There is another epidemic that existed long before COVID-19, and the pandemic has only made it worse. There are many names for it, but ultimately it boils down to one thing: childhood trauma.

Dr. Katherine Courtney and Dominic Cappello, co-authors of Anna, Age Eight & 100% Community on ACEs, childhood trauma and paths to solutions.

The United States faces unprecedented challenges, once thought to be something that only existed in science fiction apocalyptic films. We face public health and economic crises with ineffectual governments unable or unwilling to provide solutions. There is also decades of research into solutions for every one of these challenges, if only we could muster the political will to implement them.

“Parents don’t readily acknowledge that their kids might need help,” said Katherine Ortega Courtney ’03 MS (PhD ’06), co-director of Anna, Age Eight Institute at New Mexico State University, which helps strengthen health and safety systems across the state. She said children often ask for help first.

Dr. Katherine Courtney & Dominic Cappello of the Anna Age Eight Institute with Mayor Javier Sanchez of Espanola, on a Mural Project, 100% Community and More NM Counties Getting Interested in ACEs.

The Anna Age Eight Institute (AAEI) moved from Northern New Mexico Community College to New Mexico State University in Las Cruces in 2020, making its permanent home in the city and county as it develops sustainable childhood resiliency programs.

The Anna, Age Eight Institute helps find resources for those in need. In July 2020, New Mexico State University welcomed the Anna, Age Eight Institute.

Dr. Katherine Courtney & Dominic Cappello, Co-Authors of “Anna Age Eight” and Co-Founders of the Anna Age Eight Institute on ACEs and Childhood Trauma.

Dr. Katherine Courtney & Dominic Cappello, Co-Authors of Anna Age Eight and Co-Founders of The Anna Age Eight Institute, Discussing ACEs and Childhood Trauma.

Dr. Katherine Courtney & Dominic Cappello on ACEs, Trauma, Community Involvement and A Senate Bill (SB 30).

When New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham first announced a county by county system to loosen restrictions on public health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an interesting outcome.

The deaths of several New Mexico children in recent years—a 13-year-old whose father was accused of fatally torturing him; an eight-year-old who was kicked to death by her mother…

ACEs or Adverse Childhood Experiences discussed with Dr. Katherine Courtney & Dominic Cappello, Co-Authors of “ANNA AGE EIGHT”, “100% Community” and “The Attack of The Three Headed Hydras”.

The forces of apathy, envy and fear run everything, according to New Mexico-based author-educators Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello – from Fortune 500 companies to city hall to “your news streams.”

Give your love back where you get it. Publishing a book and pushing new ideas brings with it a lot of feedback, both good and bad. Her advice means to focus on the good, and that is a strategy that has really worked for us.

Dr. Katherine Courtney & Dominic Cappello on Childhood Trauma, ACES & Three Headed Hydras.

A Monthly Discussion about ACEs, Adverse Childhood Experiences, with Dr. Katherine Courtney & Dominic Cappello.

100% Otero and the Anna, Age Eight Institute released of a survey administered by New Mexico State University’s Center for Community Analysis. Funding for the survey came from Alamogordo Public Schools, Lisa Yehle of 100% Otero said…

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello with 100% Community announcements and discussions.

We have an opportunity to redesign public education to ensure the academic success, health and empowerment of every student. Our greatest failure would be ignoring glaring historical problems in the current systems…

Amid many lessons to be learned, COVID-19’s disruption of school asks us to pause and reflect on public education’s role in society, its strengths, weaknesses and capacity for reinvention…

Richard Eeds hosts the authors of 100% Community, Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello.

Food has everything to do with our health. If we eat right, we function better and we are healthier. If our food supply is threatened, we are in serious trouble. Every county has residents experiencing food insecurity, and some have segments…

On July 1, New Mexico State University will be home to the Anna, Age Eight Institute, which seeks to prevent adverse childhood experiences among New Mexico’s children.

The 100% Community Initiative brings together leaders from different fields from healthcare to job-training services to people in San Miguel County with the goal of creating a comprehensive plan to create a thriving community….

June 2020: Richard Eeds interviews the authors of Anna, Age Eight, Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello.

