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By Daniel Heimpel, The Chronicle of Social Change, March 18, 2020 On Thursday, March 19, Jerry Milner of the federal Children’s Bureau is teaming up with former foster youth and tech entrepreneur Sixto Cancel to co-host a virtual town hall inviting foster youth to contribute to the fight against the coronavirus. “Those closest to the problem should be informing the solutions,” Cancel said as he frantically worked to put the event together from a Los Angeles hotel room. “We wanted to create a...

Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities Claude Cayemitte, a clinical social worker and NARM Therapist, joins the Transforming Trauma podcast to examine how complex trauma impacts individuals from marginalized communities and how unrecognized cultural trauma can lead to misattunement in the therapeutic relationship. Using the NeuroAffective Relational Model as a foundation, and his own background as a Haitian-American male...

By Kriston Capps and Laura Bliss, CityLab, March 17, 2020 Back in October 2009, when fears about the H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic were at a crisis point in the U.S., Congress passed emergency legislation to boost the reach of the safety net. The law authorized federal food aid benefits to replace free or reduced-price school lunches for eligible children whose schools were closed for more than five consecutive days. More than 700 schools closed across the U.S. during the course of that crisis,...

By The Chronicle of Social Change Staff, March 18, 2020 For the past two days , The Chronicle of Social Change has been adding to a list of issues that child welfare agencies should pay attention to. We have locked that article, which you can access here . Going forward, we will continue to publish separate news pieces about the virus and its impact on youth services, and we will also aggregate our coverage on this running thread. Check here for regular news briefs, links to our stories and...

By Sarah Holder, CityLab, March 17, 2020 Editor's Note: On Wednesday, President Trump announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide "immediate relief to renters and homeowners by suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April." It is not yet clear what this means as no plan has been released, but it likely would affect only HUD-funded or operated properties such as public housing. On Monday afternoon, the Bay Area became the first region...

By Christine Carter, Greater Good Magazine, March 16, 2020 It’s chilly outside, but a summer—of sorts—has started in my household this week. My two college students and two high schoolers are home from school for the foreseeable future. There is both excitement about lengthened spring breaks (one high schooler) and real sadness (the others). And there is, of course, a lot of chaos and uncertainty. My family isn’t alone. Here in the U.S., millions of families are dealing with school closures.

By Simran Sethi, The New York Times, March 18, 2020 “Life is one thing after another,” Dr. Harriet Lerner, a psychologist and author, said. “And just because the universe has already sent us one big stress, it doesn’t mean we won’t be hit with others.” Dr. Lerner has spent much of her career researching the effects of anxiety and fear on individuals, families and larger systems. She has also managed anxiety in her own life (documented in her best seller “The Dance of Fear”). That makes her...

By Tim Herrera, The New York Times, March 15, 2020 You already know the rational steps to take during a financial crisis: Don’t look at your 401(k) or investment accounts. Don’t stay glued to CNBC or the financial press. And, above all else, do not panic-sell your investments. And yet: As Mike Tyson put it, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. A generation of investors is experiencing its first genuine financial crisis. For many millennials — including yours truly — no...

By Deborah Farmer Kris, Public Broadcasting Service, March 13, 2020 A few weeks ago, my eight-year-old daughter made a glitter jar for my students: “Tell them that when their brain has a glitter storm, they can shake this up and take deep breaths as the glitter falls.” We could all use some help settling our glitter right now. If you are feeling stress about the COVID-19 pandemic, your brain isn’t misfiring. Stress is a normal, healthy biological response to perceived threats and challenges.

By Ria Misra, The New York Times, March 15, 2020 The number of coronavirus cases in the United States is ticking steadily upward, and with it are Americans’ collective anxiety levels. But stockpiling massive caches of toilet paper and bottled water for insular forts will only lead to more shortages and more stress. Instead, the best way for us all to prepare is by looking out for one another. In collaboration with Wirecutter , a product recommendation site owned by the New York Times, here...

In this special edition of The 180 Podcast on the coronavirus, host Chris Riback talks with Pamela Cantor, M.D., Turnaround for Children’s Founder and Senior Science Advisor, about how to address the fear, stress and disruption caused by the pandemic. The massive change in the way Americans live, learn and work is the biggest problem for young people today and the adults surrounding and supporting them. So the engineering problem becomes how to create both physical AND emotional safety at...