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

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  • Appetites: Food truck helps keep Minnesota kids fed when school is out

    Food trucks have taken much of the United States by storm, but now the concept is being applied to helping keep children well nourished during summer months when school is out. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, trucks are now roaming the streets in St. Paul, Minnesota serving nutritional meals to children in the local school district.

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  • L.A. Homeless and Ex-Felons Find Second Chance in Skid Row Running Club

    L.A. Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell started the Skid Row Running Club, which leads runs every morning with formerly incarcerated addicts. Many of the participants have led successful lives after running, giving credence to the evidence of a linkage between aerobic exercise and a reparation of the parts of the brain that have been damaged by drug and alcohol abuse.

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  • Portugal, drugs and decriminalisation

    In 2001, facing a 20-year opioid epidemic, Portugal decriminalized all personal drug use, meaning people carrying drugs for personal use could no longer face prosecution or jail. The approach, met with public support, offered people access to services like safe injection sites and counseling and showed demonstrable success in declining opioid related deaths, the spread of infectious diseases, and drug use all together. As the rest of the world faces a similar crisis, Portugal could be a model response.

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  • Free heroin? Unusual clinic offers 'chance at being human again'

    In Vancouver, a program at the Crosstown Clinic is combatting drug overdoses by administering low-dose heroin to people who use drugs to keep them from experiencing withdrawal symptoms. The idea behind this approach is to treat the addiction like a medical problem rather than a criminal one.

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  • A Program Gives Jobs To Those Most At Risk For Violence; Can Chicago Afford It?

    An anti-violence program in Chicago called the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative, or READI, identifies and engages with those most vulnerable to partake or be a victim of gun violence, and provides them with the support they need to avoid it. Born out of a collaboration between the University of Chicago’s Crime and Education Lab and various philanthropical efforts, READI gives participants job counseling and therapy to cope with current and past traumas. While it’s seen demonstrable success, it hopes to expand with the financial support from the city.

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  • Gun violence has sharply declined in California's Bay Area. What happened?

    California’s Bay Area has seen a 30% decrease in gun homicides, despite increasing economic inequality. The region has had many interventions to reach this decline, but the key to all of them is their community-driven nature. From collaborations between law enforcement and social services, to community mentorship programs, to investing in gun violence as a public health issue, each initiative is founded on neighborhood and individual empowerment instead of policing and incarceration.

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  • 'It's a miracle': Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness

    In Helsinki, Finland, the "Housing First" model, where housing is offered to those experiencing homelessness unconditionally is showing results. The program, which also can include services and is made possible in part due to an intentionally large supply of housing in Finland, has helped Finland become the only country in the EU to see a decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness.

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  • Rethinking mental health for cops: When ‘good intentions' aren't enough

    Across the country, police departments are increasingly providing mental health services for law enforcement. Among the services deployed are internal support teams, post-incident debriefs, psychological first aid, and wellness and stress education. While they may take different forms and approaches, they are all driven by the need to support and manage the stress and trauma that come with the job.

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  • Colorado's Opioid Crisis Slows, In Part Because Of a Drug That Reverses Overdoses

    Increasing the availability of naloxone reduces the number of deaths from opioid overdose. In Colorado, the Naloxone for Life initiative, which began in 2016, has distributed thousands of kits to emergency first responders and has also made the medication available without a prescription. As a result, paramedics have used the medication to reverse several hundred overdoses in Colorado, administering over 700 doses in Denver in 2018 alone.

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  • How a new district attorney is shaking up the justice system in midcoast Maine

    The newly-elected district attorney in Maine, Natasha Irving, has started implementing restorative justice practices into the area’s criminal justice system. The use of restorative justice in this case includes offering mental health and substance abuse treatment, amongst other supportive services, and using prison as a last resort. There has been some pushback from law enforcement, but a willingness to try the new approach aimed at reducing recidivism in the region.

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