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Her daughter was 4 years old when Vicky Blake learned she’d contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It was 1994, before the advent of antiretroviral drugs that could help arrest the virus, and Blake feared she would not live to see Curtisha turn 10. [For more of this story, written by Joaquin Palomino, go to http://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/For-many-women-HIV-is-a-byproduct-of-a-lifetime-6858571.php]

Many of the advancements we see in ACE-informed programming and service delivery focus on early intervention and prevention with the purpose of altering potential long-term high-cost ACE trajectories. There seems to be less weight being placed on the development of ACE-informed programs specifically for older persons coping with the cumulative outcomes of a lifetime of adversity and trauma. Senior Hope Counseling, Inc. in Albany, New York, is one agency that has worked tirelessly to enhance...

Why abandonment is an ACE answered by the voice and face of Kelly Clarkson singing "Piece by Piece." I'm pretty sure I would have sobbed even if I couldn't relate to the words in her song about being left by her father. The song is tragic, beautiful, searingly sad and triumphant all at once. It's also a song about being a break-the-cycle parent, learning to love in partnership and healing the wounds of childhood loss carried into adulthood. Watch where it's o.k. to bawl, weep or ugly cry...

Echo's conference this year is bursting at the seams with great workshops for teachers, parents and anyone who works with children and their families. In addition to the not-to-be-missed keynotes such as Dr. Ross Greene, we are proud to present: Robbyn Peter Bennett Workshop Spotlight: Self-Regulation, Dysregulation & Co-Regulation - Neurologically Informed Teaching & Parenting You may have seen Robbyn Peters Bennett in her TEDx talk . In our conference workshop, Robbyn will discuss...

In January, a government-appointed panel recommended that all pregnant women and new mothers be screened for depression . Public health advocates rejoiced, as did untold numbers of women who had not known that maternal mental illness even existed before it hit them like a freight train. But the panel did not mention one possible consequence of a diagnosis: Life and disability insurance providers have sometimes penalized women with these mental illnesses by charging them more money, excluding...

When Dr. Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu graduated from medical school, her mother told her, "OK, good. But you know it's not good to just be a doctor." Umm, what? "She, said, 'There's some doctors you go to and they don't make you better. I want you to be one of the doctors that really makes people better,' " Mpungu recalls. "And I thought, 'Oh, no. What does she mean now?' " Mpungu went on to work in a surgical ward. And then with children. She was helping people — but couldn't say she was...

With the opioid epidemic reaching into every corner of the U.S., more people are talking about addiction as a chronic disease rather than a moral failing. For researcher A. Thomas McLellan, who has spent his entire career studying substance abuse, the shift is a welcome one, though it has come frustratingly late. McLellan is co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute in Philadelphia and former deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. His work has focused...

Despite the housing bust and its lasting implications, owning a home nevertheless remains one of the most common ways for American families to build wealthwhite families, predominantly. The homeownership rates of black and Hispanic Americans lag dramatically behind that of white Americans. These minority groups are much less likely to purchase a home, and if they do, they are less likely to have homes that appreciate in value. Theyre also more likely to lose their homes through foreclosure.

There are disappointingly few shows on network television right now that could air the kind of episode Black-ish aired on Wednesday. Not only did Hope consist entirely of black voices discussing police brutality, the shootings of unarmed civilians, and a legal system that seems geared toward protecting bad cops; it also managed to be a funny sitcom at the same time. This was despite the fact that it took place in one room and bore the marks of a very special episode, the kind of preachy...

Immigrants who live and work in New Orleans havent always had the rosiest relationship with their citys police force. But by the end of February, that strain will undergo a much-awaited change, as the citys new immigrant-friendly, bias-free policing policy finally goes into effect. [For more of this story, written by Tanvi Misra, go to http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2016/02/new-orleans-immigrant-police-policy/470679/]

The gender pay gap is a worldwide problem, but women in some places have it worse than others. A new report from the Institute for Womens Policy Research (IWPR) reveals that working women in the South suffer some of the harshest inequalities in the U.S., not only in terms of how much they are paid, but how they are treated in the workforce. [For more of this story, written by Aria Bendix, go to http://www.citylab.com/work/2016/02/how-gender-inequality-affects-southern-women-the-most/470880/]

Many states have made moves to end the fruitless cycle of arrest and incarceration by moving nonviolent defendants out of prosecution and into more productive intervention programs. One New Orleans judge has seen just how effective this approach can be. Petite, with thick-framed glasses and short, stylish hair, Judge Desiree Charbonnet has an upbeat, officious manner appropriate for someone who presides over a courtroom. During her eight years on the bench, she has cultivated efficiency to...