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The 5-mile hikes, yoga classes and communal dinners are now routines for the residents at PDX Commons Cohousing in Portland, Ore. These 39 individuals (about half partnered but largely strangers at first) started forging relationships well before they moved in late this summer to join a trend called cohousing . “Here, you walk in and know every one of the people and you know them well,” said Steve Fisher, 63, a retired transportation planner who leads the weekly hikes. He and his wife moved...

The Department of Homeland Security announced this week that it would end temporary residency status for Nicaraguans. The decision comes amid an apparent bid by the Trump administration to return escapees of humanitarian disaster back to their home countries, a move that immigrant advocates warn could provoke humanitarian crisis. DHS's decision, issued late Monday, means that the government is stripping legal residency for more than 2,000 Nicaraguans. It has also delayed its decision on...

Maine will become the 33rd state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, extending coverage to as many as 89,000 low-income residents. The Associated Press and NBC News projected the victory late Tuesday. Maine is the first state to expand Medicaid during the Trump administration, and also the first to do so via a ballot initiative rather than legislation. This offers a possible playbook for health care advocates in other states looking to extend coverage but stymied by political...

Smartphones are re-shaping family relationships. Right now, as I write in a coffee shop, I can see a mom and dad captivated by their phones while their baby babbles to try to get their attention. I’ve seen parents use their phones as babysitters—and I feel empathy for them. Everyone needs a break, sometimes to connect with other adults or just to get some work done. But what happens to children when their parents’ attention is diverted away from them and is focused on their phones? Recent...

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt an ambitious plan to divert thousands of the county’s youth away from the juvenile and criminal justice systems, connecting them instead to a comprehensive array of supportive services. Speakers stepped to the microphones to declare their ardent support for the 78-page report, “ A Roadmap for Advancing Youth Diversion in LA County ,” which provided the framework for the sweeping strategy proposed.

I don't remember the exact moment--or day for that matter--when I realized I might be living with unhealthy levels of anxiety . It wasn't an aha moment, but a slow realization that this was no way to live. Life seemed like an ever ending battle and I deserved better. My family deserved better. Everyone is anxious from time to time. Speaking in front of a group, taking an important test, or meeting your in-laws for the first time are all anxiety inducing. There is nothing wrong with getting...

I recently wrote a Facebook post asking about sexual abuse and the link to obesity. I thought I might get a few messages, but was surprised when more than 150 people — including a few men — shared their stories. “I was sexually abused by a babysitter at age 5, and by my cousin from ages 8 to 13,” said Sarah Fitzsimons, 38, from Colorado. “I always felt like my parents didn’t do anything to protect me.” Fitzsimons says the focus in her family was the way she looked. She recalls being referred...

For decades, students at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas, have sung their alma mater at pep rallies, assemblies, sporting events, and other functions. Robert E. Lee we raise our voice in praise of your name May honor and glory e'er guide you to fame. … And so the times will not divide us for united we'll be Our Memories will bind us to Robert E. Lee. But not everyone cherishes the song. Joralen Mauldin, 16, a black junior at Lee, read the lyrics her freshman year and cringed. “It’s...

In June, the Trump administration hired Jerry Milner to lead the federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees federal child welfare funding and policy. The Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) was established in 1977 and oversees the Family and Youth Services Bureau as well as the much larger Children’s Bureau, which was created by President William Howard Taft back in 1912. As acting commissioner of ACYF, Milner oversees a budget of $9.7...

Devon Patrick Kelley was discharged from the Air Force in 2014 for “bad conduct” after being prosecuted for domestic violence and child abuse. But Kelley was not the only one guilty of bad conduct. The Air Force gave him a break, letting him avoid a more serious charge that could have put him in prison for much longer and would have given him a dishonorable discharge. He only spent a year in jail for a rage-filled assault on his step-son and wife. And it was not the first time he had...

Cissy's note: This article was written by the same @Claudia Gold who was the featured guest in one of our Parenting with ACEs chats . Here are excerpts from her article published in Psychology Today.

Every week, I wait for the cold steel bars to close behind me, for count to be called, and for men who have years – maybe the rest of their lives – to spend in this prison to come talk with me. I am a clinical psychologist who studies chronic antisocial behavior. My staff and I converted an office in a Connecticut state prison into research space that allows us to measure neural and behavioral responses. Recently, Joe, a man serving a life sentence, came into our prison lab. Before I could...