Friday, May 29, 2020

Don't Sideline Your Own Mental Health

For those of us working to prevent injury and violence, we often learn detailed information about the tragic and horrible circumstances of a person's death.  For our local Child Fatality Prevention System teams, reviewing the details of a child's death can be overwhelming and lead to secondary trauma.  As Mental Health Awareness month comes to an end, let's not forget to take care of our own mental health and practice self-care. 

The Safe States Alliance has released a new resource for data abstractors who work with the National Violent Death Reporting System.  The resources and advice listed are applicable to others, including child fatality review team members.


A resource for NVDRS data abstractors and others

One of the resources is a free, online Intro to Compassion Fatigue class.

Make sure to take care of yourself while you work hard to care for your community.



Thursday, May 14, 2020

Webinars for Your Consideration

There are a number of webinars happening next week that you might find helpful.  And in case you have COVID response fatigue, most of them aren't even COVID-specific!

Building community resilience: Addressing the 'Pair of ACEs' and preventing child maltreatment through a cross-sector approach

Monday, May 18, 11am
National Peer Learning Team on Child Maltreatment Prevention

The Child Maltreatment National Peer Learning Team aims to help public health departments engage with the topic of child maltreatment prevention by learning about successful strategies, exchanging expertise on how to elevate the priority of this work within the realm of public health, and leveraging necessary resources to advance prevention.

Reviewing drowning fatalities: Key questions & prevention resources

Tuesday, May 19, 12 - 1:30pm
The National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention

If you are on a local fatality review team, please consider attending this webinar, either on May 19 or once the recording is released.  You may also be interested in this related webinar from the Safe States Alliance:

Wednesday, May 27, 12 - 1:15pm

Recent data from Florida shows that childhood drownings have significantly increased over the same time last year, all involving children 3 and under—consistent with CDC reporting that the number one cause of death of children age 4 and under is drowning. The Florida data indicates a direct tie to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and parental distraction. Hear from national experts on the new data, the urgent need for federal resources to respond to this crisis, and what states and national organizations are doing and could do with more resources.

Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect: What's Race Got to Do With It?

Thursday, May 21, 10 - 11am
Transform Research Center

Dr. Natalie A. Cort, an Assistant Professor at William James College, will offer ideas about how to think and talk about race within the child abuse and neglect field, as well as solutions to grow diverse clinical training pipelines from which child-serving agencies can recruit and retain professionals. 

COVID-19: Legal and policy strategies to promote mental health

Thursday, May 21, 11am - 12:30pm
The Network for Public Health Law

What programs, policies, and laws are available to help those seeking to promote skills in self-care, stress management, coping, and resilience in their own workplaces and the broader community? Join this webinar for an overview of the mental health implications of COVID-19 and the role of laws and policies in the initial stages of the mental health response.

Columbia Center for Injury Science and Prevention Symposium: Science in Service to Safety

Thursday, May 21, 8am - 2pm
Columbia University 
Center for Injury Science and Prevention

Columbia University is offering their Annual Injury and Violence Prevention Conference online and at no cost.  There will be breakout sessions, roundtable discussions, and a keynote address by Louis Klarevas, author of Rampage Nation, on preventing mass shootings.

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Mental Health Awareness Month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  Today, we're shining a light on the importance of supporting fathers' mental health. 

Circle of Fathers

Fathers can get left out of parenting conversations.  A new Circle of Parents group specifically for fathers and male caregivers is a place for men to talk about the challenges and triumphs of parenting in a supportive peer environment.  Every Thursday at 5:30pm fathers across Colorado can join this group Zoom meeting

Promoting Fathers' Mental Health During Children's Early Childhood

Healthy dads support healthy moms and kids.  This short article from the National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ) highlights four strategies to support fathers.