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Iowa’s Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Friday that a sentence of life without parole for juvenile offenders convicted of first-degree murder amounted to cruel and unusual punishment under the state’s constitution. Here’s the ruling , in part: In sum, we conclude that sentencing courts should not be required to make speculative up-front decisions on juvenile offenders’ prospects for rehabilitation because they lack adequate predictive information supporting such a decision. The parole board will be...

The plight of families is deepening with the affordability crisis. For the most vulnerable families in the U.S., however, help is getting even harder to find. The past decade has seen federal support for very low-income families with children slide, even as their ranks have skyrocketed. A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that housing aid for families with children is at its lowest point in a decade. Even as the number of families with children with worst-case...

In my last column , I wrote about how getting lost in a good book can help students hang on to academic advances they made during the school year. What I didn't talk about then is how reading offers an equally crucial benefit to young people by developing what are known as "soft skills" — the emotional intelligence we need in life to feel confident, make good decisions and endure bad things. This is especially critical in Alaska, a state where too many children are victims of society's dark...

"My experience with violence is very brutal...I grew up with violence as if it were my sibling." - LC participant (youth) "We know we can't run the city- it's too complex- but our experience and our voices should count, especially because we're the most effected ." - LC participant (youth) "Our city's problems are shared by us all; we are all part of the problem AND the solution. Listening is a key component to healing." - LC Share Out partici pant (adult) Three years ago, RYSE Center in...

It's always great news when people working to spread the word about ACEs science, and the trauma-informed and resilience-building practices based on ACEs science, are acknowledged for their great work. And so it is that Melissa Charbonneau, Peggy Slider and Rhonda Crooker were given an Excellence in Nursing Practice award from the Inland Empire Nurses Association.

I do not have the ability to visualize, never had. But I didn't know I was different until a few years ago. When I first learned about my aphantasia I was shocked, saddened and confused. How could this be and me not know it for most of my life. Then I wondered was this caused by my cumulative childhood traumas? Could I learn how to visualize in my minds eye? My answer was no. My husband once asked me how I could write the story of "Julie & The lost Fairy Tale and not see the attic stairs...

The Montgomery County Veterans Treatment Court has been active for a full year as of this month. Providing an alternate path through the legal system for some military veterans under the guidance of state District Judge Kathleen Hamilton, the court currently holds a docket of 15 participants. The court held a celebratory ceremony Wednesday before its regular proceedings, recognizing the assistance provided to veterans by the court over the past year. “If it weren’t for our participants’...

A new federal report says police chiefs and sheriffs across the country should put mental health programs in place for their officers as soon as possible to prepare for the psychological aftermath of mass shootings and other traumatic events. The report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice and National Alliance on Mental Illness was prompted by the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where 20 first-graders and six educators were shot to death. [For...

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is introducing a bill to increase the number of peer specialists within the Veterans Affairs health care system. The “P.E.E.R. Act,” or Veteran Partners’ Efforts to Enhance Reintegration Act, was announced on a conference call Wednesday in which Casey outlined the case for more – and more readily available – veteran peer support specialists to share their experiences and support service members diagnosed with mental health disorders. “There are 1,100 of these peer support...

Rose has dealt with depression since high school. She'd put her head down, focus on school and get through. But during her senior year of college, Rose couldn't even concentrate on school anymore. "I was struggling. I was feeling depressed. I was feeling isolated," Rose, now 24, says. "I was crying at Cheerios commercials, which is not normal." Rose started seeing a therapist and feels like she has everything under control. She's even on her way to becoming a therapist herself, in her third...

This is an interesting read from the Atlantic about anti-racism work in the United States. Anti-racism work being instep with a recognition of the effects of historical trauma. There are noteworthy actions being taken, one of which I have included below as a partial excerpt from the original piece. The article covers everything from Ben Carson, Cosby, the role of white people in the case of Trump, on to general political activity. The writer assumes the reader has or encourages the reader to...

This is an amazing graduation address. It is essential listening for educators, students, social justice advocates. It is poignant for anyone who has been "the one" and felt alone in that status. It is powerful for anyone who wishes to climb into the experience of another whether it is shared or not. Because, as student, speaker, poet, educator and graduate Donovan Livingston said: "Our stories are the ladders that make it easier for us to touch the stars. So climb and grab them. Keep...