Category Archives: Intentional Communities

To drive diverse participation in precision medicine efforts, providers and patient advocacy groups must identify and break down the barriers that exclude minority communities beginning with the lack of awareness.

Actively encouraging minority patients to sign up for clinical trials and research studies is key, said Dr. Elizabeth Heath, associate center director of translational sciences and chair of the genitourinary oncology multidisciplinary team at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit. She was speaking at the MedCity INVEST Precision Medicine virtual conference on Wednesday. Health participated ina panel on health equity in precision medicine moderated by Dr. Kemi Olugemo, executive medical director of neurology clinical development, Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

We have fliers in our clinic [saying] Ask me about a clinical trial,' Heath said. Its one of those things that is the last to get brought up. Everybody is under a time crunch, or you may or may not have given bad news [to your patient] and its really hard to weave that into the conversation. But if we dont put that as an expectation and be intentional about doing it, it wont ever happen.

Many individuals, especially people of color, navigate an unfamiliar and often hostile healthcare landscape on their own. These patients are not even aware of the full spectrum of treatment options available to them, including ones that can help personalize their care. So, providers must be intentional about making their patients aware of the availability of clinical trials for their conditions, Heath said.

Awareness is not the only issue when it comes to diversifying clinical trial participation and boosting health equity in precision medicine.

Trust is a key factor, especially among Black people who have a longstanding suspicion of the U.S. healthcare system, said Alyshia Merchant, a lupus survivor who after facing several challenges in her care journey established nonprofit Making Lupus Look Good to create a community for people with the condition.

To develop that trust, those conducting research and clinical trials must be transparent about the goals of the trial, the consequences of dropping out and data use and privacy, she said.

But its not just up to the researchers to address patient mistrust. Black people must become advocates themselves to encourage their community to participate in precision medicine-focused studies, Merchant said.

In fact, Merchant is keen on educating and creating awareness of clinical trials and studies, like the National Institutes of Healths All of Us Research Program, through Black voices.

Im just having someone come out and say Hey, Im participating in these trials and Im okay, and if I can do it, you can do it too,' she said.

The final major hurdle to encouraging clinical trial participation is access to care and health insurance coverage.

It is important to note that just because a patient has coverage, it doesnt mean they are very engaged in their care and have knowledge of how the health system works, said Dr. Kate Burke, senior medical advisor of patient advocacy group PatientsLikeMe, during the panel.

If you are someone who doesnt even go to a primary care physician to help with your diabetes or your hypertension, its highly unlikely youre someone who will be signing up for a clinical trial, she said.

This, once again, is where patient groups can step in and help connect people to the resources they need.

PatientsLikeMe provides a digital home for patients, bringing them together to share advice and support, and enabling them to make informed care choices. The platform also allows patients to sign up for research projects.

By working together, providers, researchers and patient advocates can make a dent in the longstanding issue of diversifying clinical trials. And this could ultimately help unlock the promise of precision medicine for all.

Photo: Warchi, Getty Images

The rest is here:

Cancer doc: To boost minority participation, we have fliers in our clinic saying Ask me about a clinical trial - MedCity News

HARRISBURGAttorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that the Office of Attorney General (OAG) has shut down another large drug trafficking operation in Kensington, the OAGs sixth since launching the Kensington Initiative. The months-long investigation, conducted by the Kensington Initiative, resulted in the arrests of eight individuals, including the organizations ringleader and two high-level dealers. Agents also seized seven firearms, including a ghost gun and a semi-automatic shotgun, more than 8,000 doses of heroin/fentanyl, and $30,000 in cash.

Launched in 2018, the Kensington Initiative is a unique partnership between local, state, and federal law enforcement to target major criminal drug organizations in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.

As part of our ongoing Kensington Initiative, we are committed to doing our part to protect communities and families that call Philadelphia home. That means holding accountable the individuals directly responsible for pumping poison and committing violence in our neighborhoods, said Attorney General Shapiro. My office is committed to this goal, and we are not leaving any block behind. Were also grateful to our partners in law enforcement for their support in this difficult and often dangerous work, and to the citys managing directors office for beginning to restore and recover these communities that have been ravaged by violence. This work is important it saves lives, it saves families and it protects neighborhoods.

On Thursday, June 3, 2021, agents from the Office of Attorney Generals Bureau of Narcotics Investigations, Gun Violence Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, officers from the Philadelphia Police Department, FBI, Warrington Police Department, Hatboro Borough Police Department and the Philadelphia Sheriffs Department executed 8 search warrants in Kensington. During the execution of the search warrants, agents seized 259 grams, or 8,633 doses, of heroin/fentanyl, 560 grams of crack cocaine, 1,533 grams of cocaine, seven guns, and $30,139 in cash.

The City of Philadelphias Opioid Response Unit initiated its immediate community response, which involves targeted community engagement and survey of the enforcement area, in order to determine the urgent needs of the residents in this area and offer connection to immediate city services such as housing assistance, employment, food access and treatment and vacant lot remediation.

