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

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 486 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • Community gatherings offer healing for emotional wounds after disasters

    August 25, 2020 |

    Center for Public Integrity |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Santa Rosa, California

    Wildfires cause anxiety and other mental-health problems, but Sonoma County's Latino people can get help from a convivencia: a community gathering hosted by one of the nonprofit health and community centers in the area. To connect with people who may distrust or be blocked from using government-funded mental health care, or who may distrust mental health care altogether, the support-group therapy comes in the guise of a social gathering. Some sessions may focus as well on domestic violence or other social problems.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • With a truce brokered over Zoom, one D.C. neighborhood goes nearly 100 days without a shooting

    August 19, 2020 |

    The Washington Post |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    Violence interrupters conducted a dozen meetings over Zoom to negotiate a truce between two warring groups in a neighborhood that went from 11 shootings in 5 months to none for at least 99 days following the truce. To mediate the personal disputes that had led to violent clashes, those leading the negotiations, from the D.C. attorney general's Cure the Streets program, used their knowledge of the community and their credibility as streetwise actors standing apart from police to strike an agreement. Truces like this often don't last long, but this one helped amid big increases in violence citywide.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Don't Call The Cops — Call CAHOOTS

    August 13, 2020 |

    Wisconsin Public Radio |

    Radio |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

    In Eugene and Springfield, highly trained, unarmed mobile crisis response teams get dispatched by their cities' public-safety 911 systems to behavioral-health crises that do not require a police response. The 24/7 service, now in its 32nd year in Eugene, saves tens of millions of dollars per year by diverting cases from the criminal justice system and emergency-room care while defusing potentially violent interactions and getting people the care they need rather than the care imposed on them.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • 19 Volunteers Sharing an iPhone Are Trying to Support Incarcerated People Through COVID-19 Audio icon

    August 13, 2020 |

    TalkPoverty.org |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    Beyond These Walls launched a crisis phone line to provide emotional support for LGBTQ+ people who are incarcerated and to hold prisons and jails accountable for their virus-containment practices. Trained volunteers have fielded 369 calls so far, more than a quarter of which concern fears that reporting virus symptoms could land people in solitary confinement. Beyond These Walls and its coalition partners can provide safety by letting jailers know their practices are being monitored.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Mental health training for cops is working in Tucson. Can we bring it to Philly?

    August 10, 2020 |

    The Philadelphia Citizen |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

    Tuscon police use a combination of training and expanded resources to resolve mental health crises by putting people in the hands of mental health professionals, an approach that in 2019 diverted nearly 4,400 cases away from arrests and jail. All police officers take a required 12-hour mental health first aid class, and most go through another 40-hour crisis intervention training. A specialized team gets more extensive training to handle court-ordered interventions, emphasizing patience and humane treatment. A 24/7 Crisis Response Center serves as an intake desk to decide what help people in crisis need.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • A COVID ‘silver lining': You can start drug treatment over the phone — and more people are starting to

    August 10, 2020 |

    The Seattle Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

    Although COVID-19 has taken a toll on the healthcare industry, some providers and clinics have figured out a way to eliminate barriers during this time for those seeking treatment. According to the director of the Behavioral Health Institute at Harborview Medical Center in Washington, the healthcare industry has seen "at least five years worth of progress happen in four months" due to the implementation of telemedicine. While this isn't a longterm replacement for in-person visits, many doctors are reporting a rise in patient appointments via this system.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

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

    August 07, 2020 |

    The Community Voice |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

    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.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Scotland's 'Navigators' Transform Lives in the Emergency Room

    August 07, 2020 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Scotland, Glasgow

    In Scotland, the Navigators program performs violence interruption work in seven hospitals, at the bedside of victims of violence, with counseling and connections to social services to nudge people into safer lifestyles. Because Navigators act independently of the police and other authority figures, and because their service follows clients into the community, they are able to win the cooperation of 65-90% of those they approach. A survey of 100 clients showed 23% fewer emergency room visits in the year after cooperating with the program. Navigators started after violence in Scotland raged in 2005.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Program offers alternative for youth who commit misdemeanors

    August 05, 2020 |

    Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

    Choose 180 channels Seattle-area young people into an alternative to court and jail when they commit relatively minor offenses. This "offramp" from the traditional justice system, serving a disproportionately Black and brown clientele, helped 400 clients in 2019, 87% of whom did not commit new offenses. Research shows such diversion programs have a better track record for preventing future crimes. A Choose 180 "sentence" comes in the form of a workshop introducing young people to mentors and giving them a chance at the stability and frame of mind they need to seek more lasting change in their lives.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Using Telemedicine to Treat Opioid Addiction

    August 04, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

    The coronavirus pandemic has largely led to the expansion and adoption of telemedicine, which has helped those seeking treatment for addictions more easily access care. Although advocates of medication-assisted treatment have been working to eliminate barriers to virtual care for years, the pandemic has accelerated these efforts and the outcome has been successful. According to the associate executive director of Prevention Point Philadelphia, “It’s a reduction of the hassle, wait times, anxiety and fear of withdrawal in a waiting room."

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

Go to All Solutions in Focus