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Despite what some pundits predicted, being elected President has not made Donald Trump fundamentally change his message on immigration: Just last week, the president-elect was pushing Congress to pay for his border wall with Mexico, which could cost (U.S., not Mexican) taxpayers as much as $ 10 billion . All this is an attempt to bolster his populist message—but it would be a failing economic policy. The reality is that immigration is a positive force for economic growth in the United...

If you live in Kentucky and want to work on a farm, run an HVAC company, or interpret for the deaf community, you’d better not have a criminal record. Those professions and more than 100 others have licensing restrictions in the state based on a person’s prior convictions, making it hard for even those with minor offenses in their history to get a job. It’s not just Kentucky—every state in the U.S. has some form of employment restriction based on criminal records. There are nearly 70 million...

You’ve had a baby—congratulations! Now, when will you be returning to work? For most parents, their answer depends on the arrangements they can find for child care—this is especially true for mothers, who, despite many changes to society over the past century, remain primarily responsible for childrearing across industrialized nations. The difficulty of securing daycare varies drastically country by country. In 2013, Germany declared that every child over the age of 1 has the legal right to...

There are some situations in which I’m literally unable to speak. I’ve been this way for almost my whole life due to an anxiety disorder called selective mutism. Selective mutism is considered a rare disorder, but the prevalence—which ranges from .03% to 1%—could be an underestimation. I was within the typical range of onset, which is children under five. Most often, symptoms become apparent when a child begins school. Because my family struggled with their own mental health problems, I...

Growing up in poverty exposes children to greater levels of stress, which can lead to psychological problems later in life, a new study suggests. Researchers at Cornell University reported that kids who grow up poor are more likely to have reduced short-term spatial memory. The study also reported that such kids seem to be more prone to antisocial and aggressive behavior, such as bullying. Poor children are also more likely than kids from middle-income homes to feel powerless, the study...

In October of 2015, in Dietrich, Idaho, a young, intellectually disabled black man was in his high school locker room with other friends, all white, on the football team. He thought his friend was going to give him a hug. Instead, the “friend” grabbed him and held him , according to a civil suit. A second boy, an 18-year-old, allegedly inserted a plastic coat hanger into the young man’s rectum. Then the third attacker started to kick the hanger, driving it into the victim’s body, the family...

Aided by a presidential initiative, the Casa Pacifica agency has doubled admissions to a program that prepares psychologists to work with abused, neglected and emotionally troubled youth. Brian Bantel, 33, is a member of this year's class. The intern from Arizona plans to specialize in the treatment of children who have been traumatized by abuse and neglect, a specialty of the Casa Pacifica Centers for Children & Families. "I do best with a trauma population or a lot of conduct-related...

We have finally completed our trauma informed education seminar. Scheduled for February in Los Angeles, Early March in New York and April in Michigan. We have put together an excellent review of current evidence based approaches, with specific, easy to implement strategies for developing and improving your trauma informed approaches. Hope you can make it!!

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is seeking applications for funding under the fiscal year (FY) 2017 Safe and Thriving Communities: Planning and Collaboration initiative. This program furthers the Department’s mission by strengthening community capacity to stem violence and reduce youth offending and victimization, improving the response to children’s exposure to violence, and enhancing public...

A survey of 2,000 U.S. physicians released in September found that roughly half believed they had met criteria for a mental health disorder in the past but had not sought treatment. The doctors listed a number of reasons they had shunned care, including worries that they’d be stigmatized and an inability to find the time. But they also voiced a troubling reason for avoiding treatment: medical licensing applications. After graduating from medical school, doctors must complete residency...

From banning conversion therapy for gay and trans youth to eliminating solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons, President Obama issued a slew of executive orders designed to protect at-risk youth over the past eight years. Now, advocates are worried that new executive orders will undo all that’s been done. “There were a number of very favorable moves that came out under the Obama administration and under his leadership. Some of those can surely be undone by a President Trump,”...

Susan Dreyfus, president and CEO of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, prepared this blog post on a recent journal article on ACEs co-authored by Jennifer Jones of the Alliance. The compelling issue of how race and income are related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) was examined in a recent article published in Health & Social Work , a journal of the National Association of Social Workers, co-authored by Jennifer Jones of the Alliance for Strong Families and...