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By Nehemiah Frank and Ezekiel J. Walker, Illustration: Alfred Waud, The Black Wall Street Times, February 1, 2023 During the Civil Rights Movement, Black Americans made lots of progress, but today many of those gains are being reversed. Ever increasing since the 2016 Presidential Election, right-wing extremism threatens the foundation of America’s civil society. The GOP’s newest target is an AP program, a college level course on African American studies offered to high school students by the...

By Allison Kelliher (The Conversation), Photo: Donovan Quintero/Reuters, PBS New Hour, February 3, 2023 Six and one-half years. That’s the decline in life expectancy that the COVID-19 pandemic wrought upon American Indians and Alaska Natives, based on an August 2022 report from the National Center for Health Statistics . This astounding figure translates to an overall drop in average living years from 71.8 years in 2019 to 65.2 by the end of 2021. [ Please click here to read more .]

PREVENTING TEEN DATING VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS FREE WEBINAR BY TEEN LEADERS FOR SCHOOLS WHEN? MONDAY FEB. 13 9AM-10AM INTENDED AUDIENCE: School administrators, teachers, social workers, counselors, nurses, ASB advisors, and coaches. JOIN TEENS IN THE LEAD: This February for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Teen leaders will be addressing questions and sharing insights about today's teen dating violence (TDV). How can adults and school staff better support teens? How TDV affects teens? How...

Today, HUD announced $315 Million in Special NOFO Competition Awards in approximately 30 states for 173 local homelessness programs across the U.S. These Special NOFO grants encourage coordinated planning among a variety of partners that include healthcare, Public Housing Agencies, other HUD-assisted housing providers, and people with lived experience. In the coming weeks, HUD will be awarding grants to an additional set of communities, as well as allocating housing vouchers to awarded...

Once the healing of hidden wounds from adverse childhood experiences has sufficiently progressed, attention can turn to developing a richly satisfying future. Your innate inner strengths, experiences, and acquired skills will help rewire your brain for a brighter future.

Life is hard. None of us makes it through unscathed. Unfortunately, though, some of us have a much tougher journey on this planet than others. Most distressingly of all, children and babies are by no means immune from the wounds that this world all too often inflicts. Indeed, for many children, trauma is not a future threat but a present reality. And these adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have a devastating long-term impact across all domains of a child’s life. This includes...

By Kelly Kasulis Cho, Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images, The Washington Post, February 2, 2023 Long-term exposure to even low levels of air pollution is linked to increased incidence of depression and anxiety, a U.K. study suggests, adding to a wave of evidence that fossil fuels may be negatively impacting mental health. Researchers in the United Kingdom and China followed nearly 390,000 adults in the U.K. for roughly 11 years and found long-term exposure to multiple air pollutants was...

By Sabrina Moreno, Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios, Axios, February 2, 2023 Public school districts that received a windfall of COVID relief funds for mental health services are confronting a new dilemma: How to sustain counseling, screenings, teletherapy and other programs when the money runs out. Why it matters: The youth mental health crisis is not getting better , and schools are increasingly being pressed into service as first responders amid rising rates of suicidal ideation,...

By Maura Kelly, Illustration: Mary Delaware, Harvard Public Health, February 1, 2023 The gun control debate always heats up after a mass shooting, as it has in the wake of the twin shootings in California last month. The summer’s mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, finally spurred lawmakers to action with the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act bill, the first meaningful piece of gun legislation in two decades. But the U.S. gun problem is still the world’s...

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is to protect both Māori and non-Māori. This post is to honour a father who lost almost everything in his pursuit to protect his children from harm and to ensure they accessed quality education because he loved them This post is to honour all fathers who are denied their right to be a father simply because they are men. New Zealand is a nation that is like a pendulum. We move between polar opposites. We can't seem to find balance. In days gone by, women were once...

Survivor Stories with guest Michael Skinner - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIcufSmFCXo&t=33s A thought provoking discussion and insight on healing from trauma and sexual abuse. Presented by Ask A Sex Abuse Survivor - Amplifying survivor voices worldwide "I attended this event, and Michael has a gentle approach to making sexual and physical trauma stories become meaningful and a source of hope." - Jacek_Jack Haciak

Here’s a thought. Kids who experience parenting behaviors and practices generally recognized as supporting the healthy development of children often grow into kind, responsible, hardworking, ethical adults who don’t behave in ways that harm themselves and others. Over the years Congress created policies and laws that are detrimental to public health. Now we are faced with the monumental task of changing those policies and laws. If Congress had been made up of people who had experienced...