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By Jordan Bailey, January 22, 2020, for Portland Phoenix ME In 2008, 21-year-old Brandon Brown shot a man in Portland’s Old Port. He was eventually convicted of attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault, and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Now Brown is poised to be the first person in Maine to earn a master’s degree while incarcerated, and may be the first inmate to conduct approved research on fellow inmates for his thesis project. Brown shot former Marine James Sanders, crippling...

The Water of Systems Change, an FSG article, aims to clarify what it means to shift the conditions holding problems in place and provides an actionable model for those interested in creating systems change. Through defining the 6 conditions of systems change and highlighting organizations that are shifting systems, the article explores: How systemic conditions perpetuate inequity and reinforce racism, sexism, or ableism. The critical need for foundations to focus on changing relationships...

By Evie Blad, Education Week, January 17, 2020 The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday announced plans to further relax heightened school meal nutrition standards created by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which was championed by former first lady Michelle Obama. The proposed changes won praise from some school nutrition workers, who said they would give them more flexiblity to manage tight budgets and the logistics of feeding students. But children's health advocacy groups said...

By Donna M. Vallone, Alison F. Cuccia, Jodie Briggs, et al., JAMA Pediatrics, January 21, 2020 Questions: How has the use of JUUL among adolescents and young adults changed from 2018 to 2019? Findings: In this nationally representative cohort study of adolescents and young adults, with 14 379 participants in 2018 and 12 114 participants in 2019, JUUL use increased in every age group but was highest among those aged 18 to 20 years and 21 to 24 years. Meaning: Findings of this study suggest...

Please give me feedback, episode two goes out tomorrow. Please watch, subscribe, hit notification button and SHARE. I so appreciate the ACEsConnection Community! Thanks, Dr. B-Leave A Lifeprint, Inc contact@drbconnections.com https://youtu.be/eMRBN3vmkWc

John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) invites you to partner with us in 2020 to support youth in care with filing taxes and claiming the expanded CalEITC. This webinar will include the California Franchise Tax Board and discuss strategies to help transition-age youth access the CalEITC. Description: In the 2019-2020 budget, the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), a cash-back tax credit that puts money back into the pockets of California’s working families and individuals, was...

Watching Marriage Story on New Year’s Eve was the ending I needed to witness in order to understand our own. Like Charlie and Nicole, we have history, we share a child, and we both want our child to be raised in an environment where she can thrive. While our similarities don’t stop there, the difference in how their ending started inspired me to follow suit. A mediator encouraged them to write a note of positivity to remember why they got married (together) in the first place. Here is mine:...

“Why do some children become sad, withdrawn, insecure, or angry, whereas others become happy, curious, affectionate, and self-confident?” It has something to do with emotions and emotional communication.

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press, January 21, 2020 Alarmed by a deadly new twist in the nation’s drug addiction crisis, the government will allow states to use federal money earmarked for the opioid epidemic to help growing numbers of people struggling with meth and cocaine. The little-noticed change is buried in a massive spending bill passed by Congress late last year. Pressed by constituents and state officials, lawmakers of both parties and the Trump administration agreed to...

By Carmen Sakurai, PsychCentral, January 15, 2020 What Are Personal Boundaries? Boundaries are the mental, emotional, and physical limits to how others can treat you, behave around you, and what they can expect from you. Not only do boundaries defend us from being violated by others, they help us to clearly distinguish who we are and what we need from other people and their needs. Boundaries are vital for our healthy self-respect and self-worth. Enforcing healthy boundaries allows us to...

By Erica Pandey, Axios, January 22, 2020 Nearly 10 million American kids live in low-opportunity neighborhoods, with limited access to good schools, parks and healthy food. Why it matters: Simply being born in these pockets put these kids at a stark disadvantage. The neighborhoods in which children grow up shape many aspects of their adult lives, including how long they'll likely live, how healthy they'll be, and how much money they'll make. The big picture: In a new report , researchers at...

By Juliette Virzi, The Mighty, November 20, 2019 Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have long been correlated with mental health struggles like addiction, depression and anxiety in adulthood. But a new analysis, conducted by researchers at the University of Manchester, found that borderline personality disorder (BPD) was actually the mental illness most strongly associated with childhood trauma. BPD is a mental illness characterized by nine classic symptoms, some of which include unstable...