July 2017

PLENTY HAS BEEN SAID about the fraught relationship between the nation’s law enforcement and communities of color. “ For People Of Color, Relationships With Police Are Complicated ” as NPR put it simply, but what about the relationship between white Americans and law enforcement? Specifically, why do whites seem to have so much faith in the blue? A recent Gallup poll found that overall confidence in the police has returned to its 25-year average after dropping to a record-tying low in recent...

With fuel-efficient vehicles and inflation on the rise, the federal gas tax contributes to a shrinking share of U.S. transportation spending . How states and cities make up the difference depends on where you are. A map from the Tax Foundation charts and ranks how far homegrown highway tolls, state gas taxes, and user fees for license registration, vehicle weight, and the like pay for road projects within state borders. While much of the rural West and South leans heavily on federal revenues...

The peaked wooden eave jutting from the facade of the charcoal glass tower is trying to tell you something. So is the neon sign over the entranceway that says “home sweet home.” But it takes a beat to realize that the light-box sign reading Urby is not for an upmarket extended-stay hotel. You’re supposed to live here. The new mixed-use residential development on Staten Island’s crane-studded north shore is the first in a proposed chain of apartment projects from New Jersey-based Ironstate...

Over half of the killings of American women are related to intimate partner violence, with the vast majority of the victims dying at the hands of a current or former romantic partner, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today. The CDC analyzed the murders of women in 18 states from 2003 to 2014, finding a total of 10,018 deaths. Of those, 55 percent were intimate partner violence-related, meaning they occurred at the hands of a former or...

Patients with opioid use disorder are much more likely than the general population to have a host of other health conditions, including hepatitis C, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. That’s according to a new analysis from health care company Amino, which culled data from the claims of 3.1 million privately insured patients between 2014 and 2016. It calculated the frequency of a slew of health conditions — from back pain to binge drinking — in patients diagnosed with opioid use...

Here's an excerpt from an article by Christopher Bergland. Genevieve Dingle of the University of Queensland School of Psychiatry , who is the lead author of this study, described the findings in a statement: "People with chronic mental health conditions tend to experience difficulties with emotion perception and regulation, which can have a big impact on their social relationships. These symptoms are not well treated with medication or psychotherapy . The findings of this study are exciting...

What a great thread of responses I received from around the country about a National Mandate for ACE Testing parents who show up for pre and post natal appointments. Yet, somehow we need to take this subject to another level eh? For all of us who understand the significance of ACEs...most of us are ready to climb to the highest point and start SCREAMING about the subject. It clearly affects how you look at the world differently. ACEs impact schools, churches, corporations, associations,...

The number of children and young people seeking help from mental health services has spiked in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in England, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP). Hospitals across the Manchester region have seen an estimated 10% increase in children seeking help since a bomb ripped through the Manchester Arena on 22 May , killing 22 people, according to the RCP. Mental health experts in Greater Manchester hospitals received hundreds more patients from June...

If there is anything to be learned from recent political events, it is that the public does not want to see corporations grow rich off of the suffering of families. Yet, it’s something we see daily in Texas. It is time to end the imprisonment of mothers and children who seek asylum protection in the U.S. after fleeing violence in Central America and other troubled countries. Family detention allows for-profit prison corporations to treat children as commodities whose imprisonment provides a...

Take the Golden Rule to School Rap You don’t have to be like me to be OK, I don’t have to be like you for us to play. Respect my person, I’ll respect yours. If we can appreciate our differences, we may learn something new. Treat me like you want to be treated, Ill do the same for you. (Ramblings in Rhyme by Dr. Ivy)

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you be kind to one another… The second leading cause of death in children 10-18 is suicide. What went wrong? What did someone miss? What could’ve been different? In this situation, a young person was led to hang themselves and attributed it to bullying. They were 15. They had found no value in living because it appeared to them that life had found no value in them. In the last line of the obituary, it read in lieu of flowers, the family ask you be...

Deborah Rumsey, executive director at Children’s Health Alliance, joins us in this edition of What They’re Watching to discuss building resiliency in families. [For more go to http://stateofreform.com/commentary/what-theyre-watching/2017/07/theyre-watching-deborah-rumsey/]