Eight individuals were arrested on June 3, including the operations ringleader Chris Beauford, along with Joseph Stanton Sr., Joseph Stanton Jr., Rasun Owens, Christina Calhoun, Erik Severino, Coraliz Bizaldi, and Kareem Briggs. They have each received charges, including: Corrupt Organizations, Dealing in Illegal Proceeds, Possession with Intent to Deliver, Conspiracy, Knowing and Intentional Possession of Narcotics, Criminal Use of a Communications Facility, and Possessing Instruments of Crime.

Beauford and Stanton Sr. have been charged with Felon Not To Possess A Firearm and Possessing A Gun With An Obliterated Serial Number. Stanton Jr., Severino, and Bizaldi have each been charged with Possessing A Gun With An Obliterated Serial Number. Briggs was also charged with Felon Not To Possess A Firearm. 14 individuals are still at large and warrants have been issued for their arrest.

In March, the Office of Attorney General increased their partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department to address the growing violence and drug trafficking. Since the increased efforts began, 29 firearms have been seized, including four ghost guns, 2,525 grams of cocaine, 417.4 grams of crack cocaine, 22 grams of methamphetamine, 1,030 grams of heroin/fentanyl, 600 fentanyl pills, and more than $16,500 in cash.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Melissa Francis. All charges are accusations. The defendants are innocent unless and until proven guilty.

# # #

Follow this link:

AG Shapiro: Kensington Initiative Arrests Eight, Seizes Ghost Guns, Heroin, and $30k In Latest Operation - Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down the nation last spring, millions of children across the country were forced to leave their classrooms and turn to remote learning. However, the shift resulted in the "disappearance" of thousands of students, who never logged on or re-appeared when classrooms reopened in the fall.

In March, ABC News reported on the troubling number of students "missing" from public school systems around the country, leaving educational experts and school officials deeply concerned about the trend and its potential long-term ramifications.

According to recent data from the Department of Health and Human Services, 51% of U.S. school districts are back to offering full-time in-person instruction, while 42% are offering hybrid in-person learning. Only 7% of districts are still operating fully remotely, a notable shift from January when over 30% of districts were still fully remote.

In the final weeks of the academic year, ABC News reached out a second time to education departments in all 50 states, to get an update on the status of student attendance.

Many state officials said they still do not have updated data on chronic absenteeism, while others said they will not know fall enrollment numbers until they are reported by the districts later in the year.

But still other officials say there are still hundreds, and in some districts, thousands, of students unaccounted for.

We still have a sizable group of students that we just haven't been able to make contact with, said Corey Harris, chief of schools at Boston Public Schools, who estimates the number to be in the range of 1,200-1,300, out of approximately 51,000 students. Most challenging, he said, is when the district is forced to dis-enroll students -- those who have not logged on for a certain number of days and for whom all means of contacting the family have been exhausted.

School districts are now doubling down on their efforts to track down students, many of whom come from disadvantaged populations, including going door-to-door to knock and providing incentives such as food pantries to try to entice them. They are also investing in services and programs to meet their needs as they attempt to make up for lost time.

Impacting those most vulnerable

The pandemic has laid bare the many inadequacies and challenges, inherent in the public education system, that are heightened for students of color, English language learners, children with disabilities and students from low-income communities, according to Denise Forte, Interim CEO of the Education Trust, a national nonprofit that works to address the inequities in education.

It's those same communities who have been under-resourced, and felt the brunt of history. Those who suffered more during the pandemic, were also those who had been impacted by all the systemic barriers that have prevented them from succeeding in the past, Forte told ABC News. Some young people who had to leave school because their parents were out of work, and they had to go find some part time work to support them, or they weren't able to fully participate in their own studies because they're supporting their younger siblings.

Ella Palmer laughed while raising her hand in Deb Coy's government class for seniors at Carlton High School, Sept. 8, 2020, in Carlton, Minn.

According to Sara Sneed, President and CEO of the NEA Foundation, prior to the pandemic, chronic absence, defined as 10 or more days absent from school, particularly affected children from these vulnerable populations, and it only worsened during the pandemic.

Working to re-engage

Many states reported to ABC News that their school districts have been working hard to engage with students, and track down any that may not be engaging with school.

In California, the state superintendent has created a family engagement unit in its education department, to create strategies to reconnect with students. Although the total number of unaccounted students in California is unknown, statewide enrollment numbers dropped more than 160,000 students, this year, a 2.6% decline.

With a chronic absence rate of 20% this year, compared to approximately 10%-12% in years prior, Connecticut has launched an engagement and attendance program to reach K-12 students struggling with absenteeism. One initiative seeks to have personnel touching base with families and students through home visits, in the hope of encouraging them to return to school, and to help them with placements in summer camps and learning programs.

