May 2017

[For more of this story go to http://www.rwjf.org/en/culture-of-health/2017/04/boosting-a-babys-brain-power-by-supporting-parents.html]

As a teenager, Rocsana Enriquez ran away from home frequently to escape fights with her mother and sexual abuse from her stepfather. She got involved with street gangs and cycled in and out of juvenile detention. While she was incarcerated in Central California, she started to learn yoga. It became an outlet for her anger and an antidote to the deep insecurity she felt. Before she got into a fight, she reminded herself to take a deep breath. And she loved the way she felt when she stretched...

Some of the nation's top researchers who've spent their careers studying early childhood education recently got together in Washington with one goal in mind: to cut through the fog of studies and the endless debates over the benefits of preschool. They came away with one clear, strong message: Kids who attend public preschool programs are better prepared for kindergarten than kids who don't. The findings come in a report " The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects...

Stagnant state funding, rising costs and possible cutbacks in federal support are threatening the viability of California’s subsidized after-school programs, which serve 859,000 low-income students in 4,500 schools across the state. Besides offering a safe place for children while parents are working, after-school and summer programs provide homework help, hands-on science and arts projects, field trips, sports, social-emotional support and meals. The programs are free to parents of...

WHEN WAR HIT close to home, Veronica Mesiko Simon grabbed a few dishes and a bundle of clothes. With a load on her head, six kids and a mother in tow, she ran for the Ugandan border, six miles away from her home in South Sudan. And just like that, everything changed. Simon and her family became refugees. [For more of this story, written by Karen J. Coates, go to https://undark.org/article/refugees-benefit-their-hosts/]

The author advocates for a family centered approach when addressing the needs of at-risk children, and a screening process that broadens the scope of which children should be eligible to receive early intervention services.

(l to r) Sara Dodds, Office of Chief Social Policy Advisor, Scottish Government; James Redford, "Resilience" director; Dr. Michael Smith, Associate Medical Director for Mental Health, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, during Scotland tour of 'Resilience'. _____________________________________ From KPJR Films: On Thursday April 27th, hundreds of people from across England gathered in London for the United Kingdom premiere of RESILIENCE , directed by James Redford and produced by KPJR Films .

Gender differences in depression diagnosis and symptoms start to appear around the age of 12, a new study reports. "We found that twice as many women as men were affected. Although this has been known for a couple of decades, it was based on evidence far less compelling than what we used in this meta-analysis," said study co-author Janet Hyde. She is a professor of psychology and gender and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We want to stress that although twice as many...

Financial stress during pregnancy could increase the risk of having a smaller baby, a new study suggests. Researchers call this "pregnancy-specific distress." And it "includes concerns about labor and delivery, about relationships changing, about working after the baby arrives, paying for medical care, and whether the baby will be unhealthy," said study senior author Lisa Christian in an Ohio State University news release. [For more of this story go to ...

Hi Everyone! Our first monthly chat is scheduled for May 9th. I'm so excited. The topic is great and so is our guest. I hope you can attend. Cissy Location: Online / Parenting with ACEs Group It’s hard to know if, when and how to talk to children about abuse, addiction and ACEs. How do we find the right words or time? Please join Beth O’Malley , our special guest for the first in our Parenting with ACEs chat series . Beth has dedicated her life to supporting kids, adoptees, parents and...

What if focusing on the negative side of every situation could have a toxic impact on those around you, particularly children, much in the same way that secondhand smoke is harmful to those in the same breathing space? Would you change your perspective? Tom Lottman, senior director of research-to-practice at Children, Inc. points out that the comparison is not a stretch. Back in 1998, as part of a $206 billion dollar settlement, major tobacco companies agreed to pay for advertising campaigns...

Rizi Manzon is a teacher, so naturally, he has a lot to worry about: a stack of homework assignments to grade, a week’s worth of culinary arts classes to prepare for, kitchen supplies to purchase on his own time and dime. And the assorted crises, dramas, and anxieties of the 36 teenagers in his care at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara. But unlike most public school educators in California’s Silicon Valley, one thing Manzon doesn’t need to worry about is how he’s going to pay rent this...