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How This Country Has Solved Homelessness

Laura Paddison

January 30, 2019 |

The Huffington Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Finland

In Finland, homelessness has been largely perceived as eradicated through its pilot of the now internationally recognized concept of Housing First, where people experiencing homelessness are offered safe, stable and permanent housing without the requirement of intensive services first. "Between 2008 and 2015, the number of people experiencing long-term homelessness dropped by 35 percent," a number that many countries are trying to replicate.

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Building the Prison-to-School Pipeline in California

Zoe Sullivan

January 28, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Berkeley, California

Providing those experiencing incarceration with educational services has shown to reduce recidivism by 28%. While many prisons offer GED or higher education classes, the opportunities are still hard to come by consistently, so organizations like Underground Scholars help recruit individuals after prison to colleges. Looking forward, those pushing for criminal justice reform hope to overturn a 1994 legislation that banned incarcerated individuals from being eligible for Pell Grants, which could help drive more people from prison to school.

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Switzerland fights heroin with heroin

Taylor Knopf

January 28, 2019 |

North Carolina Health News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Switzerland

Drug-assisted treatment has reduced rates of new substance abuse cases and HIV infections in Switzerland. With the implementation of an innovative drug policy program in 1994, Swiss doctors began to treat those suffering with chronic substance abuse with heroin-assisted treatment (HAT). The program benefitted from positive results in early trials and has encouraged the implementation of similar programs in other countries.

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Blunting Addiction's Impact

Gaby Galvin Steve Sternberg

January 28, 2019 |

U.S. News & World Report |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Millions of Americans are addicted to and hundreds of thousands have died from opioids, but learning what hasn't worked in treating the epidemic is providing a path forward to creating solutions that do have impact. From making medication-assisted treatment more accessible and less stigmatized to expanding Medicaid coverage and implementing harm reduction strategies, states across the U.S. are piloting new initiatives based off the knowledge gained from assessing the limitations of previous approaches.

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The Art of Humanizing Social Systems

David Bornstein

January 24, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

For social service agencies, prioritizing well-being requires new procedures and a framework for understanding holistic wellness. The Full Frame Initiative has partnered with agencies in the states of Massachusetts and Missouri in an effort to bring categories of well-being into their purview. The Initiative uses five metrics—safety, mastery, social connectedness, and access to resources— to help align social systems, ranging from courts and juvenile corrections to homeless housing services, with social needs so that agencies can better assist their communities.

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Switzerland couldn't stop drug users. So it started supporting them.

Taylor Knopf

January 21, 2019 |

North Carolina Health News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Switzerland

By prioritizing treatment over law enforcement, Switzerland dramatically reduced its drug problem. In 1994, the country adopted a progressive policy to treat heroin addiction as a public health crisis, focusing on harm reduction, treatment, and prevention in addition to traditional law enforcement. The policy, which embraces medicated-assisted treatment and universal access to services, helped greatly reduce issues such as the incidence of HIV, drug overdoses, and deaths over the long-term.

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Victoria judge shaped mental health law

Jessica Priest

January 21, 2019 |

The Victoria Advocate |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Victoria, Texas

In Victoria County, Texas, juries were tasked with determining whether or not the person being tried was fit to stand trial, oftentimes wasting taxpayer dollars and delaying treatment for those that need it. To change this, a task force was assembled and together, they created a bill that put the responsibility of determining mental state into the hands of the judge rather than jury members.

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Rent-a-sister: Coaxing Japan's young men out of their rooms

Amelia Martyn-Hemphill

January 18, 2019 |

BBC |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Japan, Tokyo

In Japan, an organization called New Start employs women that help men who are withdrawn from society. These men, called hikikomori, are often experiencing mental health issues, and cannot leave their homes. That’s where New Start’s rent-a-sister program comes in. These women spend months, sometimes years, with these men, building trust, giving advice, and adjust to society. The organization also provide halfway houses for these men, with 80% successfully re-entering society as independent individuals.

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Youth Empowerment

Jennifer Rooks

January 17, 2019 |

NH-PBS |

Broadcast TV Programs |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New Hampshire

Across New Hampshire, youth are leading the fight against substance abuse. Programs like Dover’s Youth-to-Youth, Stand Up Sachems, Youth Leadership Through Adventure, and the Making it Happen Coalition, are all youth-led, adult-supported initiatives that are empowering young adults to create and disseminate substance abuse awareness and prevention campaigns. Fundamental to each of these efforts effective communication and creating a sense of community as key to prevention.

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Durham County Dismisses Hundreds of Traffic Fines as Part of a License Restoration Effort

Sarah Willets

January 15, 2019 |

INDY Week |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

Durham County relieved hundreds of outstanding traffic fines in an effort to restore suspended driver's licenses. The program, called Durham Expungement and Restoration (DEAR), "identified more than 11,000 people eligible to have outstanding fines dropped" from charges resulting from court absence or inability to pay a traffic ticket.

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