Similarly, in Mississippi, school attendance officers have worked with districts throughout the school year to ensure that all school-age children, who were not re-enrolled in local public schools, were registered in a learning environment, such as charter or private schools. By February, officers had track down all but 1,156 students, a number similar to previous years.

Children wait to enter classrooms, Oct. 5, 2020, at the Carrie P. Meek/Westview K-8 Center in Miami.

In Boston, teams have been knocking on doors to try to track down students, and through various engagement strategies include food pantry pop-ups, and resource initiatives, some students have begun to return to classroom.

And in Arizona, about 38,500 fewer students are enrolled in public schools this year, with about 40% of that decline among preschool and kindergarten students, opting to postpone enrollment. Others may have become disengaged with their public schools.

We were really brought to our knees by this pandemic in the first 90 days, and that translated into some really hard hits. The first 40 days of school, we took a gut wrenching 2,800 in student loss. That was about 6% of our student body... that's a lot, Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo told ABC News.

While some Tucson district families opted for other learning options such as charter and private schools, and others left the state altogether because of economic migration, the whereabouts of a "most troubling" third group of several hundred students -- who were not logging on or enrolled in any other school -- is still unknown by school officials.

The academic losses are starting to mount every day that goes by where kids are not in school or getting any kind of instruction, Trujillo added.

Since the district returned to school buildings in March, 800 missing students have returned, mainly families that were waiting for in-person learning, but several hundred students remain unaccounted, said Trujillo.

Fourth grade teacher Kelly Brant stands in her classroom as she talks to her students who were learning remotely, Jan. 19, 2021, at Park Brook Elementary School in Brooklyn Park, Minn.

We haven't given up on them that's going to be a major initiative of our team this summer and early fall, to track them down. Each case is individual, each case requires a little bit of investigative work. That's going to be very arduous and tedious work, but we don't want to lose any kid. We want to know that they're okay.

These students will be tracked down with the help of 15 to 20 newly hired dropout prevention specialists, who will try to contact them all.

Our goal is to make contact with every single young person, make sure they're safe, and offer them an opportunity to come home. Or, if Tucson Unified is no longer an option for them, help them continue their education and an option that works for them, Trujillo said.

Addressing the gap

School districts are now working to readjust their curriculums in an order to address learning loss experienced during the pandemic.

Classrooms, in 2021-2022, are going to look tremendously different, says Forte, with some kids not at grade level, others with months' worth of unfinished learning, while a few may have actually thrived, and are above grade level.

Hence the need for intentional and evidence-based strategies, she said, such as intensive tutoring, with students working in small groups with one teacher, offering them instruction that's aligned with their curriculum, as well as the social/emotional support they may also need.

In Tucson, in addition to the regular curriculum, students entering first grade, for instance, will revisit key concepts and skills that may have been lost in kindergarten. And rigorous, five days a week, summer school will be critical to give students a head start for fall. Some 10,000 students have already enrolled.

Finding these students will be critical, officials agreed.

School is the great equalizer in American society. Bad things happen when you don't graduate from high school, worse things happen when you don't even start high school, Trujillo said. These young lives matter, and we want them back in the only place that they need to be right now, and thats school.

Follow this link:

With return to in-person learning, thousands of students still 'missing' from schools - ABC News

As Virginia lawmakers consider how to spend more than $4.3 billion in federal funding from the American Rescue Plan, two former state leaders are calling for more investment in the states historically Black colleges and universities.

Former Gov. Doug Wilder and Jim Dyke, who served as Virginias first Black secretary of education in Wilders administration, called for the infusion of money this week in a letter to Gov. Ralph Northam and a bipartisan group of legislative leaders.

The governor and General Assembly have the responsibility to immediately provide Virginias four HBCUs with significant and ongoing funding, they wrote. This commitment should include initial grants of $50 million to each HBCU for scholarships, recruitment, retention, academic programs and capital projects as provided to non-HBCUs.

Its not the first time there have been calls to provide more funding to the schools, which include Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, Hampton University and Virginia Union University. In 2019, Northam proposed an additional $293 million investment in Norfolk and Virginia State two public HBCUs to level the playing field with other universities.

As the Mercury reported, the schools had some of the lowest four- and five-year graduation rates in the state, coupled in many cases with declining enrollment.

Many of those challenges date back to the creation of HBCUs. Most emerged from modest beginnings due to the states refusal to integrate education or fund schools for Black students. Wilder said Norfolk State, now Virginias largest HBCU, originally started in a YMCA as a branch of Virginia Union University. VUU also weathered intentional segregation efforts, including the construction of Richmonds Interstate 95 and Interstate 64 corridor. The construction deliberately separated the university from the citys historically Black Jackson Ward neighborhood, researchers found.

So the question is, when are we going to acknowledge that not only was it wrong, but it was never improved upon to the extent that it should have been? Wilder said.

He met with the states four HBCUs ahead of a planned special session this summer to allocate Virginias ARP funding one of the largest economic recovery efforts ever, according to a joint statement from Northam and General Assembly leaders.

