Blog

As National Child Abuse Prevention Month draws to a close, we take time to reflect on how we protect young children and make new plans to move forward. The final report of the Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities seems a fitting, though sorrowful, place to start. According to the Commission’s report, between 1,500 and 3,000 children — three-quarters of them babies and preschool-age children — become fatalities each year as a result of maltreatment, ending short lives...

Pacific County hosts more than a dozen cities and towns, filled with a little more than 20,000 people, all of whom call Pacific County home. The backgrounds and history of each citizen is as rich as any other, their aspirations and goals have as much value as any other. With so many different stories to share the opportunities for community growth are endless. Imagine a collage of amazing opportunities that continue to flourish and develop around Pacific County. Washington Service Corps is a...

About half of certified farmers’ markets in Los Angeles accept Electronic Benefits Transfer cards, formerly known as food stamps. Now, activists are on their way to making that figure 100 percent, by force of law. L.A.’s city council has voted unanimously to draft regulation that would require all farmers’ markets to take EBT cards, KPCC’s Take Two reports . Advocates have long hoped such laws would pass not only in Los Angeles, but all over America. What may happen if they do? Some emerging...

This city that prides itself on being different has been experiencing a problem all too common of late. It used to be unique, people say, a utopia where people could get tattoos and ride their bikes everywhere and just be weird. Portland was so affordable, as the slogan went, that young people went there to retire. Then the city got “discovered,” people started flocking here, the tech companies came, and Portland became more expensive. Oregon has been the top destination for people to move...

Scientists and doctors say the case is clear: The best way to tackle the country's opioid epidemic is to get more people on medications that have been proven in studies to reduce relapses and, ultimately, overdoses. Yet, only a fraction of the more than 4 million people believed to abuse prescription painkillers or heroin in the U.S. are being given what's called medication-assisted treatment . One reason is the limited availability of the treatment. But it's also the case that stigma around...

Before I had a child, I only occasionally set foot in the many parks in our neighborhood. Now I spend so much time in them that I can tell you about every swing set, picnic table and unfenced patch of grass within a two-mile radius. Also the location and cleanliness quotient of every park restroom. A study published Wednesday finds my own relationship with parks is part of a larger trend: Urban parks in the U.S. are largely geared toward the young, with far less appeal for adults, especially...

A single question asked at an annual checkup — whether parents have trouble making ends meet — could help pediatricians identify children at risk for serious health problems associated with poverty and the chronic levels of stress that often accompany it. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges members to ask if their patients' families are struggling financially and then commit to helping them get the resources they need to thrive. And some communities are trying to make that happen. Since...

First thought when thinking about cultural competence, is the aspect of being aware of the cultural differences, backgrounds, and nationalities of this diverse world we live in. But how about being culturally competent in relation to being trauma informed? From what I have learned from Rosa Ana Lozada, CEO of Harmonium, is being trauma informed is not only about who has experienced trauma and the severity of it, but how each person reacts to the experience of trauma. Being aware of the...

Planners call them Accessory Dwelling Units—plus the inevitable acronym, ADUs. What they mean are the granny flats and in-law apartments sprinkled throughout cities and towns across the land, the finished basements, above-garage studios, rehabbed carriage houses, and other outbuildings on parcels generally zoned for single-family homes. But here’s what they really are: an instant source of affordable housing, if only they could be freed from extensive restrictions that cities and towns have...

On Martin Luther King Day in January—a day set aside to honor a man who fought against racial injustice— two black students at Boston Latin School (BLS) launched a social-media campaign to expose the racially hostile school climate they say exists at America's first and oldest existing public school. #BlackatBLS soon cast a spotlight on a string of shocking alleged incidents: from verbal slights that disparaged black students’ intelligence and identity , to classmates posting racial slurs on...

Although researchers are paying closer attention to mental health than ever before, our usual notions of healthy aging are still very centered on pathology—that is, diseases like cancer, diabetes, or hypertension. A new study suggests that, whether a person is healthy or not is a more complicated matter, and it has little to do with age. “Health has long been conceived as not just the absence of disease but also the presence of physical, psychological, and social well-being,” write Martha...

My sister, Katy, and I grew up in a family of teachers. My mother, my father and my aunt all dedicated themselves to educating, inspiring, encouraging and supporting each student who came through their classrooms. While I chose to go into public health, Katy followed in their footsteps and is a fifth-grade teacher. Many of her students experience challenges at home that no child should have to face. So in order for her students to be engaged in learning, not only does she need to know her...