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“Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world.” –bell hooks One of the most notable descriptors of trauma-informed care is shifting the question of what is wrong...

Educating the media is always an important part of maturing the conversation on important issues impacting the community. I thought I'd share in case any one was interested in this webinar designed to inform media about trauma and how the community can help individuals heal. I remember the way communities reference trauma, and the words used, was an engaging topic a few weeks ago. YOU'RE INVITED! Thursday, February 9, 2017 2PM-3PM ET / 11AM-NOON PT Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services...

Good parenting isn’t easy! As you can imagine, it was really hard for me in the beginning. To be honest, I was terrified. I had no idea what good parenting looked like. I just knew I wanted my kids to have a healthier, happier, safer childhood than mine. But I didn’t know how to make that happen. So I did the best I could. I wasn’t abusive to them, but I struggled in the emotional areas. I didn’t know how important it was to be present for them. Giving a child your total and complete...

Juvie Talk: Unlocking the Language of Juvenile Justice Richard Ross Richard Ross Photography 2016 271 pages “Juvie Talk” is a visual diary of juvenile justice, taking the reader on a journey to meet young people across the country who share their stories with a startling and refreshing open and honest dialogue. They speak of their parents, their siblings, their foster homes, their struggles and experiences, often with violence, abuse and drugs. They speak of their ambitions, their schooling,...

A bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed this week to overhaul Minnesota’s use of solitary confinement in prisons, including prohibiting the controversial punishment for nonviolent inmates, mandating more legislative oversight and banning it outright for those with severe mental illnesses. Minnesota currently has no laws directly addressing the use of solitary, known formally as “restrictive housing.” If successful, the proposals would mean a significant departure from how the state’s...

APHA 2017 ATLANTA - CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - DEADLINE FEB 23 The Mental Health Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) invites you to submit abstracts for the 2017 Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, November 4 – 8, 20017. Submit your abstract to the Mental Health Section here: https://apha.confex.com/apha/2017/mh.htm Our conference program supports the behavioral health field’s shift towards a population health framework. We recognize that stressors are experienced across...

In the race to dominate the child abuse prediction market , the world’s largest data analytics firm has its eye on what it calls “perpetrator” networks. SAS , with a global workforce of 14,000 and $3.16 billion in revenue in 2015, delivered Florida’s Department of Children and Families a lengthy technical report in August of last year. The report claimed that the firm had developed the strongest child abuse prediction algorithm to date by focusing on the many adults in a child’s life who...

Imagine the following scenario: A child is taken from her parents. When child protective services decides to reunify the family the foster parents object. They wage a fierce fight, but they lose. Sometime later, the child is dead. She was raped and murdered, allegedly by her mother’s boyfriend while her mother watched. Her body was packed in cat litter and stashed in an attic for four months. Then the body was dismembered and the remains dumped in the woods. Years earlier, a previous...

Colleges across the country are failing to keep up with a troubling spike in demand for mental health care — leaving students stuck on waiting lists for weeks, unable to get help. STAT surveyed dozens of universities about their mental health services. From major public institutions to small elite colleges, a striking pattern emerged: Students often have to wait weeks just for an initial intake exam to review their symptoms. The wait to see a psychiatrist who can prescribe or adjust...

Ageing is a global phenomenon and the pace of population ageing is faster in developing countries compared to the developed world. People over 60 years of age are projected to reach one billion by 2020 and almost 2 billion by 2050 representing 22 percent of the world’s population. The number of Bhutanese older adults (aged 60 years and above) is estimated to increase from 4.7 percent in 2005 to 11.2 percent in 2045, at the population growth rate of 1.8 percent. Improved health, economic...

Guest columnist Dr. Amy Jo Marcano-Reik, Ph.D., teaches on faculty at Baldwin Wallace University (her undergraduate alma mater) and John Carroll University. She is pursuing her M.D. degree through Northeast Ohio Medical University-Cleveland State University Partnership for Urban Health, and was awarded the Forest City Enterprises Scholarship. She recently published the book, Brain and Spinal Cord Plasticity: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Approach for Behavior, Cognition and Health.

As fears mount about a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants, a growing number of California school districts are trying to reassure students they will be able to attend school without the intrusion of federal authorities. Last week, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson again urged school leaders throughout the state to declare their districts “safe havens” to protect immigrant children. In December, he urged district leaders to use Sacramento Unified’s “safe...