As a state senator, public school educator and father, I have my priorities clear. They have become even clearer and more urgent with the events of the past months: COVID-19, the economic disruption, and the killing of an unarmed black man. My priorities are…

The new book, 100% Community: Ensuring 10 Vital Services For Surviving, shows how to build county-based systems that ensure well being for all their residents. We speak with authors Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello…

A book fell into my life that took all my ideas about keeping my patients healthy and focused them like a laser beam into a framework for action. The book, “100% Community,” spoke to me in a very deep way and I was literally catapulted into an all-consuming project that I consider a groundbreaking initiative…

What gives me hope is that this pandemic has provided an opportunity for people to reflect and reprioritize. Many of us have now seen just how much of our lives were “extra” and how much time…

Every day I hear from heroes committed to social justice and working to create cities, towns, and communities where all residents have access to the vital services that provide health, safety, and training for jobs that align with the future job market…

What gives me hope is that this pandemic has provided an opportunity for people to reflect and reprioritize. Many of us have now seen just how much of our lives were “extra” and how much time and money we would spend in normal times on things that really don’t matter.

Every day I hear from heroes committed to social justice and working to create cities, towns, and communities where all residents have access to the vital services that provide health, safety, and training for jobs that align with the future job market…

This Impact! Live Listening and Learning Session is a collaborative web-based community leader and stakeholder education effort between Matt Probst, PA-C and Michelle Rathman, President and CEO of Impact! Communications, Inc., and host of Rural Matters Podcast.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought heartache and pain to all.  In New Mexico alone, cases of COVID-19 have exceeded 6,000, with nearly 300 fatalities and close to 2,000 cases officially designated as recovered.

Michelle chats with Matt Probst, PA-C, the medical director of El Centro Family Health serving northern New Mexico, which was featured in the documentary, The Providers, and who is currently serving as the 100% Community San Miguel County community organizer.

Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney is back, this time with Dominic Cappello, co-directors of the Anna Age Eight Institute. Both guests are long-time advocates for childhood safety and health, working within the system. They’re very much about data-driven solutions for such things as childhood trauma, adverse childhood experiences…

What does it take to ensure that every family and community member has food, safe shelter, and timely medical care? Dom Cappello and Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney, co-founders of the Anna, Age Eight Institute, share their process for working with counties to ensure just that.

Richard Eeds interviews the authors of Anna, Age Eight, Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello.

Even as COVID-19 stay-at-home orders are causing unintended spikes in child abuse and domestic violence, Las Cruces and the state of New Mexico continue as national leaders in the fight against these and other adverse childhood experiences…

As the entire country struggles to react to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the top responses has come from one of the most unlikely sources, right here in San Miguel County.

Social distancing radio with Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello on The Richard Eeds Show.

With some time to kill the day before the 2018 Thanksgiving break, William Soules, a math and social studies teacher at Oñate High School in Las Cruces, N.M., taught a group of about 30 advanced placement psychology students about Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs…

Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello’s constructive and pragmatic “Anna” steps to address basic New Mexico community problems (“We can be the nation’s most family-friendly state,” My View, Feb. 23).

Richard Eeds interviews Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello on ACEs and the Anna, Age Eight Institute.

All states want to be family-friendly. It’s an easy slogan to adopt but a much harder reality to arrive at. All states have in common is a long list of challenges that many families face daily.

As the 2020 legislative session continues and your legislators begin the task of hammering out the budget and addressing the many priority issues around the state, I would like to draw attention to the needs of our most important constituents — the children of New Mexico.

Katherine and Dom join Senator Bill Soules on The Richard Eeds Show to discuss Anna, Age Eight and ACEs.

Childhood trauma takes a multitude of forms–physical, emotional and sexual abuse, divorce, neglect, poverty, substance abuse and many other examples create adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs.

Imagine you’re a state or local elected official, committed to the people who voted you into civic duty. A child neglect case hits the headlines and, soon after, a little girl dies of abuse in your district. You’ve been reminded, in the saddest way possible…

As of Sept. 1, there have been more mass shootings in the United States than days in the year. After every publicized incident, we are all left wondering what we can do. We hear the same calls each time – “thoughts and prayers,” “only a good guy with a gun,” background checks…

Richard Eeds interviews the authors of Anna, Age Eight, Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello.

A group of concerned educators, elected officials and health care workers met last week at City Hall to discuss working together to combat adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the community. Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events occurring before age 18…

How can the fruits of Silicon Valley high tech be used to keep our children safe? Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney’s new book, “Anna, Age Eight,” is about how to prevent child abuse and trauma by improving the systems within social services, government and private agencies, and getting them to share data.

Last year, after a young man shot up Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, Las Cruces Public Schools added security guards to its elementary schools.

Doña Ana County residents should take 10 minutes to share experiences and contribute input that could improve the family services available to them, the city said in a news release Wednesday.

Dominic Cappello, New York Times best-selling author, Oprah Winfrey guest, and co-author of the groundbreaking book Anna, Age Eight, will address the crowd of business and community leaders this…

One in eight children experience ill-treatment. Of those, over half that are reported to law enforcement are screened out. Of those that are investigated, between 20 to 40 percent are actually substantiated…