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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to declare “racism a public health crisis,” passing policies to combat racism locally and create equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chair Nathan Fletcher and Vice Chair Nora Vargas introduced the resolution to address systemic racism last week. "In declaring racism as a public health crisis, we are acknowledging that racism underpins the health inequities throughout the region," said Fletcher. According to the supervisors,...

A national, ongoing survey explores deep-rooted views of those with low and middle incomes, with a focus on people of color, on health, equity and race. COVID-19 has upended the lives of people living in the United States, but some groups are facing more challenges than others. This ongoing survey from RAND Corporation attempts to understand the views and values of those who are most at risk to the adverse impacts of COVID-19 by surveying people with lower and middle incomes with a focus on...

By Ashley Burnside, The Center for Law and Social Policy, January 6, 2021 The latest COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress will allow college students with low incomes to more easily access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits – temporarily removing strict work and eligibility requirements for students. This is especially important given that unemployment rates are high, especially in the restaurant and entertainment sectors, and that many students are learning...

By Jessica Pryce and Amelia Franck Meyer, The Imprint, January 4, 2021 Although child welfare reform has been a topic of conversation for many years, what is often meant by “reform” is evolutionary or incremental change, which are efforts to make the current system better, but not fundamentally different. But many systems leaders who operate significantly improved versions of the current system agree that it still falls short of meeting the needs of families. The Biden administration...

While the 5,000-page $900 billion COVID Relief Bill ( H.R. 133, Div. M and N) fell short on some fronts (e.g., did not provide direct fiscal relief to cash-strapped states and localities), it does provide $82 billion in Education Stabilization Funds for states, school districts, and higher education institutions—crucial support for education as students return to school after the holiday. Funding of this magnitude makes a trauma-informed COVID response possible, giving advocates the...

Ernest Skelton, an appliance technician, was answering a routine call to Caroline Brock’s home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when they shared a conversation about racial inequality that would resonate across the U.S. and around the world. During his visit, Brock ventured to ask Skelton how he was doing. At first, he thought she was talking about the coronavirus, but she specified that she was curious about his experience as a Black man in the U.S. She posted about their interaction on...

A group of police chiefs, activists and policymakers gathered to debate how to reform law enforcement in America in a time of unrest and upheaval. The topic of police reform became a matter of popular debate, with one phrase in particular inflaming passions. As part of the DealBook D.C. Policy Project, The New York Times convened activists, academics, law enforcement officials and politicians to discuss public safety, racism and the different things people mean when they say “defund the...

The virus infecting thousands of Americans a day is also attacking the country's social fabric. The coronavirus has exposed a weakness in many rural communities, where divisive pandemic politics are alienating some of their most critical residents — health care workers. A wave of departing medical professionals would leave gaping holes in the rural health care system, and small-town economies, triggering a death spiral in some of these areas that may be hard to stop. More than a quarter of...

Why are some racial and ethnic minority groups disproportionately affected by COVID-19? Introduction Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 Risk of Severe Illness or Death from COVID-19 Disparities in COVID-19 Illness Disparities in COVID-19-Associated Hospitalizations Disparities in COVID-19 Deaths Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies What We Can Do to Move Towards Health Equity Click each link above to learn about underlying health and social inequities that put many racial and...

At Greater Good , we’ve been studying and writing about various ways to bridge divides, putting together tools to help people connect. But there may be one key character trait that’s necessary for applying those tools in a constructive way: humility. “Humility is a kind of a master virtue that can pull along other virtues if people develop it,” says humility researcher Everett Worthington. Humility, as Worthington defines it, is multifaceted, involving an awareness of our personal strengths...

The Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention received a grant from the Alabama Department of Mental Health in July and partnered with the Alabama Network of Family Resource Centers to provide 23 virtual training on Strengthening Families™- Preventing and Addressing Trauma in the months of August and September. The one-day training session was upbeat and interactive. At the end of the day, participants had a broader understanding of the long-term effects of ACEs and...

Charles Bruner and Kay Johnson, 12/21/20, positiveexperience.org/blog Our country and the world are eager to move toward the coming new year. In 2020, the triple crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, and reckoning on racism have elevated attention to social injustice in both the health care system and our country as a whole. Because of COVID-19, the public and policy leaders have heightened awareness of the importance of physicians, nurses, community health workers, child care...