Higher education lost billions during the COVID-19 pandemic, but HBCUs were already more financially vulnerable. The schools have smaller endowments and a much greater percentage of low-income students than other universities, the Mercury has reported. And while many state colleges saw negligible drops in enrollment or even increases both Norfolk and Virginia State lost students during the pandemic, according to data from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Dyke, though, said the request for funding was equally important as an economic opportunity. A recent report from the national think tank Education Reform Now found that Virginia accounts for a third of the 15 worst-ranked public colleges and universities in Pell Grant enrollment. The grants are given to students with exceptional financial need and unlike other federal aid dont have to be repaid.

The same report found that only three of Virginias public universities enroll a proportion of Black and Hispanic students thats equal to their total makeup of the college-aged population. Two of those schools are HBCUs. That makes direct aid especially important, Dyke said, given the disproportionate role they play in educating underserved communities.

Theres so much more than needs to be done, especially when you factor in that were trying to create a stronger, better-prepared workforce, he said. Other institutions have been woefully lacking in enrolling minority and low-income students.

Over the last few years, there has been increased investment in the states public HBCUs. The most recent budget includes more than $20 million for Norfolk State and Virginia State, according to SCHEV including roughly $10 million for affordability pilot programs aimed specifically at Pell Grant-eligible students living within 25 miles of the universities.

But both Wilder and Dyke said it doesnt make up for decades of underfunding and fewer resources that have left HBCUs at a disadvantage. Theyre also calling for the state to boost its overall investment in underserved students. In addition to $50 million grants for each of the states four HBCUs, theyre asking legislators to commit at least $1,500 to $2,000 per student in financial aid and tuition assistance grants. Those dollars would go to all of Virginias colleges and universities for each Pell Grant student they enrolled.

Lets provide some financial incentives for them to go out and do a better job, Dyke said. And underneath all of this is accountability. We need to hold these institutions accountable for educating all students.

Other states have set a precedent for investing substantially both in HBCUs and underserved students. Last month, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper asked the state to spend $350 million of its ARP dollars on scholarships for students whose families make $60,000 or less a year. Maryland just recently announced a $577 million settlement with its four HBCUs after a group of alumni sued over inequality in the states higher education system.

Were saying that Virginia can act now, Dyke said. Higher education isnt mentioned in a list of priorities outlined in the joint statement from Northam and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly. But one senior budget chair has already expressed support for funding HBCUs.

Virginia has underfunded them for too long, said Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, chair of the chambers Finance Committee. The additional federal funding we are receiving will make righting this historic wrong not only possible but essential.

Read more here:

Former governor, education secretary call for more investment in Virginia's historically Black colleges - Virginia Mercury

At 8 years old, Kayla Weissbuch received a scholarship to attend summer camp, and her life was forever changed by the experience. Now, Kayla can be found running her very own sleep-away camp, Camp Brave Trails, alongside her partner, Jessica. The leadership-focused camp welcomes LGBTQ+ youth ages 12 through 18 for five week-long sessions in California every summer (plus one week at a Maryland location) and gives Kayla and Jessica an opportunity to introduce the magic of camp to teens while also providing a safe space.

"When you walk [through] the camp gates to see a forest drenched in rainbows and our staff cheering to welcome you, you instantly feel a sense of belonging unlike anywhere else in the world. That's only the beginning of what is often described as our campers' 'favorite time of the year,'" reads Brave Trails's opening statement on its website. And as someone who was very fortunate to have had the transformative childhood experience of sleep-away camp, it gives me freaking chills.

I spoke to Kayla and Jessica about their shared involvement in starting Brave Trails, why this endeavor means so much to them, and how they use their summer sessions to teach leadership skills and empower teens to be change-makers.

"For a lot of our kids, they walk around their school environments and communities at home trying to defend themselves, trying to advocate for themselves, trying to fit unfortunately so much of the world is not accommodating to LGBTQ+ youth, or silences them," Kayla told POPSUGAR. "It's been really fun to create a space where they don't have to be an advocate for themselves, they don't have to have that shield or that guard up."

Kayla and Jessica describe Brave Trails as the quintessential summer-camp experience, but with an LGBTQ+ "twist." Campers are organized in cabins by age, not gender, and aren't expected to adhere to any type of gendered dress codes. All identities and pronouns are respected, and consent is a huge part of their camp culture everyone must ask before touching another person or their belongings. Additionally, the Weissbuchs wanted to avoid Brave Trails feeling like therapy, so they instead crafted it to be "a therapeutic space to allow folks to explore who they are and their identity, and try on different names."

"It's nonclinical, honestly. A lot of our kids are coming from LGBTQ centers and LGBTQ therapy or school therapists. And those are amazing places and have done so much to support youth, but it's also about remembering that they're still kids. They need childhood experiences," Kayla said. Jessica, who is a licensed marriage and family therapist, added: "[Our campers] have different needs sometimes. Unfortunately the levels of anxiety and depression in queer youth is four times as high as nonqueer youth, and we had that in mind as we were building the program."

