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On Monday, March 21, 2016, over 400 social workers, educators and more filled the gymnasium of Bester Elementary School in Hagerstown, MD, as leading trauma experts from across the nation linked findings from the ACE Study (Adverse Childhood Experiences) with staggering proof of health, social, and economic problems resulting later in life.

Many of America’s biggest school districts have prioritized security officers over counselors. In Houston, that means there’s only one counselor for every 1,175 students School-security officers outnumber counselors in four out of the 10 largest public-school districts in the country—including three of the top five, according to data obtained by The 74. New York City, Chicago, Miami-Dade County, and Houston schools all employ more security staff than counselors. New York City, Chicago, and...

By the numbers, welfare reform was a success. More than 13 million people received cash assistance from the government in 1995, before the law was passed. Today, just 3 million do. “Simply put, welfare reform worked because we all worked together,” Bill Clinton, who signed into law welfare reform, or the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times in 2006. Clinton had campaigned on a pledge to “end welfare as we know it”...

In the ongoing investigation into the Brussels terrorist attacks , most of the attention is on one neighborhood called Molenbeek. Many of the terrorists responsible for both the attacks in Brussels, and in Paris last November , lived in Molenbeek. The closest you can get to an analogous city in the U.S. is Minneapolis, Minn., home to the largest Somali community in the country. One in 4 of the more than 250 Americans who have tried to join ISIS are from Minnesota. Now, the federal government...

Anxiety can actually be good for us. It provides us a surge of energy, splash of wakefulness, and intrinsic drive to get through the day. It was useful when our ancestors needed to be alert to dangers and it’s useful today. Unfortunately, anxiety can get out of control and interfere with our work, social lives, and health. It can progressively increase if we do not attend to it. Here are helpful tips to attack everyday anxiety so it doesn’t become a problem. [For more of this story, written...

This is to thank the Herald Times Reporter and the rest of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin newspapers for extensively covering public health issues that affect the quality of life in our community and state. Increases in mental illness, drug and alcohol use and abuse, suicide, Kids In Crisis, lead poisoning and well water contamination are among the public health issues reported. This research has often compared our statistics to other counties and the state. It has focused on local...

Two years ago this month, Thomas Piketty published his massive tome on inequality, Capital in the 21st Century. Embedded in the 696 pages of tables and analysis was a fairly simple idea: In rich countries, the distribution of wealth is more unequal than the distribution of income; wealth will continue to grow faster than income (r>g); and, therefore , a small elite will inherit the wealth of the world with little left over for the many poor. His thesis had its share of nitpickers and...

[ Photo by Joyce Ravid] Author Kathryn Harrison's new book of essays is about her own family. She talks to Rachel Martin about coming to terms with one of the worst crimes that happened to her, perpetrated by her own father. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: And I'm going to say right up front that the next conversation we're going to bring you is really intense, and some of you may find parts of it disturbing. I spoke with the writer Kathryn Harrison recently. She has written 15 books - biographies,...

(A version of this post was emailed to all ACEsConnection.com members yesterday.) Join us on Sunday, April 10th, for a free sneak peek of Resilience , the critically acclaimed documentary by KPJR Films that chronicles a new movement among pediatricians, therapists, educators and communities who are using cutting-edge brain science to disrupt cycles of violence, addiction and disease. The streaming event will begin at 6 p.m. PT (3 p.m. HAST, 5 p.m. AKDT, 7 p.m. MT, 8 p.m. CT, 9 p.m. ET). For...

In March, the Partner for Healing blog covered several crucial concepts in trauma-informed care. Use any of these posts to start an in-depth discussion with your team! The first post looked at The Primacy of Safe ty. Nothing good can happen when the child does not feel safe. . So how can we create and measure safety? This post includes free sample client and family safety questionnaires. Then we moved on to effective action, in Trauma Steals the Ability to Act- Do We Make It Better or Worse?

New Mexico offers stunning ski slopes, high desert vistas and cultural sites, all sights you'll see in the state's tourism campaign called " New Mexico True ." But the state also has the highest child poverty rate in the nation — a truth that an advocacy group highlighted with its parody campaign, " New Mexico Truth ." In the original video , you can see footage of children making strands of chili peppers and frolicking at the White Sands National Monument. It's the same image you'll see in...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is making it easier for people with criminal records to find housing. In new guidance, released Monday, HUD tells landlords and home sellers that turning down tenants or buyers based on their criminal records may violate the Fair Housing Act. Because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African-Americans...