Reducing Gun Violence

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/ceasefire-gun-violence-philadelphia

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

The Philadelphia Citizen

20 September 2019

Multi-Media / 1500-3000 Words

Oakland’s Ceasefire initiative takes a collaborative, comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence. City officials, community advocates, residents, and law enforcement work together by prioritizing data analysis, multi-stakeholder gatherings, personalized social services, specialized police training, and weekly reviews of shootings and meeting with victims. While this approach has shown success, it was hard to get started and required the community to organize around demands to stop gun violence. As Philly grapples with similar issues, it looks to Oakland as a model for grassroots change.

Fighting TB with phone calls: A project that reminded patients to take their medicine

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/fighting-tb-phone-calls-project-reminded-patients-take-their-medicine-109114

Priyadarshini Kendai

The News Minute

18 September 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

To remind tuberculosis patients to take their medication, hospitals in India incorporated the use of mobile phones. When patients received their medication by mail, the packaging material instructed them to call a toll-free number, which allowed the healthcare providers to check back in on those that did not call.

Beyond Jeffrey Epstein, suicide among inmates is a rising problem

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-tns-bc-inmates-suicide-20190913-story.html

Max Blau

Chicago Tribune

13 September 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

After the public’s attention was grabbed by a high-profile inmate suicide, it brought awareness to the growing issue across the country. Across America, activists, lawyers, and prison and public officials are trying to address the issue that has gone often ignored by politicians and the public. Responses like intake screenings, mental health training for officers, and ending the use of solitary confinement have been implemented in the effort to address inmate suicide.

California community colleges work to solve housing for foster youths

http://edsource.org/2019/california-community-colleges-work-to-solve-housing-for-foster-youths/617426

Ashley A. Smith

EdSource

12 September 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Several programs have cropped up throughout California to help former foster youth navigate what has been identified as the biggest challenge of aging out of the foster case system -- housing. NextUp and other initiatives at community colleges provide counseling and financial support to students who lack a built-in support network.

Why some experts are trying to redefine suicide

https://www.popsci.com/new-diagnosis-suicide-prevention

Temma Ehrenfeld

Popular Science

12 September 2019

Text / 1500-3000 Words

There is a movement amongst clinicians and researchers involved in suicide prevention to reclassify suicide as a "condition in its own right" in order to better teach and treat symptoms. In some places, such as Detroit's Henry Ford Health System, it is already classified as a specific mental health category which played a part in an 80 percent decrease in patience suicide rates.

A new initiative is trying to make searching for tampons easier for Highland Park women. It's part of a national movement.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/highland-park/ct-hpn-free-tampons-feminine-hygiene-tl-0919-20190912-24sfihe3pngsjeit6pg4qdbptu-story.html

Karen Berkowitz

Chicago Tribune

12 September 2019

Text / Under 800 Words

In 2013, the United Nations deemed access to menstrual supplies a human right. Since then, Illinois has taken a number of steps to make access to these products even easier. This story includes solutions such as free dispensers in public restrooms, eliminating the "luxury" or "tampon" tax, and drives to collect pads and tampons for low-income and homeless women.

This Man Says His Anti-violence Plan Would Save 12,000 Lives

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/can-thomas-abts-bleeding-out-curb-gun-violence/596164

Mark Obbie

The Atlantic

11 September 2019

Text / Over 3000 Words

With support for a New York-based grant program, Buffalo has been trying various evidence-based approaches to decrease violence, especially gun violence, in the city. The grant program, Gun Involved Violence Elimination, or GIVE, provides funding for police departments to adopt strategies like hot-spot policing, deterring those most at-risk, or street outreach to break the cycle of violence. While such strategies are linked to success, the process of implementing them, gaining support and trust from the community, and waiting for long-term change has proven challenging.

The gun solution we're not talking about

https://www.vox.com/2019/9/11/20861019/gun-solution-background-check-licensing

Madeline Marshall

Vox

11 September 2019

Multi-Media / 5-15 Minutes

While most Americans and politicians from across the partisan aisle support universal background checks for firearm purchases, that system has shown to not be as effective as many think. Instead, states are implementing licensing systems that require individuals wanting to buy a gun to take safety courses, apply with local law enforcement, provide references, and have their background checked. States that have such systems in place have seen a steady decline in gun homicides and suicides.

A Greener Afterlife

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/west-laurel-hill-cemetery-green-burial

Courtney Duchene

The Philadelphia Citizen

11 September 2019

Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words

Philadelphia’s West Laurel Hill Cemetery has gone green. While the burial business may be notoriously filled with chemicals, this cemetery has introduced 50 different sustainability initiatives, including banning machinery use, only allowing biodegradable caskets – or no caskets at all – and keeping the grounds flourishing with native plants instead of manicured lawns. The efforts also include community engagement to bring residents into the environmental shift as part of a larger, cultural trend toward sustainability.

The Courtroom of the Future Looks a Lot Like This Navajo Tradition

http://nationswell.com/restorative-justice-navajo-tradition-peacemaking

Monica Humphries

NationSwell

10 September 2019

Text / 800-1500 Words

Brooklyn’s Red Hook Peacemaking Program, part of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, is bringing together individuals in conflict to practice restorative justice. The program accepts cases coming through various courts, schools, and personal references, and brings together families, friends, and adversaries to participate in moderated, peacebuilding discussions. Seeing over 100 cases each year, the program has decreased recidivism rates and spread to other cities in New York.