Kayla and Jessica Weissbuch

As the founders and codirectors of Camp Brave Trails, one of the most important things Kayla and Jessica wanted to do away with was the idea of tradition for the sake of tradition, as some like gendered housing can be harmful and limiting. To achieve this, the duo are constantly open to the idea of change and include their campers and staff in the ongoing design of camp.

"If something's not working and they come to us, we're not just like, 'Well, that's the way it's done,' we're like: 'Yeah, OK, let's talk about it. Why doesn't it work? What can we do to change it?' We take action," Jessica shared. Kayla added, "Our campers designed so many of our rules, it's awesome."

They also give their campers the ultimate choice of how their days will look. Even though camp activities are planned to an extent, campers are given various options for what to do each day. "Campers sign up for all of their activities because we want them to have autonomy," Kayla said. "There's so much that queer youth do not have autonomy over, so that is one thing our campers really love."

That said, should a camper not be feeling up to a certain activity they originally picked, the staff are poised to provide even more flexibility, especially after 16 months of the pandemic.

"We're going to have grace for everybody's experiences," Kayla said. "Everybody is going to be coming at us from a different place having experienced different levels of trauma over the last year. [We'll] adjust to what the kids need. If they need to hock programming for a session and go have a dance party, let's do that. If they need to have a night in with their cabin instead of doing an evening program, let's do that. We're all prepared to take it one step at a time and just hear the needs of our people."

Another way the Weissbuchs are in tune with their campers' needs is in terms of financial aid, especially as Kayla was first able to attend camp herself on a scholarship. "The common narrative of camp is white, upper-middle class, so we're really trying to change that narrative and provide a space for anybody that can come. We never want money to be the reason why a camper can't come, so we provide anywhere between 20 and 70 thousand dollars of scholarships every summer," Jessica said of the fundraising she and Kayla do in their local community to help send kids to Brave Trails.

In addition to its traditional camp activity offerings, like swimming, arts and crafts, and sports, Camp Brave Trails further sets itself apart with a twofold leadership program that teaches kids the skills needed to create change. "There are two major programs that we have at camp that are 100 percent leadership-focused. Everything we do has a leadership twist to it, but these two programs are the meat and potatoes," Jessica explained.

One half of Brave Trails's leadership offerings are workshops hosted by folks from the local community. Four or five run per day in a variety of topics, such as how to create an LGBTQ+ club at school, public speaking, and queer sex education, as well as identity and mental health workshops that help campers ground themselves and other members of their communities.

The second program, Passion to Action, is described by Jessica as an "intentional storytelling space." Passion to Action helps campers realize what their passion is and how to craft a personal story about that passion with the intention of creating action in their community. For example, how to tell their school board why it's important they have a recycling program at their school.

"One of the intentional reasons we made it specifically a leadership camp was to show queer youth that they have so much natural resiliency and so many natural leadership skills that they may not recognize in themselves," Kayla said, adding that they do their best to point out that leadership can come in many forms and has no one definition. "We kind of just give them the tools and let them run with it. . . . We like to tell our campers that camp is not a utopia, it's the launching pad. Get all your gear together, get all your knowledge, and we can turn it into something."

In addition to hosting teens throughout the summer, one of the other programs Jessica and Kayla created is Brave Trails's family camp, which is held on a weekend in March. The pair joked that the idea was born out of selfishness, as when they were in the process of adopting their now nearly 3-year-old child, Ari, they saw an opportunity to create something really wonderful for other queer families like their own.

"[The idea for family camp] came about when we were starting our family. There's almost nothing out there for queer families," Kayla shared. "It can be extremely isolating. And especially as kids grow, it's so healthy to be able to see other families like theirs . . . just being together and celebrating letting the kids be kids but with this undertone of celebration for each unique family."

"And not having to explain your family," Jessica added. "It's been really cool to see the community just grow. All of our families are not only at camp together, but then they have parties and vacation together now and are just in community."

Although family camp has been on pause since the onset of the pandemic, Brave Trails is opening its doors for reduced-capacity summer camp in July. All four sessions are completely booked and the waitlist currently has upwards of 700 kids on it.

Kayla shared that while some camps she's in contact with are hearing feedback that campers are upset certain aspects of camp will be different this summer, many of the Brave Trails parents are just excited their kids will be around other queer youth after spending so much time apart from their friends. For some campers, Kayla explained, the only friends they have are at camp every year. "It'll be fun to be with our campers in a space of gratitude of just being together."

Follow this link:

Meet the Founders of Brave Trails, a Leadership-Focused LGBTQ+ Summer Camp For Teens - POPSUGAR

VERSAILLES, Ky. (WTVQ) The Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded Frontier Nursing University two grants totaling $4,140,000.

The HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant totals $1,920,000 and the Nursing Workforce Diversity grant totals $2,220,000. HRSA, which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will award the funding for both grants in annual installments during the next four years.

