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At the June 28 San Benito County Board of Supervisors’ meeting, Jim Rydingsword, director of the San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), and Enrique Arreola, deputy director of the Community Action Agency, gave their regular monthly update, with a bit of a twist. The twist being a pitch for a high tech recycle center, along with a housing plan, that they say may just help reduce the number of homeless in the county. “One of the things we did earlier this year was to begin...

Valerie Jarrett announced the White House’s next step in its ongoing effort to bring data science to the realm of criminal justice on Thursday. The newly minted Data-Driven Justice Initiative is a coalition of 67 city, county, and state governments that have pledged to incorporate data-driven approaches into their law-enforcement programs. Participants include states such as Pennsylvania and Maryland and cities such as Albany, Denver, and Oakland. The initiative focuses on lessening burdens...

"Can a chicken change the world?" It's an intriguing question. It appeared on a minimalist poster board outside the elevator on the 68th floor of 4 World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan on June 8, 2016. Billionaire tech CEO and philanthropist Bill Gates was standing in a chicken coop. The chickens are part of his latest initiative: Coop Dreams. Started by Heifer International , Coop Dreams is now supported by Gates, who is donating 100,000 chickens to extremely impoverished communities...

Join Center for Youth Wellness October 19-21 for the 2016 Conference on Adverse Childhood Experiences in San Francisco. The conference is a unique opportunity for every expert and practitioner committed to advancing the ACEs movement to come together to build a better future for children exposed to early adversity and trauma. The 2016 theme is “Awareness to Action.” Over the past few years, understanding of Adverse Childhood Experiences has greatly expanded among professionals working with...

When you’re the parent of young children, the park can become the center of your universe. It’s your outing for the day, your escape from the inevitable mess of your home, where you’re still figuring out how to keep all the new kid-induced laundry clean and toys out from underfoot. It’s a chance for social interaction with other parents and a pocket of time to just sit and breathe in the fresh air, or maybe push your son on the swing or climb on the monkey bars with your daughter. And those...

This special series focuses on important community issues, innovative solutions to societal challenges, and people and non-profit groups making an impact through technology. Pull up the Facing Homelessness page on Facebook and you might learn that Eric and Michelle have been living out of RVs for two years, and Michelle has a brain tumor. Or that Steve went to Garfield High School in Seattle and became homeless five years ago after a divorce. He’s trying to get a truck driving license, and...

A new pilot study suggests that group art therapy may significantly help improve the mental health of refugee children. The research is published in the journalVulnerable Children and Youth Studies. The findings show that approximately one week after participating in the art program, refugee children experienced notable improvements in trauma, depression , and trait- anxiety symptoms (general tendency to be anxious). Previous research has consistently shown that refugee children are at high...

In fact, between Oregon, Paris, and San Bernadino, it’s time to add how to talk about gun violence to our parenting repertoire. I don’t claim to have all the answers—no one does, but here are eight tips to answer kids’ tough questions. A couple of weeks ago, my 7-year-old had an anonymous threat of gun violence directed at his school district. Nothing came of the threat, and the teachers, school administrators, and authorities reacted swiftly and bravely. But getting emails with FBI updates...

Communities across the United States are using data to help set goals, measure progress and provide better services that will ultimately improve residents' health. “Where have we been? Where are we going? How can we get there?” These are the questions facing communities who want to make health a right, not a privilege, for all of their residents. And they can’t answer these questions without one critical tool: data. As a former community coach with the Roadmaps to Health Action Center, I was...

Six-month-old Mason had a big smile that showed in his photo. But in July 2015, his parents took the Laurens County boy to a hospital with severe head injuries. He was placed on life support but died the next day. Authorities said his father had admitted to abusing the infant and he was charged with homicide by child abuse. The mother was charged with unlawful neglect of a child. The father eventually plead guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, court records show. The mother pled...

A local initiative is bringing awareness to research that shows traumatic childhood experiences such as poverty, sexual abuse and drug addiction can lead to lifelong challenges in mental, social and physical health. Representatives of the school district, borough and police department, as well as several other organizations, have come together to form the Pottstown Trauma Informed Community Connection. The steering committee was created to decrease some of the violent and chronic health...

This teaching by the Dalai Lama explains how the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness and compassion lead inevitably to feelings of self-confidence and kindness. Developing Compassion Before we can generate compassion and love, it is important to have a clear understanding of what we understand compassion and love to be. In simple terms, compassion and love can be defined as positive thoughts and feelings that give rise to such essential things in life as hope, courage, determination and inner...