December 2019

Receiving appropriate mental health care is crucial to healing. However, an enormous number of American citizens cannot and do not receive the care they need because there simply are no providers in their region to turn to in times of crisis. In this piece, we shall examine the statistics and costs both monetary and personal of the lack of mental health professionals in rural America as compared to living in or near a major city.

Children deserve to believe in a tomorrow. Children deserve to believe in love. Children deserve to believe in magic. Children deserve to believe in dreams. Children deserve to believe in joy. These are their human rights and our responsibility.

Alcohol is one of the most used substances in the country. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention , about 25% of adults 18 and older had at least one heavy drinking day in the past year. Unfortunately, this type of substance use can lead to a number of different problems for those who have problems with alcohol. One of the most affected areas of the body when it comes to alcohol is the liver. There were nearly 22,250 alcohol liver disease deaths in 2017. Alcohol...

By Ayanna Pressley , Monique W. Morris Published on Saturday, December 07, 2019 by Boston Globe Photo Credit: First-grader Khatona Miller, right, investigates a circled location on a world globe with other classmates August 22, 2000 at Chicago's Stewart Elementary School. (Photo: Tim Boyle/Newsmakers) The policies and unfair practices that disproportionately push girls of color from institutions of learning stem from deeply entrenched biases that require bold, community-based solutions to...

By Harry Burns, The Scotsman, December 4, 2019 Reducing the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) would be a better way to make society happier, safer and wealthier than building prisons, writes Professor Harry Burns. According to one newspaper, Boris Johnson’s response to the dreadful stabbings in London last Friday was a vow to lock up terrorists and throw away the key. The families of both victims have spoken about how dedicated Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones were to the idea of...

By Shanta R. Dube, Milwaukee Independent, December 5, 2019 Adult survivors often feel ashamed about and stigmatized for their childhood adversity. This makes it difficult to recognize that these events occur. While it is easier to turn away than to face these issues, we can no longer afford to do so. Stress, mental illness and substance abuse – all health outcomes linked to childhood trauma – occur in the U.S. today at very high rates. In 1999, I joined the Centers for Disease Control and...

By Emily Hanford, The New York Times, December , 2019 “Thank God for Mississippi.” That’s a phrase people would use when national education rankings came out because no matter how poorly your state performed, you could be sure things were worse in Mississippi. Not anymore. New results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a standardized test given every two years to measure fourth- and eighth-grade achievement in reading and math, show that Mississippi made more progress than...

“The children may not be fully focused on every pose (they are still kids) but they are still learning them. I think when the children are then feeling stressed or scared, the poses and breathing techniques that they learn during class gives them something to focus on and a way to calm and center themselves,” Sarah Piper, in intern for the Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative said.

Join the Family Trauma Institute for a free webinar this Wednesday, December 11, 2020, at 1 pm ET. Participants will learn how to use the FST | Family Systems Trauma Red Flags Checklist to prevent relapse.

Join the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative on Wednesday, December 18th at 10:30 EST/9:30 CST for this free learning opportunity highlighting the role of academic and community partnerships to address the effects of ACEs and trauma in a rural setting.

By Natalia Orozco, National Crittenton, December 5, 2019 National Crittenton is a 136-year-old national advocacy organization with a singular focus on the needs, potential, and power of girls and young people across the gender spectrum, centering those of color. The public education system has always been our best chance at having an early warning system that recognizes the complex context of students’ lives – ideally offering safety, support and opportunities for students to heal, learn and...

By Richard Besser, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, December 2, 2019 Next year will mark 30 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became federal law—first of its kind legislation that outlawed discrimination against people living with physical or mental disabilities. It was a culmination of decades of challenging societal barriers that limited access and full participation of people with disabilities. And yet in spite of the ADA’s passage, we still have a long way to go before...