We are so thrilled and thankful to have been awarded these grants by the Health Resources and Services Administration, FNU President Dr. Susan Stone said. These funds will enable us to expand on the important work we are already doing to address two glaring needs in our nations healthcare system: a shortage of psychiatric-mental health nurse providers and a lack of diversity among healthcare providers. We have been dedicated and intentional in our efforts to prepare our students to fill these needs, and the HRSA grants are verification of our leadership in these areas of focus and of our potential to make substantially more progress in the years ahead.

The Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) grant project will be led by Dr. Jess Calohan, DNP, PMHNP-BC, Chair of FNUs Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Department.

The project period extends from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025, with the award for the first year totaling $480,000.

The goal of the project is to increase the number of psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners who are diverse in race, ethnicity, and other underrepresented populations serving in rural and medically underserved communities through collaboration with clinical Experiential Training Site partners.

The grant project will support curriculum development related to child/adolescent care, interprofessional team-based trauma-informed care, and additional telehealth simulations. This grant will provide $290,000 annually in scholarships for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner students.

The Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) grant will be led by FNU Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Geraldine Young, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CDCES, FAANP.

The project period extends from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025, with the award for the first year totaling $555,000.

The overarching goal of the NWD program is to increase the number and diversity of certified nurse-midwives across the United States who serve in rural and underserved areas in an effort to prevent and reduce maternal mortality.

Central to this is the need to increase nurse-midwifery education and training opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and see them through to success. The grant provides $166,500 annually for scholarships for nurse-midwifery students of color.

FNUs objectives of the project are to increase its percentage of students of color (SOC) enrolled in the certified nurse-midwifery program to 30% by 2025, to retain at least 85% of nurse-midwifery SOC, and to graduate a total of 75 nurse-midwifery SOC every year during the grant period (2021-2025).

Additionally, FNU aims to increase the percentage of its faculty of color to 20% by 2025 and to retain at least 85% of faculty of color during the grant period.

Research has shown that healthcare outcomes improve when culturally concordant care is provided, Dr. Stone said. These grant projects align with our own strategic plan goals to increase the diversity of our student body, our faculty, and our staff, with the understanding that doing so will improve the health care system in the U.S.

FNU offers graduate Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse-Practitioner distance education programs that can be pursued full- or part-time with the students home community serving as the classroom.

Degrees and options offered include Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), or Post-Graduate Certificates. To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, please visit Frontier.edu.

Continue reading here:

Frontier Nursing gets $4.1 million to expand diversity in key fields - ABC 36 News - WTVQ

Clique aqui para Portugus

For the first time in Brazilian history, favela grassroots movements, mothers of victims of State violence, and civil society organizations were heard by the countrys highest court, the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), as amicus curiae (friends of the court)institutions or persons not a party to a case, whose purpose is to offer additional and relevant information to be considered before the court makes a final rulingat a public hearing held in April to report abuses committed by police officers in Rios favelas.

The hearing was called in the context of the Claim of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF 635), the STFs decision restricting police operations in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The hearings aim was to collect information supporting the elaboration of a plan to reduce police lethality in Rio de Janeiro, in order to fulfill an Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling. The event was held between April 16 and 19 through videoconferencing and broadcast on the YouTube page of TV Justia.

Allegations of torture, intimidation, abuse, and murder made by favela residents to the STF were not mere testimonies. In the two public hearing sessions, known as the ADPF das Favelas, each speech was an act of resistance. Above all, an act of survivalin present body as well as in memoryof favela residents faced by the States necropolitics: a policy of death inflicted daily by Rio de Janeiros Military Police (PMERJ) during decades of violence.

I dont know of any favela that has a weapons and a drugs factory. If you find guns here, its because they are brought in from the outside. Why do my people have to be marginalized and pay this price? When one mother weeps, they all weep. I live in a favela that is constantly visited by police. I have lost count of the number of mothers who have lost their children due to police violence. It is not easy to wake up with hooded people at our door. All we wish is to survive, because plain living has been denied to us, said Eliene Maria Vieira, of the Mothers of Manguinhos movement at the hearing.

I want my favela to live, declared Eliene to the two STF judges presiding over the public hearing: Edson Fachin and Gilmar Mendes.

In all, 66 organizations participated as amicus curiae at the hearing. Among the parties were Rios Public Defenders Office, the Military Police, community associations, and favela grassroots movements.

How would you feel losing a two-year-old son and having to carry that emotional weight for the rest of your life? asked Jos Luiz Faria da Silva, of the Fala Akari Collective, and father of Maicon, killed by police 25 years ago. I respect the Constitution, I have served my country and voted all my life, but my sons rights were not respected. Whoevers shooting, its not the victims. My soul is choked by my sons loss, repeated this father who still seeks justice after 25 years.

