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Portugal's Wildly Successful Decriminalization Experiment

Carlyn Zwarenstein

August 24, 2019 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Portugal, Porto

Since introducing both the decriminalization of a range of substances like heroin and cocaine and new harm-reduction strategies in 2001, Portugal has seen success in driving down HIV cases, overdoses, and needle sharing. The country attributes their progress to treating the issue of drug use as a human rights issue rather than a criminal one, because they consider external factors that contribute to addiction like gender, class, or race.

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Prizes for sobriety: As Washington meth use rises, this treatment is one of few that works

Scott Greenstone

August 22, 2019 |

The Seattle Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Rewarding patients for sobriety greatly increases the likelihood for recovery. The approach of contingency management creates new behaviors through incentives instead of punishment. Through the Seattle Department of Veteran’s Affairs, patients in an addiction program who test negative get to draw a prize and accumulate rewards the longer they stay sober. This alternative form of treatment has proven effective in boosting patient participation—and success—in addiction programs at the Seattle VA.

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San Diego Is Showing California How to Use Its Red Flag Law

Alain Stephens

August 21, 2019 |

The Trace |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

In San Diego, California, more than three Gun Violence Restraining Orders, or “red flag laws,” have been used to prevent gun violence. These laws have gained in popularity across the country, and allow courts to temporarily take away firearms from individuals who pose a danger to themselves or others. With such success in San Diego, their attorney’s office is now training law enforcement and government agencies across the state on how to use such orders.

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Overcoming an Epidemic: Opioids in Pennsylvania

Emily Reddy Anne Danahy Min Xian

August 20, 2019 |

WPSU |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Pennsylvania

Across Pennsylvania, researchers, medical professionals, communities, and local governments are taking steps to address the opioid crisis. The epidemic that has swept across the country is being addressed at every level, including individual, family, and community. Responses include destigmatizing efforts like the Share Your Opioid Story project, school-based prevention education, drug court programming, medication assisted treatment, and training and awareness initiatives for medical professionals in urban and rural areas.

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Reimagining New York Jails Without Solitary Confinement

Reuven Blau Rosa Goldensohn

August 19, 2019 |

The City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Solitary confinement was once thought of as one of the only effective punishments for violent prison inmates. As more research surfaces showing the severe damage it does to mental health, the racial bias of those placed in solitary, and its relative ineffectiveness, more cities, like New York City, are exploring alternatives to the practice. In places such as Denver, Chicago, and San Francisco, rather than invoking a punitive approach, city officials are offering positive reinforcement – and seeing positive results.

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‘Our youngest we lost was nine.' Austin ISD police home in on mental health

Chris Nelson Tom Miller

August 18, 2019 |

KXAN-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

The Austin school district credits its crisis intervention police officers, trained in deescalation in mental health emergencies, with contributing to a level of care that defused a student-suicide crisis. Six students ended their lives in the 2017-18 school year, while none did the following year. Teaming up with counselors, the police deal both with parents and students in seeking better mental health care for them rather than turning crises into arrests and punishment. On the dozens of campuses where such care has been emphasized, even test scores are up.

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4.5 Million Young People Nationwide Are Not Working or in School. How Cities Are Working to Get Them Back on Track — & Avoid the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Bekah McNeel

August 13, 2019 |

The 74 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, California

There is a certain population of youth aged 16-24 that are neither in school nor working because of some derailment (oftentimes burdensome responsibilities) along the way. A national organization called Nxt Level helps people get back on track with their goals through a specialized team that helps an individual with things like getting a GED, mental health or legal resources, job training, and food programs. They even work with local businesses to give the kids a chance and hire them upon their completion of the program. Nxt Level now has centers in Baltimore, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and more.

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‘It's Like an Automatic Deportation if You Don't Have a Lawyer'

Mazin Sidahmed

August 13, 2019 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

With the help of legal counsel, immigrants facing deportation are more likely to win their cases and keep their families together. The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project is one of several organizations in New York that provides lawyers free of charge to detained immigrants. The program is also a part of the broader Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) network, which includes 18 cities that have set up legal defense funds for immigrants.

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Paid Family Leave Is a Game Changer for New Parents' Health, Not Just Their Economic Security

Benjamin Ryan

August 12, 2019 |

The Nation (New York) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

The United States is the only developed nation to not have a national paid family leave policy, so several states are enacting their own form of the policy in order to better serve families and child development. The handful of states that have implemented a policy that allows for time off work with at least partial pay, have reported a myriad of successful outcomes including a decrease in infant and maternal mortality rates and overall better health of the child.

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Counselors engage new parents before vaccine hesitancy hardens

Eric Boodman

August 05, 2019 |

STAT |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Sherbrooke, Quebec

In a handful of hospitals throughout Canada, vaccination counselors are helping to relieve new parents' trepidation toward infant and child vaccinations. By engaging in a "motivational interview" immediately before the child is born rather than waiting until the two-year check-up, doctors are finding that parents are increasingly willing to go through with the vaccinations as opposed to those who did not have an in-person conversation.

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