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New research out of Drexel University finds that racism can be a catalyst for food insecurity. Released Monday by the school’s Center for Hunger Free Communities, the report shows that people who experienced discrimination firsthand struggled with hunger twice as often as others. When — or where — that discrimination occurred didn’t matter. However, food insecurity was more likely the more someone had experienced racism. [For more on this story by Aaron Moselle, go to...

America is facing a suicide crisis. A new survey on mortality and life expectancy in the United States, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that 47,000 Americans took their own lives in 2017—2,000 more than recorded in 2016. The national suicide rate has increased 33 percent between 1999 and 2017, according to the CDC's National Vital Statistics System data. What's worse, a broader Associated Press analysis of government records indicates that American...

This is a joint publication from Child Trends and the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families. Research evidence shows that children thrive within safe, nurturing, stable, and predictable environments. 1-3 For decades, this knowledge has underpinned several federal policies and programs that support family cohesion, stability, and children’s access to enriching environments. These include long-standing initiatives such as the Healthy Marriage & Responsible Fatherhood...

School nursing is filled with challenging moments, some are more emergent than others. Imagine this scenario: A preschool student whose family is displaced, enters school with no physical exam or immunizations has a seizure at school. The student is admitted to the hospital, and upon discharge, is released with multiple referrals to specialists and diagnostic studies. The family, undocumented and homeless, has no insurance. The mother's employer will not provide proof of income because she...

I was thrilled to engage in an insightful conversation with Bob Lancer regarding his seminar and coaching work related to http://schoolsupportmotivation.com/ and https://7mindsets.com/. Please join us as we discuss his role in:

How To Process Emotions

https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1487728/89BF794F37726508B0671C4362E3A2C5 With the increased awareness of the impact of trauma on people's lives, helping professionals are asking themselves, "What does this mean in my setting?" And although the language "trauma-informed" is common, program administrators and clinical directors are finding that implementing effective and integrated services in order to become "trauma-responsive" can be quite challenging. Join Stephanie Covington, PhD as she...

https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/1812951/8AC98B3B7964F5E9E4BAEFBAABA98D43 With the increased awareness of the impact of trauma on people’s lives, school professionals are beginning to consider what this means in their specific settings. There is a growing evidence-base documenting the impact of child neglect and abuse (as well as other forms of trauma) on the health, mental health, and behavior of children and adults. There is a growing realization that students across the nation are coming to...

Feeling overwhelmed? Wondering how you’re going to get it all done? Wishing you could just lie down? You aren’t alone. The holidays can be stressful. Often, there’s a lot to do and a lot to buy and a lot of people to see. Sometimes we get so busy we have a hard time enjoying events that we’re otherwise looking forward to. But we can make this holiday season less stressful for ourselves. Below are two tips to enjoy the holidays more. [For more on this story by CHRISTINE CARTER, go to...

President Donald Trump and Congress may be on the verge of passing actual bipartisan legislation that would ever so slightly ease mass incarceration — though opposition from some Republican holdouts in the Senate could quash the bill’s chances of passage as the clock runs out on this session of Congress. The bill, known as the First Step Act, would take modest steps to reform the criminal justice system and ease very punitive prison sentences at the federal level. It would affect only the...

When my parents used all their savings to send me across the oceans from India at the age of sixteen, they made the ultimate sacrifice of separating from their child without knowing if we would ever live on the same continent again. They did so because they believed America was where I would get the best education and have the most opportunity. It took me seventeen years—involving an alphabet soup of visas and the abiding fear that I might not be able to stay in my new home—to get my US...

Karen Murphy, who is principal at Free Orchards Elementary School where I work, is a champion of trauma awareness and is working hard to lead our school in the direction of trauma sensitive practices -and away from the policies & procedures that have historically made well-intentioned school districts part of the "pipeline to prison". One of her sayings is "fix yer face", which means simply to put a warm expression on your face, consciously and regularly.