I am the mother of a son murdered by the police in favela da Mar. He was killed on his way to school, in his uniform, by a shot fired from a helicopter. There was no timely medical assistance, we were not entitled to an ambulance. That same police operation killed five other young men inside a house. The citizens of the favelas are systematically targeted, said Bruna da Silva, mother of Marcus Vinicius, 14, who was shot by gunfire coming from an armored Military Police vehicle.

My son was murdered at the age of 17, victim of the failed state of Rio de Janeiro. Our dead must be given a voice. How are the authorities exercising their external control of police operations? We are seen as bodies to be killed, people to be discarded. We want our right to live to be respected. I wonder, sirs, what your reaction would be if you had your children dead in your arms due to a police error? asked Isilmar de Jesus, of the Network of Mothers and Family Members from Baixada Fluminense.

Claudia Oliveira Guimares, another mother of a victim of State violence, pointed out that shouting for justice was not an option, but rather a condition for survival. The role of the police is to protect, not to kill. When my son died, I thought I would die too. And I am dead, except that he is buried, and I am still here. Why doesnt this happen in the South Zone, only in the favelas? We need help, we are crying out for justice, for a police force that will respect us.

In June of last year, STF Judge Edson Fachin signed a judicial order to ban police raids in favelas and in Rios peripheral areas during the pandemic. In his ADPF 635 decision, Fachin reflected these raids can often cause more harm to a population residing in poor living conditions and already debilitated by coronavirus contagion risks than benefits in terms of the increased security of residents.

The precautionary measures trial began in April 2020, and on August 17, 2020, the STF issued the final order, in ADPF 635, which specified what was prohibited: the use of armored helicopters (the aerial caveires, or big skulls as police armored vehicles are generally called) as a platform for shooting during favelas police operations; raids in schools and hospitals; and the use of these areas as operational bases in favelas for the civil and military polices.

With the ADPF 635 in place, police raids in Rio were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, except in absolutely exceptional circumstances, requiring duly written justification by competent authorities, with immediate communication to the State of Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutors Office. Judge Edson Fachins decision was endorsed in August 2020 by the plenary of the STF, thus taking immediate effect.

The ADPF of the Favelas, as the STF ruling came to be known, is the result of a petition filed by the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) and drafted collectively with the State of Rio de Janeiro Public Defenders Office, and organizations such as: Educafro, Global Justice, Redes da Mar, Conectas Human Rights, The Unified Black Movement, Institute of Religious Studies (Iser), the Right to Memory and Racial Justice Initiative, Straight Talk Collective, Fala Akari Collective, Network of Communities and Movements Against Violence, Mothers of Manguinhosall entities listed as amicus curiae in the briefand also the Observatrio de Favelas, Group of Studies on the New Illegalities (Geni), Mar Vive, Marielle Franco Institute, National Human Rights Council and the Center for Study on Safety and Citizenship (CESeC).

The injunction granted in June 2020 was the most significant action for the defense of life and against lethal violence in the recent history of the state of Rio de Janeiro. At the hearing, researchers showed the STF that, last year, the ban had caused a historic drop in the number of deaths by State agent interventions. This was the first decrease since 2013.

We, institutions and social movements involved in ADPF 635, celebrate the STF decision recognizing favelas as part of the city, and acknowledging that the policy of slaughter adopted by Governor Wilson Witzel not only violates fundamental rights, but is also racist. We will continue to monitor and demand compliance with the ruling. They agreed to kill us, but we agree not to die! states the manifesto of the organizations that filed the suit.

ADPF 635s ruling produced immediate effects in reducing violence. With the ADPF, shootouts fell by 22%, and the number of massacres decreased by 30%. What was proved is that police action does not lessen crimes. Even without police presence, robberies did not increase. If the polices mission is to protect, how can the situation improve with police inaction? Rios lack of control is also a reflection of the stray bullet fear, said journalist Cecilia Oliveira, director of the Fogo Cruzado Institute, another participant of the public hearing.

While the ruling was being fully enforced in Rio from June to September 2020, 288 lives were saved, according to the Federal Fluminense Universitys Group of Studies on the New Illegalities (Geni). However, in recent months, the injunction started to being ignored by state authorities.

According to Judge Gilmar Mendes Those who use force, cannot use this force at any time and in a disproportionate manner. The judges statement was expressed at the opening of the STF public hearing for ADPF 635, on April 16, the hearings first day. However, on that same day, Kaio Guilherme, 8, was the victim of a stray bullet in the Vila Aliana favela, in the West Zone.

Kaio died on Saturday, April 24. The boy was the 100th child shot in Greater Rio in nearly five years, according to a mapping carried out by the Fogo Cruzado Institute, which monitors gun violence in Rio de Janeiro. Every 17 days a child is shot in Rio, said journalist Ceclia Oliveira, coordinator of Fogo Cruzado.

The war on drugs is the justification used [by the State] for the confrontation in favelas. This war is an excuse to hide the massacre taking place in Rios favelas. Deaths caused by the police are routinely framed as homicides arising from police action, to protect officers in the name of self-defense. The State participates in these murders, said Sandra de Carvalho, Global Justice coordinator.

