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Most people can acknowledge that discrimination has an insidious effect on the lives of minorities, even when it's unintentional. Those effects can include being passed over for jobs for which they are qualified or shut out of housing they can afford. And most people are painfully aware of the tensions between African-Americans and police. But discrimination can also lead to a less obvious result: tangible, measurable negative effects on health. A new survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood...

Abused and neglected State Ward children have already suffered enough when they enter *foster care. To be removed from a birth home by a judge means that the child’s life has been in imminent danger of serious harm. Most of the children I’ve worked with as a volunteer CASA guardian ad Litem have stories that still make me shudder twenty years later.

The pesticide, which belongs to a class of chemicals developed as a nerve gas made by Nazi Germany, is now found in food, air and drinking water. Human and animal studies show that it damages the brain and reduces I.Q.s while causing tremors among children. It has also been linked to lung cancer and Parkinson’s disease in adults. The colored parts of the image above, prepared by Columbia University scientists, indicate where a child’s brain is physically altered after exposure to this...

For many years, our drug-abuse prevention and dropout prevention efforts have focused on high school students. But as educators and health professionals dig deeper into these complex issues, they are learning that many of the problems that lead to substance abuse and academic failure often start much earlier than high school or even middle school. Research also is showing that difficult experiences in a child's life outside the classroom can have a greater impact than we realize. [For more...

The Weinstein Effect strikes again. Following The New York Times and The New Yorker ’s revelations about the film executive and alleged serial sexual harasser Harvey Weinstein, Lockhart Steele of Vox Media, the screenwriter James Toback , the critic Leon Wieseltier, and, on Thursday, Mark Halperin of MSNBC have found themselves outed and, in some cases, fired for alleged past behavior. Preceding Weinstein were reports about alleged harassment at Tinder and Uber , and the alleged predatory...

When Monica Palmquist moved to Cortez, Colorado, in 2010, she was shocked to find that the Hispanic population in a town with a Spanish name had almost no presence in the community’s civic life. Born in Mexico, Palmquist had spent most of her life in the United States, in cities where the Hispanic community was visible and active. In Cortez, where she worked as a community organizer, they were rarely ever seen. “We were called ‘The Invisible Community,’” Palmquist says. “We don’t get...

Good Morning All, Our registration is open for our 2018 Conference. Please consider joining us, learning something new, and adding to the impact we can make as a community. NM is a great place to visit and the location is utterly gorgeous. If you have questions email me directly at ekawam.naswnm@gmail.com. Please spread the word with others too who might be interested. My humble appreciation in advance for your time and consideration. Register here today:...

Scotland has one of the highest prison populations per capita in Western Europe, but it has been dropping in the past few years from a high in 2011-12. Initiatives such as ‘No Knives, Better Lives’ and the work of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) have been successful in tackling violent crime in Scotland and the crime rate has continually fallen. And although the Scottish Government could rarely be accused of making changes to the justice system too quickly, often taking years to consult,...

LOS ANGELES — California after-school programs statewide were able to breathe a small sigh of relief this year after Gov. Jerry Brown set aside an extra $50 million for them from the general budget. Getting SB 78 passed took three years of lobbying by a coalition that included the Los Angeles Unified School District board, the Los Angeles City Council , the Los Angeles Police Department and more than 10 after-school programs like Beyond the Bell , After School All Stars and LA’s BEST . “Part...

It was nine years ago, at the age of 11, that Meggi Lampen was sexually abused. It was seven years ago that she first told anyone about it. She withdrew and repressed what had happened. In the back of her mind, she knew something wasn’t right. But she had no context to put it in – or let it out. "At the time I was like, I don’t know if this is normal,” Lampen said. “I don’t know if people come into other people’s beds at night and do that." [For more on this story by Rory Linnane, go to...

After years of sending youths to solitary confinement for days, weeks and even months at a time, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice has taken drastic steps to reduce the time young offenders spend in isolation. The decision to move away from solitary confinement, or segregation, came as part of a consent decree in federal court between the department and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. But top department officials also said the research was too powerful to ignore.

I had a fascinating breakfast conversation with my 11-year-old daughter a few days back. The night before I had a fitful dream—one that was short on plot and imagery, but chock-full of emotion. In this case, the feeling was of a deep, immovable sorrow. When I awoke, it didn’t take long to recognize that the article I’d been working on—this article—was definitely working on me, too. During breakfast I knew my daughter could tell I wasn’t on solid ground. She’s a sensitive soul, and I figured...