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It’s been ten (10) years since Dr. Bruce Perry published his groundbreaking work , The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog. If you haven’t read his book, especially if you are involved in any trauma-related work, it should be on your next-book-to-read list. In the book, Perry shares a story that involved a child involved in a foster care court case. In Dr. Perry’s recount, he shares that during his years of work in clinics and mental health, he had little introduction to those involved in child...

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This country and its juvenile justice systems are facing an important set of transitions as we enter 2017. A new president is about to take office who is committed to taking the country in a different direction. While most of the policies his administration will promote are outside the scope of this column, they will undoubtedly impact our ability to build the best and most effective juvenile justice systems across the nation. How investments are prioritized will translate to whether there...

The U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Baltimore announced an agreement to reform the city’s troubled police department on Thursday. The 227-page document lays out a detailed plan for the Baltimore police to try to correct egregious violations of constitutional rights, racial disparities in their practices, excessive use of force, and a culture of retaliation against whistleblowers. The agreement could represent one of the last hurrahs for the police-reform movement before the Trump...

The United States is one of the richest countries in the world. It is also one of the most unequal. As a report released today shows, the U.S. ranks 23 out of 30 developed nations in a measure known as the “inclusive development index,” which factors in data on income, health, poverty, and sustainability. The index comes from the World Economic Forum , whose annual summit is taking place in Davos this week. It is a rather comprehensive measure of inequality, and the fact that the U.S. ranks...

Across the country, tent cities are a controversial approach to helping the homeless. Preferred by some bureaucrats as a way of cleaning up the streets, and by some homeless people because they offer a sense of community as well as a sliver of permanence in an otherwise mobile lifestyle, they are often criticized for creating neighborhood eyesores, increasing fire danger and crime, and undermining other programs that aim to help the homeless find housing and jobs. Photographer Eirik Johnson...

The Administration for Children and Families, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations, the Administration for Community Living, the Offices of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at HHS have worked together to develop this Guide to Trauma-Informed Human Services. The guide is intended to provide an introduction to the topic of trauma, a discussion of why understanding and addressing trauma is important for human...

[Photo by Michael ] “The Child is the Father of the Man”—William Wordsworth 1 Wordsworth’s observation (forgiving his gender pronouns) is truly one of the core principles of family medicine. Yes, we care for children because we are concerned about them, but also because we are concerned about the adults that those children become. As family physicians we may or may not care for a specific child into adulthood, but we certainly care for adults whose health has been influenced by their...

Many major news media outlets covered an important story about the decline in life expectancy in the United States. This is based on research released by the National Center for Health Statistics that found life expectancy dropped from 78.9 to 78.8 years in 2015. This information is significant because there has been a steady increase in American life expectancy and many people, including experts hoped and expected that this trend would continue. The last clear reduction occurred in 1993 and...

My work as a mediator allows me to peer into all kinds of conflict. Now working to strengthen families and create safe, nurturing environments for children, I am struck by the need to challenge my gender to be “real men.” The reality is that we men are the primary perpetrators of abuse and violence, and related disruption in families. So it is up to us to take responsibility for our own actions and to encourage those of our gender who – having been taught, or raised without guidance, or out...

Although Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929–April 4, 1968) used Christian social ethics and the New Testament concept of “love” heavily in his writings and speeches, he was as influenced by Eastern spiritual traditions, Gandhi’s political writings, Buddhism’s notion of the interconnectedness of all beings, and Ancient Greek philosophy. His enduring ethos, at its core, is nonreligious — rather, it champions a set of moral, spiritual, and civic responsibilities that fortify our...

Below are the questions taken directly from the ACE questionaire. Sentences in italics are my own. Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often…Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? or Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt? If yes enter 1 ________ This is a kind of harmful parenting. Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often…Push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? or Ever hit you so hard that...