Blog

Today, 200 Americans likely will die from a drug overdose. Most of them will die alone. The government's modern-day response to our nation's overdose epidemic has been woefully inadequate. Rather than relying on medical science, our leaders have been influenced by the same misguided approaches that undergirded the “war on drugs” in the 1980s — fear, stigma and racism. We need a smarter strategy that reduces harm and saves lives. This starts with prosecutors ending the criminal crackdown on...

In Florida last month, a 16 year-old boy was attacked from behind and beaten in a juvenile detention facility by two fellow residents after he came out as gay. Reportedly, one his assailants told the victim he “didn’t want a faggot” in the unit. In an essay for The Advocate last year, a queer youth wrote of feeling singled out, scrutinized, and harassed by homophobic staff in a juvenile detention facility. “We are already there for negative behavior,” she wrote. “We need guidance — not...

Only one in 30 children does the recommended amount of daily physical activity, new research suggests. Guidelines from the Chief Medical Officer say people aged five to 18 should do at least 60 minutes of "moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity," every day. Previous research has often used less than seven days of data on children's activity and created an average based on that. [For more on this study by University of Exeter, go to...

Texas’ southern border is ground zero in the nation’s immigration debate. We’ve covered concerns that the Trump administration’s family separation policy could have lasting traumatic effects on the migrant children separated from their parents at the border. A recent study looked at the health impact on kids who are part of families of mixed legal status, such as the roughly 1,800 kids in the Rio Grande Valley who had a parent deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year. Tania...

In America, we seem to have a limitless fascination with watching miserable people forgive their oppressors: We fetishize endurance, the survival of injustice. When I see this fascination trained on marginalized people who have survived violence enacted on them by someone in power, I often wonder what the point is. When the grieving survivors forgave a remorseless Dylann Roof , days after he walked into their church and murdered nine people, much was made of their forgiveness; it was written...

Climate change is an “ unseen driver ” behind the thousands of Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran migrants heading toward the U.S. border, one recent article suggested. Food insecurity and poverty in Central America come not just from violence and corruption but also from worsening droughts and changing weather patterns. And Hurricane Michael in early October, perhaps the most powerful storm to hit the United States since 1969, is another stark piece of evidence that our world is fast...

Massachusetts already has the nation’s strongest gun laws and lowest firearm death rate. But its lawmakers recently boosted the state’s commitment to an emerging form of gun violence prevention, providing $10 million for programs specifically designed to stem the bloodshed in communities where shootings are most common. Moved in part by gun-related tragedies over the past year, the state legislature approved a funding bill in October that included initiatives that seek to prevent...

PIJIJIAPAN, Mexico (AP) — On the 15th day of their journey, Joel Eduardo Espinar and his family were hurting. And they still had a country to traverse before they got to the United States. A little more than two weeks before, they had fled Honduras and joined the migrant caravan of Central Americans snaking toward the border. Now, they assembled in the 3 a.m. darkness by a southern Mexico highway. Jason, 11 years old, complained of stomach pains as he lay on the highway’s shoulder. His...

Introducing Forsyth County (North Carolina) ACEs Connection , one of the newest communities in Southeastern U.S. region , the geographic area I support for ACEs Connection. Forsyth County ACEs Connection is a team of community partners from all sectors working towards collaborative, intentional and integrated trauma informed care in our county. The new site manager for Forsyth County ACEs Connection is is Laneita Williamson, who is an inpatient rehabilitation compliance coordinator and a...

Introducing Rockingham County ACEs Connection , one of the newest communities in Southeastern U.S. region , the geographic area I support for ACEs Connection. KidsReadyNC-Rockingham Initiative seeks to engage the community in a conversation about ACEs to raise awareness of their impact in early childhood, and hopes to provide the community the space to develop an understanding of ACEs and a framework to support building resilience starting at birth. The ACEs Connection site manager is Daphne...

It doesn't feel like work when it's a passion, a calling, a soul-pull.

Here's what they tell you: Work hard in school. Love yourself. Get enough sleep. Say no to drugs and tobacco. Don't consume sugary drinks. Use a condom. Don't let yourself be pressured into sex. Accept your body. Get a career before you have children. Eat five fruits and vegetables a day. Breathe! Don't bully. Dream big. Here's what they don't tell you: If you grew up poor, there is a much higher than average chance that you will have children outside of marriage, and this fact, more than...