I use the phrase “the soup in which we live” a lot as a metaphor for the systems, environments, and ecologies in which we develop and live. I think it’s apt, as everything in a soup is in touch with everything else, either directly or through osmosis and diffusion. Many adverse childhood experiences are the consequences of children swimming in a soup that won’t be significantly altered by going to therapy once a week. In order to keep children safe, close the education and wealth gaps, we are going to need to take care of the families where these children stew. There are interventions that have shown to help children by helping families. What about the soup in which the families live? Paid time off, good jobs, addressing police misconduct are all things that can improve the meta-soup for our children. This recursion needs to be addressed as well. I hope to soon have a conversation with a family resource specialist as well. But, like any recursion loop, finding the optimum insertion point is challenging, so let’s at least start with robust schools.