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There is a game in which you tell people two truths and a lie and folks must guess which one is the lie. Want to play? One: I lived and worked on a seaplane for several months. Two: for a time, I built musical instruments for a living. Three: I helped several women escape domestic violence. To help you figure out which one is the lie, let me tell you a story. Shortly after graduating from college, I started working as a Personnel Specialist for the Department of the Navy in Washington D.C. I...

I'm a black man who just spoke with a former white supremacist. He wasn't quite what I expected. I have to admit that when my phone rang, I felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety and nervousness that I haven't experienced in years. Am I really going to conduct this interview? Can a white supremacist truly be reformed? Do I really want to hear his story? Maybe this would be a complete waste of time, but I took a deep breath and listened to everything because I knew it was possible I could...

A decade ago, Utah set itself an ambitious goal: end chronic homelessness. As of 2015, the state can just about declare victory: The population of chronically homeless people has dropped by 91 percent. The state's success story has generated headlines around the country , and even The Daily Show With Jon Stewart has looked to Utah to understand how the state achieved its goal. In fact, Utah still has a substantial homeless problem. The overall homeless population is around 14,000 . I get...

The protests in Chicago have been mostly peaceful. But it's not just about police. This is all happening against a backdrop of gang violence, including the recent killing of a 9-year-old boy who police say was apparently targeted because of his father's alleged gang ties. These incidents are forcing difficult conversations between parents and kids. And for African-American families, the conversation hits close to home. How do you talk about what's happening? How do you reassure your kids?

Last week the Senate succeeded in passing legislation that essentially guts the Affordable Care Act and wipes out Medicaid expansion. While the president is expected to veto the bill, the Senate’s action shows that the program could be in danger come the next administration. The anticipated expansion has not occurred in 20 states, which have deprived some of the poorest Americans of health care. Recall that the Affordable Care Act envisioned that Americans with incomes below the...

24 years we’ve been doing this 16 Days of Activism for no Violence against Women and Children thing, and honestly, what have we achieved? We keep doing the same things over and over again: the posters, the parties, the ministerial junkets. It’s pretty evident, as the violence stats rise, that those aren’t effective things to do. We have to get at the root causes, the foundations, the reasons why we have such a violence-prone nation. [For more of this story, written by Mandi...

In 2012, there were 896 million people around the world—12.7 percent of the global population— living on less than two dollars a day . The World Food Program estimates that 795 million people worldwide don’t have enough food to “lead a healthy life”; 25 percent of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa are undernourished. Over three million children die every year thanks to poor nutrition, and hunger is the leading cause of death worldwide. In 2012, just three...

Would the world be a better place if more of us were trained to take a mindful moment to connect emotions we are feeling to our brains before we act? After recently learning mindful behavioral training in their classrooms, a number of elementary school students think so. When asked if the learning is making any difference in their lives, almost every one of them indicates it has. Equally impressive, the sentiments of queried local educators and counselors working with Mindful Schools...

A recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows how states can make sure children living in foster care have the same opportunities as their peers, and Texas is ahead of the curve. In the last session, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1407 , a law that makes it easier for children to do things others take for granted, such as playing sports or having an after school job. Andy Homer, director of public affairs with the Texas Court Appointed Special Advocates, says the goal is to...

At a time of heightened concern over police shootings, a new report estimates that people with mental illness are 16 times more likely than others to be killed by police. About one in four fatal police encounters involve someone with mental illness, according to the report, released Thursday by the Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center , which focuses on the needs of people with serious mental illness. The problem stems from a lack of police training, as well as a lack of...

Beginning next month, qualified veterans charged with committing misdemeanors while on Fort Hood will be eligible to participate in a pilot program designed to provide an alternative to a federal conviction, according to a news release from the Fort Hood Public Affairs Office. The Fort Hood Federal Veterans Treatment Court, "Veterans Endeavor for Treatment and Support" or "VETS," will work to divert veterans with service-connected mental health or substance abuse disorders out of the court...

The Campaign for Youth Justice (CFYJ), a national advocacy organization dedicated to ending the practice of trying, sentencing, and incarcerating youth under 18 in the adult criminal justice system, released a new report today, Zero Tolerance: How States Comply with PREA’s Youthful Inmate Standard . This report explores how states house youth under 18 in prisons in the new age of PREA compliance and enforcement. Furthermore, this report highlights national trends in juvenile arrests,...