 am - 2 pm to create a Tree of Healing. Write your message for healing on a leaf and add it to our tree. The finished products will be displayed through-out Cowlitz tribal offices.

  • Thursday, May 5: MMIW Day of Awareness: Live Zoom Event 11 am - 1 pm. PTH staff and Cowlitz tribal members will discuss the history of MMIW, the role of men in the movement and cultural impacts. They will pay tribute to Cowlitz missing and murdered tribal members. Click here to register for the zoom event.
Our coalitions and community groups
PACEs Action Alliance is:
The PACEs Action Alliance is a multi-sector collaborative of public and private organizations and individuals in Southwest Washington. We raise awareness about positive and adverse childhood experiences (PACEs) and their long-term impact. We promote trauma-informed approaches and policies to support resilience and healing for people of all ages. All are welcome at our meetings.

Four key functions served by the PACEs Alliance:

  1. Support a healing community through policies, systems and environments that create and support safety, inclusion and positive childhood experiences;
  2. Educate the community about the causes, lifelong impact, and ways of preventing and mitigating childhood trauma and toxic stress;
  3. Facilitate opportunities for community mobilization;
  4. Promote and facilitate cross-sector connection and collaboration;
  5. Collect, evaluate and share data that helps our community to identify and address root causes of adversity and to measure our efforts to increase resilience.

  • PACEs Action Alliance Learning Collaborative supports learning and awareness about childhood trauma and resilience.

  • The Community Alliance Network provides a connection for community-serving agencies to meet and connect for potential collaborative efforts;

  • The Trauma-Informed Schools Workgroup is open to people who work in or with schools in Clark County. We meet monthly during the school year to explore tools, resources and applications of trauma-informed principles for schools.
SW Washington Healthy Families:
(Formerly Clark County Breastfeeding Coalition) works collaboratively to improve the health of our community by promoting, protecting and supporting breast/chestfeeding so families have the support they need to continue infant feeding. Our mission is to create an environment that supports breast/chestfeeding as the cultural norm for infant feeding.

For more information, follow us on Facebook or email Yasmina Aknin.
Safe Kids Clark County
Safe Kids Clark County is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide a grassroots network of more than 600 coalitions and chapters that work closely with law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, health professionals, educators, businesses, public policy makers, and, most importantly, parents and kids to promote safety. Priorities include proper child car seat use, baby's safe sleep, reducing child vehicular injuries and deaths, and water safety. Local coordination provided by American Medical Response (AMR) Vancouver.

Faith-Based Coffee
Faith-Based Coffee meetings are suspended. Participants who want to connect with others, share information, and hear about opportunities to support children and families are welcome at meetings of the PACEs Action Alliance (see meeting information at the top of the newsletter).
Faith-Based Coffee has proven to be an incredible success story for our community, families and children. Our schools are extremely appreciative! If you are looking to support our local schools and families, please contact:


The Healthy Communities Newsletter is published the first week of each month.
To submit announcements or share information, please send complete information or attach a
high resolution pdf file to Cyndie.Grush@clark.wa.gov by the 20th of the month prior.
All submissions will be screened and may be edited prior to publication.
For other formats, contact the Clark County ADA Office
Voice 564.397.2322 / Relay 711 or 800.833.6388 / Email ADA@clark.wa.gov