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By Patti Neighmond, National Public Radio, September 1, 2019 Good news for the cheery: A Boston study published this month suggests people who tend to be optimistic are likelier than others to live to be 85 years old or more. That finding was independent of other factors thought to influence life's length — such as "socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors," the researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Harvard T.H.

By Jackie Botts and Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, The Fresno Bee, September 2, 2019 In May 2017, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors set an ambitious goal: enroll 70,000 new families in food stamps in two years. Home to the state’s highest poverty rate and a growing homeless crisis, the county was enrolling just 69% of residents who were eligible for CalFresh, the state’s name for the federal food stamps program. With full participation, the county would have been expected to gain...

One of the great things about writing about early trauma, is that I learn from all of you what’s working for you -- and what’s not. I get at least a dozen e-mails from subscribers every day, and I read what you post and I learn about those of you who have found success in healing, all the way to those who don’t even try any more. I also hear from people who are still trying really hard to heal, but they’re hitting a wall. Our community here may not be a representative sample of ALL the...

https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Health-Care/2019/09/02/Clear-link-between-childhood-trauma-and-substance-abuse-addiction-doctor-says.html?ci=stream&lp=14&p=1

Trauma lurks in the subconscious of our minds, activated when we feel threatened. In our increasingly unpredictable relationships and environment, some of us are exercising our courage to talk about this taboo subject and help ourselves and others understand, recover and ultimately prevent trauma by focusing on building healthy relationships with self, others, and nature. Elizabeth Perry invites Linked In members to join the international social transformation initiative.

I recently came across an incredible interview with Oprah Winfrey , a huge advocate for doing our deep personal work. This part stands out for me the most: " Most people don't know where they want to go . A lot of people are being driven by what they think they should do, what other people say they should do, what they have carried in their mind for a long time what they should do. But the most important question you can ever ask yourself is 'What do I really want?' Once you can establish...

By Mauricio Tellez-Sanchez, August 29, 2019, for Chronicle for Social Change California Assembly Bill 901 would instruct schools to refer habitually truant students in California to community-based organizations rather than juvenile court. The California State Senate will vote Friday on a measure that seeks to decriminalize truancy and limit the power of probation departments to work with youth who have not been charged with any crime through “voluntary probation” programs. Assembly Bill...

The 2019 Academy on Violence and Abuse Global Health Summit will be October 3-4, 2019 at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota . Keynote Address from Dr. Vincent Felitti : "Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Their Relationship to Adult Well-being, Addiction, Disease, and Premature Death" ACEs Connection Network founder/editor Jane Stevens will receive an AVA Change Maker award and give an address: "Origins of ACEs Connection and the Future" Check out the full agenda and...

By Melanie D. Janzen, Dawn Sutherland, and Kathryn Levine, The Conversation, September 2, 2019 As teachers return to school, they’re thinking about the students who they’ll be getting to know. In our province, Manitoba, there are some students who are becoming more prominent in the minds of teachers, particularly the students who arrive at school in the care of Child and Family Service agencies. Our team of researchers from the faculties of education and social work at the University of...

By James Densley and Jillian Peterson, Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2019 If you look at mass shootings over time, two things are alarmingly clear: The attacks are becoming far more frequent, and they are getting deadlier. We’ve studied every public mass shooting since 1966 for a project funded by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. Our research spans more than 50 years, yet 20% of the 164 cases in our database occurred in the last five...

By Lauren Rohr, Daily Herald, September 2, 2019 Brightly colored furniture. Toys and games. A support dog. A healing garden. The Children's Advocacy Centers in the Chicago suburbs are a stark contrast to the typical interview room in a police station. That's because they're designed to make the most vulnerable crime victims feel safe and supported. [ Please click here to read more .]

By Robert Samuels, The Washington Post, August 31, 2019 Cheryl Gray had sat through so many presentations about programs to lift herself out of poverty that she could practically recite all the advice. But the one she heard last November seemed too generous to be true. A nonprofit organization was looking to give 20 African American single mothers living in public housing $1,000 each month for a year. They’d be able to use the money in any way they pleased. “I could do anything?” Gray, a...