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

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  • Former D.C. inmates use virtual meetings for support, encouragement as they adjust to life outside prison

    Freed from prison after serving at least 15 years, often much longer, for crimes committed when they were teens, a group of men holds twice-monthly Zoom meetings to lend structure and peer support to their lives during a time when COVID-19 restrictions foreclose other face-to-face meetings. Under Washington, D.C.’s Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, 42 men have been released. At least 22 of them meet regularly to share leads on possible jobs, discuss their frustrations, and encourage each other to stay focused on the positive.

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  • The Love Lot: Where Step Up to the Plate offers free meals, live music, and medical attention to Kensington residents during COVID-19

    Step Up to the Plate is a collaborative effort of local organizations that began as a way to help those experiencing food insecurity due to Covid-19. Three outdoor sites have expanded to provide free meals, mental health and addiction resources, COVID-19 testing, live music and art to brighten people’s spirits, and help filling out stimulus check applications. The outdoor distribution site in Kensington gives out 560 healthy lunches a day. While the effort has brought to light just how bad things had gotten, it has also shown how effective organizations can be working together to meet the community’s needs.

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  • As COVID-19 Takes A Toll On Doctors' Mental Health, Nevada Psychiatrists Offer An Ear

    A new anonymous caller hotline launched in Nevada by volunteer psychiatrists to offer health-care workers a means of support as they work on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Although it's yet to be seen what the impact will be of this effort, a similar hotline for law enforcement that was staffed by fellow police officers resulted in a higher likelihood for officers calling in.

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  • As protests against police brutality go global, these Latina moms fight in memory of their sons

    Mothers of young Latino men killed by sheriff’s deputies in East Los Angeles have struggled to pry information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, but along the way they have formed a network of support groups helping fellow survivors cope with their grief and trauma. The loosely organized groups, populated mainly by women who hardly consider themselves activists, respond to the scenes of police shootings and engage with the mothers of victims in the weeks and months afterward. They have formed a sort of accountability watchdog brigade for a department that resists oversight.

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  • Minnesota 'crisis mode chaplains' seek to heal trauma of George Floyd's death

    In Minnesota, volunteer chaplains are attending community events at the request of the participants to provide counsel and support to anyone who may be experiencing symptoms of trauma. Before attending any event to lend help, the volunteer "clergy, spiritual leaders and mental health leaders" first undergo a virtual cultural sensitivity and trauma training. During the events, the interfaith chaplains often perform volunteer duties, but also wear orange shirts to be easily identifiable for those who would like to share.

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  • This town of 170,000 replaced some cops with medics and mental health workers. It's worked for over 30 years

    The CAHOOTS crisis-response program saves its city money and its people living on the streets a great deal of unwanted police contact – contact that in other places is a common cause of excessive force and arrests that solve nothing. And, while less than 1% of its calls require police backup, the resource-thin agency cautions that it is a partner with police, not an antagonistic replacement, and that its model cannot simply be copied wholesale regardless of where it's used.

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  • Comprehensive Services Key In Deterring Violence, Crime and Negative Interactions With Police

    Two programs targeting two types of problems have been successful with one common element: interventions that provide needed social services rather than rely only on police responses. In Baltimore, shootings and homicides in the Belair-Edison neighborhood are down 20% in the year since the Safe Streets program put violence interrupters on the street to cool disputes before they turn violent. In Dallas, the Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team's medical and social-worker responses to mental health crises reduced emergency room admissions 30%, replacing arrests with social and health services.

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  • Trauma-informed practices necessary for police, experts say

    The Adverse Childhood Experience Response Team sends family and crisis services advocates with police officers on home visits to offer families trauma-informed services after police have responded to an earlier emergency at the home. More than 1,200 children have been referred to services, an offer of help most families accept. Although the pandemic shutdown interrupted house calls, the model has spread to other New Hampshire communities. The ultimate effectiveness of the intervention may not be known for years, and only if researchers can follow up to learn if it may have prevented future incidents.

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  • Telehealth Appointments On The Rise, Offer Options For Patients And Doctors

    In Montana, the transition to telehealth during the Covid-19 pandemic has helped one health care clinic provide care for more patients than before the virtual visits were necessary. Although it's not yet determined if this model of care will be sustainable in the longterm because of insurance protocols, it has allowed for the clinic to hire more practitioners due in part to health insurance relaxing telehealth reimbursement regulations. Other health agencies have also found similar benefits from the transition of care.

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  • How to Defund the Police

    On the front lines of the defund-police movement, groups like Elite Learners and Save Our Streets Bed-Stuy mediate conflicts in ways that have lowered violence without the involvement of police, thus reducing arrests and incarceration at the same time. CMS workers often use the Cure Violence approach of "violence interruption," a form of outreach by community members to offer needed social services while preventing violence. The city, which credits these programs with a 15% decline in shootings in 17 precincts in a three-year span, is expanding the budget for this to nearly $50 million per year.

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