Blog

By Naomi Ishisaka, Photo: Alan Berner, The Seattle Times, November 15, 2021 Over the past few months, conventional wisdom has emerged asserting that the U.S. is experiencing a labor shortage. A headline in Fortune on Friday read , “Where are all the workers, and when are they coming back?” Countless articles have lamented the “great resignation” facing the U.S. workforce and theorized over the causes. Some attribute it to expanded pandemic unemployment benefits, but research does not bear...

By Meena Harris, Photo: iStock, November 15, 2021 Over the last year-and-a-half, as the coronavirus pandemic triggered school closures, haphazard virtual learning setups, and confusing safety guidelines, parents of school-age children have been driven to the brink — juggling their jobs with a full-time commitment to ensuring their kids are getting a safe, quality education. For parents of color, including myself, that health crisis has been compounded by a racial justice crisis. While we...

By Melissa Montalvo, Photo: Mike Blake: REUTERS, Cal Matters, November 12, 2021 Siete de cada 10 californianos dicen que la brecha entre ricos y pobres es cada vez mayor, según un estudio estatal lanzado el martes. La encuesta, realizada el mes pasado por el grupo de expertos no partidista, Instituto de Políticas Públicas de California , encuestó a 2,292 californianos adultos sobre sus opiniones sobre las perspectivas económicas del estado, la seguridad financiera, la seguridad laboral,...

By Ashley Gebb, Photo: Jason Halley/CSU Chico, Chico State Today, November 9, 2021 What will it take to shape the next generation of social workers, individuals poised to support communities who have experienced unimaginable disaster and trauma? Perhaps there is no university better suited to address this challenge than Chico State—or at least, that’s the premise of a new course in the School of Social Work. This summer, three professionals and educators came together to teach “Contemporary...

By Sarah Betancourt, Photo: Sarah Betancourt/GBH News, GBH News, November 16, 2021 After a high-speed car chase landed Joel in jail awaiting trial on an extensive list of charges — including carrying a loaded firearm without a license — the 22-year-old is working toward a new life. He was facing a minimum of ten years in prison when his lawyer presented him with an opportunity: plead guilty to the charges and join the Emerging Adult Court of Hope. It will take Joel about two years to...

By Tish Harrison Warren, Illustration: Matija Medved, The New York Times, November 14, 2021 I don’t remember the first time I was taught that the Civil War was not fought because of slavery. I am a white Texan, so this idea was simply in the ether, as were myths about “good slave owners” and the “Lost Cause.” I knew that America had a racist history, but when I was a child, the details of what that meant were blurry and vague. This experience is common. There is objective truth to our...

By Burgundi Allison and David Brotherton, Photo: Amy Osborne/AFP/Getty Images, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, November 17, 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic is a brutal reminder of how interconnected our world is and how reliant we are on each other to keep our communities healthy and safe. Much the same can be said about another public health crisis — gun violence. We are heartbroken by the increase in gun violence during the pandemic, which in 2020 rose to its highest level in decades, according...

By Tyler Kingkade and Mike Hixenbaugh, Illustration: Eleni Kalorkoti/NBC News, NBC News, November 16, 2021 At a September school board meeting in Southlake, Texas, a parent named Tara Eddins strode to the lectern during the public comment period and demanded to know why the Carroll Independent School District was paying counselors “at $90K a pop” to give students lessons on suicide prevention. “At Carroll ISD, you are actually advertising suicide,” Eddins said , arguing that many parents in...

Predict Align Prevent (PAP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to stopping child maltreatment before it happens. While there is no single solution to end child maltreatment, our approach shifts the conversation upstream to develop a combination of policies, strategies, and resources that aim to prevent child abuse before it happens. The current system is reactionary, only providing outreach and resources after a child enters the system and far too often, missing the cases that end in a...

Positive Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Shared. They make all the difference! #CharlotteCountyACEsAware2021 #JOINTHEVILLAGE !

By Tik Root, Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images, November 15, 2021 On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized America’s first “national recycling strategy,” which aims to support the agency’s goal of achieving a 50 percent recycling rate by the end of the decade. “Our nation’s recycling system is in need of critical improvements to better serve the American people,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Together with the historic investments in recycling from the...

By Lauren Helper, Photo: Stephen Lam/The Chronicle, November 16, 2021 When Sonoo Thadaney-Israni and her husband signed the paperwork for their home in the hills above Silicon Valley in 1991, they were assured that the red flag in the fine print didn’t really matter. The couple, who immigrated to the U.S. from India a decade earlier, had been surprised to learn that the deed to the roomy house in the San Mateo County town of Ladera still included a ban on all owners and occupants “other than...