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This city that prides itself on being different has been experiencing a problem all too common of late. It used to be unique, people say, a utopia where people could get tattoos and ride their bikes everywhere and just be weird. Portland was so affordable, as the slogan went, that young people went there to retire. Then the city got “discovered,” people started flocking here, the tech companies came, and Portland became more expensive. Oregon has been the top destination for people to move...

Scientists and doctors say the case is clear: The best way to tackle the country's opioid epidemic is to get more people on medications that have been proven in studies to reduce relapses and, ultimately, overdoses. Yet, only a fraction of the more than 4 million people believed to abuse prescription painkillers or heroin in the U.S. are being given what's called medication-assisted treatment . One reason is the limited availability of the treatment. But it's also the case that stigma around...

Before I had a child, I only occasionally set foot in the many parks in our neighborhood. Now I spend so much time in them that I can tell you about every swing set, picnic table and unfenced patch of grass within a two-mile radius. Also the location and cleanliness quotient of every park restroom. A study published Wednesday finds my own relationship with parks is part of a larger trend: Urban parks in the U.S. are largely geared toward the young, with far less appeal for adults, especially...

A single question asked at an annual checkup — whether parents have trouble making ends meet — could help pediatricians identify children at risk for serious health problems associated with poverty and the chronic levels of stress that often accompany it. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges members to ask if their patients' families are struggling financially and then commit to helping them get the resources they need to thrive. And some communities are trying to make that happen. Since...

First thought when thinking about cultural competence, is the aspect of being aware of the cultural differences, backgrounds, and nationalities of this diverse world we live in. But how about being culturally competent in relation to being trauma informed? From what I have learned from Rosa Ana Lozada, CEO of Harmonium, is being trauma informed is not only about who has experienced trauma and the severity of it, but how each person reacts to the experience of trauma. Being aware of the...

Planners call them Accessory Dwelling Units—plus the inevitable acronym, ADUs. What they mean are the granny flats and in-law apartments sprinkled throughout cities and towns across the land, the finished basements, above-garage studios, rehabbed carriage houses, and other outbuildings on parcels generally zoned for single-family homes. But here’s what they really are: an instant source of affordable housing, if only they could be freed from extensive restrictions that cities and towns have...

On Martin Luther King Day in January—a day set aside to honor a man who fought against racial injustice— two black students at Boston Latin School (BLS) launched a social-media campaign to expose the racially hostile school climate they say exists at America's first and oldest existing public school. #BlackatBLS soon cast a spotlight on a string of shocking alleged incidents: from verbal slights that disparaged black students’ intelligence and identity , to classmates posting racial slurs on...

Although researchers are paying closer attention to mental health than ever before, our usual notions of healthy aging are still very centered on pathology—that is, diseases like cancer, diabetes, or hypertension. A new study suggests that, whether a person is healthy or not is a more complicated matter, and it has little to do with age. “Health has long been conceived as not just the absence of disease but also the presence of physical, psychological, and social well-being,” write Martha...

My sister, Katy, and I grew up in a family of teachers. My mother, my father and my aunt all dedicated themselves to educating, inspiring, encouraging and supporting each student who came through their classrooms. While I chose to go into public health, Katy followed in their footsteps and is a fifth-grade teacher. Many of her students experience challenges at home that no child should have to face. So in order for her students to be engaged in learning, not only does she need to know her...

For Baltimore’s Project C.O.R.E. urban redevelopment plan , the state of Maryland is offering up hundreds of millions of dollars to seduce investors into developing some of the city’s most blighted corridors. The challenge for those developers will be to find ways to ensure that new and renovated housing is affordable for low-wage earners. “Affordable,” however, has long-ago become an elusive target, especially in cities like Baltimore where both poverty and housing costs are out of control.

In 2013, for the first time, a majority of public-school students in this country—51 percent, to be precise—fell below the federal government’s low-income cutoff, meaning they were eligible for a free or subsidized school lunch. It was a powerful symbolic moment—an inescapable reminder that the challenge of teaching low-income children has become the central issue in American education. The truth, as many American teachers know firsthand, is that low-income children can be harder to educate...

Very rarely does one sentence have immediate impact on me. Very rarely does one sentence change the way I interact with my family. But this one did. It was not from Henry Thoreau or some renowned child psychologist. It was invaluable feedback from children themselves. And if I’ve learned anything on my Hands Free journey, it is that children are the true experts when it comes to grasping what really matters in life. Here are the words that changed it all: “… College athletes were asked what...