Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Sent to prison young, they found healing at northern Michigan camp

    The Youth Justice Fund sends formerly incarcerated men and women to a lakeside summer camp as therapy for the trauma they suffered growing up and during long prison sentences that started when they were teenagers and extended decades into adulthood. By enjoying water sports on Lake Michigan and taking classes in art and music on a 300-acre forested campground, the recently released people find a safe place to talk about their trauma and the challenges of reentering society. For some, these days represent the first real freedom and joy they have experienced as adults.

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  • Bad Death Notifications are Affecting Families; Can They be Fixed?

    The nationwide non-profit Trauma Intervention Programs Inc. uses volunteers trained in "compassionate notifications" – informing families of loved ones' deaths, a task that often is bungled by untrained, rushed first responders and hospital workers. In more than 250 communities, TIP volunteers can be dispatched simultaneously with fire and police teams. They provide counseling and assist families long after first responders have left. Advocates say their role can mend police-community relations in places like Kansas City, which lacks a formal protocol and resources for handling notifications.

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  • Alleviating anxiety via internet

    A partnership between Montana State University and Seattle-based Waypoint Health Innovations is helping bring virtual mental health services to rural communities in Montana. Although the program has only been in research stages thus far, the positive effects already documented has led the program to be ushered into "widespread implementation" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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  • Virtual LGBT+ support group creates a space for youth

    When in-person meetings became impossible during the pandemic, Epicenter's youth-run, drop-in resource center for youth made its LGBTQ+ support group virtual, and attendance went up. The group, called Our Gente, provides a place for youth to support each other. Those trapped at home with families that are unsupportive can still participate online using text chats, rather than having to speak aloud. Youth at the center create their own programming, but work closely with Epicenter's deputy director, who grew up queer, non-binary in a family that at first did not support them.

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  • Black Lives Matter Protests Rarely End in Violence – Especially in Appalachia

    Thirty-six people protesting police violence and racism held the first civil rights march in Terra Alta. Met by counter-protesters with guns who were expecting out-of-town agitators, the groups engaged in peaceful and respectful dialogue rather than conflict. Each side expressed their viewpoints and shared the personal experiences that helped form those views. While they did not agree on many topics, they both felt that social media and mainstream media portrayals of the two groups fueled misinformation and ill will. Instead, both sides saw each other as human beings rather than stereotypes and caricatures.

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  • They Agreed to Meet Their Mother's Killer. Then Tragedy Struck Again.

    Jacksonville’s prosecutor began a unique experiment in using restorative justice dialogue in murder cases, seeking to help survivors learn the full truth of a crime in ways a traditional trial would not provide. In return for an honest dialogue with the people they harmed, defendants could win more lenient sentences. But in one case the tactic failed in a way that added to the survivors’ pain and ended the program altogether. Restorative dialogue has been shown to help victims, mainly when used after a conviction or for less serious crimes.

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  • What Philly can learn about smarter policing from Volusia County, Florida Audio icon

    Since he took over the Volusia County, Florida, Sheriff's Office in 2016, Philadelphia police veteran Mike Chitwood changed many of his department's personnel and put the entire 1,000-employee department through de-escalation training. By 2019, the reforms were credited with cutting deputies' use of force in half, all while crime dropped by 40% and arrests by 30%. A core piece of the training, inspired by Scottish police, is the Police Executive Research Forum's ICAT program, which emphasizes critical thinking and communication skills over the threat of deadly force.

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  • Community peacemakers in Chicago offer a proven alternative to policing

    Nonviolence Chicago uses street-outreach workers to mediate disputes and connect residents of violence-prone neighborhoods to needed services. Its work, amounting to tens of thousands of contacts per year with people involved in violence, has contributed to efforts that reduced homicides and nonfatal shootings in the Austin neighborhood by nearly half from 2016 to 2019. By replacing the police with former gang members and others with street credibility, and working with both victims and shooters, Nonviolence Chicago wins the trust of residents.

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  • How men in Latin America are unlearning machismo

    Through workshops, hotlines, and video training organizations and groups in Latin America are working to fight against 'machista,' which translates to sexist attitudes held by men in regard to women. In Colombia, the European Union has helped to set up The National School for the Unlearning of Machismo (ENDEMA) which helps viewers identify sexist attitudes in videos illustrating everyday situations. In Mexico, Gendes, an organization supporting civil rights, holds group therapy sessions, and provides a hotline for men to call when they feel they're about to become violent.

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  • Community Workers Lend Human Connection To COVID-19 Response

    Community health workers have long been helping people navigate the intersection of health care and social services in the United States, such as in Philadelphia, where one program stands out for its overall design and continuous rigorous evaluation. Studies of the program indicate that those who worked with community health workers improved their overall health compared to those who received standard care. Now, as many cities navigate the Covid-19 pandemic, some officials see an opportunity to expand the workforce to also provide "social, material and psychological support."

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