September 2016

The idea of free college is garnering more attention as presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton works the crowd-pleasing concept into her campaign stump speeches. It was a tenet of Bernie Sanders’s attempt to secure the Democratic nomination. And it’s a prospect that seems to be gaining broader support from families as college costs and student debt rise. This week, as he rolled across the country in a big yellow bus on his “back-to-school” tour, U.S. Education Secretary John King used a stop...

Children in the state's welfare system are being warehoused in psychiatric hospitals and emergency shelters hundreds of days longer than they should be in many cases because the agency does not have a place for them, a new report found. The highly critical review of Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services came from the state auditor general's office, even though DCFS did not track and could not provide most of the information the auditors sought, according to the report released...

One evening this June, I found myself on the roof of a bombed-out hospital in Aleppo. It was pitch black because the city’s east side is without electricity. My colleagues and I watched jets fly by, dropping bombs on the outskirts of the besieged region. Exploding rockets could be heard throughout the night. I’m a pediatrician in Chicago. But this summer, I traveled with two colleagues from the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) to Aleppo. There, I saw firsthand the way this war is...

People often say they couldn’t do my job. I frequently wonder how I do. There are times I dread going in, times I can’t sleep at night because I’m worrying about a patient and days where I can laugh and cry intermittently. Every day feels like a gamble working as a community mental health nurse, not knowing what to expect. Take Friday as an example. My diary was packed. Any sensible community nurse knows to keep this day as free as possible. With paperwork on the rise, I try to reserve a few...

Gail Kennedy , our own director of programs here at ACEsConnection, shared this fantastic resource with me last week. It's called: Trauma-Informed Parenting: Supplemental Resources and is available through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) . It was originally called Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma and as part of a workshop for resource parents in the child welfare system. Resource parents, I believe, are foster parents, adoptive parents and those doing...

Men and boys in the U.S. account for 78 percent of all suicides , 80 percent of fatal heroin overdoses , and 98 percent of mass shooters . While suicides , substance use , and mass violence show variation by race/ethnicity, but the dominance of men is consistent in all categories. I t’s time to amplify the conversation about social norms, when it comes to masculinity. In the United States, expectations for boys tend to center on dominance, control, avoiding weakness, and restricting or...

Long Island University Brooklyn’s decision to lock out its 400 unionized professors ahead of the fall 2016 semester is impacting students beyond the scope of their lectures, seminars and lab sections. Teachers and graduate students in the Psychology department said Tuesday that the administration has failed to maintain the campus Psychological Services Center where, under normal circumstances, students drop in for counseling sessions to discuss loneliness, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. The...

Heroin use and dependence have grown dramatically in the US over the last decade . Between 2002-2004 and 2011-2013, past-year use increased by 62.5% and abuse/dependence by 90%. And the demographics of heroin use have changed as well. Over a decade ago, heroin was less prevalent and more specific to marginalized individuals in low-income areas and inner cities. But today , use and dependence have increased among all demographic groups. Heroin use has also doubled among those who have...

A bipartisan bill to update the primary federal law that protects juveniles in state and local custody sailed through a key committee on Wednesday. The House Education and Workforce Committee approved by voice vote the Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act (HR 5963). The bill updates core protections in the law and gives states new flexibility to address delinquency and gang involvement prevention in local communities. It also includes guidance on preventing racial and...

Every so often, some high-profile event serves as a sharp reminder that America’s black and white citizens don’t always see eye to eye on questions of justice. Think Ferguson. Or, a little further back, the O.J. Simpson trial. We review the same evidence — but disagree about the extent to which injustice has occurred. In a clever 1998 study, the management specialists Martin Davidson and Raymond A. Friedman set out to investigate whether this perceptual gap manifests in less publicized, more...

Health leaders are challenging communities statewide to find creative, innovative ways to improve the health of all Californians. The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced the second annual Innovation Challenge from Let’s Get Healthy California, a statewide collaborative effort to improve the health of every Californian. Innovation Challenge 2.0 encourages community and health advocates across the state to share...

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced the seven communities selected to receive the 2016 RWJF Culture of Health Prize. The winning communities were chosen from a group of nearly 200 applicants. Honored for their efforts to ensure all residents have the opportunity to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives, the 2016 Prize winners are: 24:1 Community in the St. Louis area of Missouri; Columbia Gorge Region of Oregon and Washington; Louisville, Kentucky;...