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Imagine the following scenario: A child is taken from her parents. When child protective services decides to reunify the family the foster parents object. They wage a fierce fight, but they lose. Sometime later, the child is dead. She was raped and murdered, allegedly by her mother’s boyfriend while her mother watched. Her body was packed in cat litter and stashed in an attic for four months. Then the body was dismembered and the remains dumped in the woods. Years earlier, a previous...

Colleges across the country are failing to keep up with a troubling spike in demand for mental health care — leaving students stuck on waiting lists for weeks, unable to get help. STAT surveyed dozens of universities about their mental health services. From major public institutions to small elite colleges, a striking pattern emerged: Students often have to wait weeks just for an initial intake exam to review their symptoms. The wait to see a psychiatrist who can prescribe or adjust...

Ageing is a global phenomenon and the pace of population ageing is faster in developing countries compared to the developed world. People over 60 years of age are projected to reach one billion by 2020 and almost 2 billion by 2050 representing 22 percent of the world’s population. The number of Bhutanese older adults (aged 60 years and above) is estimated to increase from 4.7 percent in 2005 to 11.2 percent in 2045, at the population growth rate of 1.8 percent. Improved health, economic...

Guest columnist Dr. Amy Jo Marcano-Reik, Ph.D., teaches on faculty at Baldwin Wallace University (her undergraduate alma mater) and John Carroll University. She is pursuing her M.D. degree through Northeast Ohio Medical University-Cleveland State University Partnership for Urban Health, and was awarded the Forest City Enterprises Scholarship. She recently published the book, Brain and Spinal Cord Plasticity: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Approach for Behavior, Cognition and Health.

As fears mount about a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants, a growing number of California school districts are trying to reassure students they will be able to attend school without the intrusion of federal authorities. Last week, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson again urged school leaders throughout the state to declare their districts “safe havens” to protect immigrant children. In December, he urged district leaders to use Sacramento Unified’s “safe...

On November 15–17, 2016, OJJDP sponsored the first Institute for Police-Youth Engagement to explore best practices and innovative approaches for improving interactions between youth and law enforcement. The meeting, held in Louisville, KY, was led by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in partnership with the Coalition for Juvenile Justice. Police chiefs from urban, suburban, tribal, and rural communities across the nation gathered for roundtable discussions on current...

Washington state legislator Tana Senn, has introduced the “Summer Step-Up Act” to improve social-emotional learning throughout the calendar year to reduce kids' summer learning loss.

A wide-ranging study of youth incarceration in California outlines what it calls the debilitating effects on the health of teens, their families and society when youthful offenders are tried and sentenced as adults. “ Juvenile Injustice ,” from Human Impact Partners , concludes that laws designed to try youth in adult courts not only fail to curtail recidivism but are so inherently flawed and biased that the entire approach must be scrapped. Researchers found that youth tried in adult courts...

For generations, parents have told kids to go outside and play. Now, a new study suggests an added benefit to that advice -- physical activity may lower children's risk of depression. The researchers assessed about 700 children at ages 6, 8 and 10. Kids who got regular moderate-to-vigorous exercise were less likely to develop depression over those four years, the investigators found. Previous studies have found that physically active teens and adults seem to have a lower risk of depression.

As we begin another Black History Month, it is time to celebrate the contributions and history of African Americans in this country. Along with the celebration of progress, it’s also a time to reflect on areas for improvement. How young black boys are treated in the criminal justice system is one of those areas. We are in a national crisis. Across the country our justice system is marked by disparate racial outcomes at every stage of the process — especially for those who are most...

“Resilience is a message of hope,” says Debbie Alleyne, a child welfare specialist at the Center for Resilient Children at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health in Villanova, PA. “It is important for everyone to know that no matter their experience, there is always hope for a positive outcome. Risk does not define destiny.” Sounds fantastic. But what exactly does resilience mean? Resilience generally describes the bounce-back ability of individuals who return to the similar shape, form and...

Katie Rosanbalm, PhD is a Research Scholar at the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. She lives in Durham, North Carolina. She's friendly, optimistic and informed, blending academic smarts with kindergarten teacher warmth and enthusiasm. I saw her give gave a presentation that included talking about self-regulation last summer. But first, she led an audience of over 150 people through a brief breathing exercise. She is the real deal when it comes to making theory and...