Psychologists find violence and trauma in childhood accelerate puberty Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite, Harvard Staff Writer August 3, 2020 Experiencing adversity early in life has a direct effect on a person’s mental and physical health as they grow, and certain kinds of trauma can affect the pace of aging, according to new Harvard research. In addition to being risk factors for anxiety, depression, and stress, early life experiences like poverty, neglect, and violence are powerful predictors...

Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: One-Pager

From Get Healthy San Mateo County: The combination of the public health crisis and economic downturn has put significant strains on local jurisdictions’ budgets. These challenges have also brought to the forefront and exacerbated existing inequities among different races and ethnicities in our community, carrying disproportionate impacts for Blacks, Pacific Islander and Latinx residents. As jurisdictions continue to face challenges caused by COVID-19 and the economic recession, there is a...

We are excited to announce our new brief jointly released by BARHII and the Public Health Alliance of Southern California titled “ Embedding Equity into Emergency Operations: Strategies for Local Health Departments During COVID-19 & Beyond. ” The brief outlines case studies, resources, and priority recommendations that counties and cities can take to explicitly and intentionally embed equity staff and practices into their emergency operations structures and throughout the public health...

By Clare Lombardo Aug 1 In any ordinary school year, school nurses are busy. This year, that's an understatement. "Our role has expanded tenfold," says Eileen Gavin, who co-leads a team of nurses for Middletown Township Public Schools in New Jersey. She and school nurses across the country face an unenviable and unprecedented task: caring for students and staff during a global pandemic. "We were at the front line of COVID-19 before the stay at home orders were put into place," says Gloria...

Peniel Joseph, one of the nation’s leading civil rights scholars, has studied and written about the history of race and democracy. He has some ideas on how cities and urban areas can begin to dismantle racism. CARL SMITH, SENIOR STAFF WRITER | JULY 23, 2020 Peniel E. Joseph, Ph.D ., is the founder of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a joint professorship in the LBJ School of Public Affairs, as the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and...

About the study These findings are from an online poll conducted by LeanIn.Org and SurveyMonkey between June 19, 2020, and June 25, 2020. Our sample consists of approximately 7,400 U.S. adults ages 18 and over. Unless otherwise noted, the findings reflect responses from people who were either employed or temporarily furloughed at the time of the survey. Most white employees see themselves as allies to people of color at work When “allyship” is defined as “using one’s power or position to...

Playworks believes in a trauma-sensitive approach Educators should focus on providing a trauma-sensitive approach to the reopening of school. Students are all having different experiences right now. For some students, the shutdown of schools due to COVID has provided them with a welcome reprieve from toxic situations or stressors. For others, it has created an increased chance that they’re experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences or new stressors. “A trauma-sensitive school is one in which...

Brandon Stratford July 28, 2020 Regardless of whether students return to school in person or via distance learning , education leaders and policymakers across the country must equip schools to address the social, emotional, and behavioral effects of the ongoing pandemic. To address these issues, many policymakers are turning to school-based mental health services as a key strategy for supporting student wellness. Although mental health services are a critical, often underfunded element of...

Immigrant Relief Funds Available Now – San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Sobrato Foundation and other foundations have pooled funding to support immigrant families access funding to make ends meet given how challenging this time continues to be. The program is offering up to $1,000 for eligible households. The eligibility criteria include: 1) your household has lost income due to Covid-19, and , 2) you’re not eligible for the federal CAREs funds because of immigration status, and 3) you...

By Neil Paine and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux For the past few months, Alicia Wertz has barely seen her husband. Since schools closed in their northern Alabama town in March, they’ve been single-mindedly focused on a single goal: making sure that someone was watching their three kids. At first, Wertz tried working from home. But she wasn’t getting anything done, so they tried splitting the hours: Wertz’s husband watches the children in the morning, then a sitter comes to relieve him in the...

Developed by the National Resource Center for Patient/Family-Centered Medical Home, in partnership with the National Academy for State Health Policy, this fact sheet series discusses social determinants of health (SDoH) screening and referrals for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families. Opportunities for collaboration and partnership between Medicaid, Title V Maternal and Child Health / CYSHCN programs, and pediatricians are discussed. State-level case...