The ADPF of the Favelas is contingent on the pandemic situation, so technically, police raids should be suspended. However, the ADPF does provide for police operations in exceptional circumstances. The State has used this loophole to justify its incursions in the favelas.

According to Ivan Blaz, communications coordinator for PMERJ, exceptional actions are emergencies, i.e., cases of domestic violence; robberies perpetrated by gangs; torture or death inside communities. Preventive police operations happen when we receive information about criminals getting together. However, Prosecutor Tiago Veras Gomes stated that the Public Prosecutors Office has verified that the Military Police has difficulty in communicating its actions to the Public Prosecutors Office. According to Gomes, there is a misunderstanding of the definition of exceptional/extraordinary.

Jacqueline Muniz, Fluminense Federal University (UFF) professor of Public Security, posits that with the notion of exceptionality for police operations to occur and with the trivialization of exception; with lack of coordination and articulation between various police raidsin fact , with each police unit conducting its own raidthe State seeks to maximize the sense of insecurity in order to justify an ostentatious police instead of a manifest, effective police, as well as to justify the spectacle police in lieu of the routine police. The result of this equation are operations with high lethality rates and an attitude within the police that freedom from formal practices is allowed, all of this influencing the increase of private militias.

The measures established by the ADPF did not handcuff the police; they only reminded them that they should be a real police, not a foreign mercenary army within their own territory of action, she pointed out.

Exceptionality cannot be used as justification for human rights violations. Police authorities continue to say: We cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs, and I add: As long as the eggs are not your children,' said political scientist Luiz Eduardo Soares.

Renata Trajano, a member of the Straight Talk Collective, stressed police lethality and abuses in Rio are a recurrent theme. Our life is disposable. I am tired. We celebrated the injunction, but soon after, in the middle of the pandemic, a police raid took place in May [of last year] killing 13 people. Then another police operation got confused with our truck containing basic foodstuffs baskets. Youve never been woken up with your door being kicked in, with gunfire. Here, in my house, theres only one safe place to hide from the shooting, and many houses dont have any.

Renata concludes: We die several times; we have to prove we are not criminals. We are all threatened every day. We survive, we resist. Its like the Old West here, a lawless land. The judiciary makes a decision, the State doesnt obey it, and we are stuck in the middle. Rio is a state in which no one understands each other, the different branches of government do not comprehend each other. The State does not respect the judiciary. I know my rights and my duties, and I obey them. So, I just want my rights to also be respected. Surviving here is very difficult.

After three days of debate at the STF, two police raids took place simultaneously in two of Rios largest favela complexes: Alemo and Mar, in spite of the STFs order prohibiting such raids during the pandemic. There was intense gunfire, helicopters, and armored PMERJ vehicles operating in both North Zone favela complexes. Region residents report violence and abuse by agents during the raid, sharing complaints of police officers breaking into and invading homes.

Between April 26 and 27, Rio recorded nine dead and 15 injured in 48 hours due to shootouts in various communities, according to the organization Voz das Comunidades. Residents of Morro do Juramento, Complexo do Lins, Mangueira, Prazeres and Providncia experienced moments of tension.

On April 29, crime rates released by the Public Security Institute (ISP) for the state of Rio de Janeiro, pointed to two opposing directions as far as homicides were concerned, as reported by newspaper O Globo. While records of intentional homicide, between January and March, were at their lowest level since 1991 (year that marks the beginning of the time series for violence in the state), deaths in police confrontations registered their worst first quarter numbers since 1998, when the indicator was first recorded.

Figures released by the ISP on April 29 revealed that, in the first three months of the current year, in Rio de Janeiro alone, 920 homicide victims were recorded, showing a 13% decrease compared to the same period in 2020. The month of March on its own registered the lowest number of victims since 1991: 313 cases, a 16% reduction when compared to March 2020. However, deaths in police confrontations rose 4% in the first quarter, compared to the first quarter of 2020.

Photo: Tatiane Mendes

The violence and noncompliance with Brazils highest courts decision by Rios security forces did not end in April. On May 6, the Civil Police, supported by its Special Resources Coordination (CORE), set off a raid in the Jacarezinho favela, located in the North Zone, which resulted in the largest massacre ever to be carried out by police officers in the history of the states capital. 29 citizens were killed, including one police officer and 28 civilians, all residents of the Jacarezinho favela.

From 2007 to March 2021, 186 deaths occurred during 290 favela raids, amounting to a rate of 6.4 deaths per 10 police operations. Jacarezinho has the largest black population in the states capital. The deadliest operation due to police intervention in Rios favelas in history, culminating in the Jacarezinho Massacre was not previously reported to the Public Prosecutors Office, as required by the ruling; rather, the communication occurred only when the raid was already underway inside the community, according to a statement sent to the press by the Civil Police.

Excerpt from:

From Mourning to the Supreme Court: Favela Voices Demand Reduction of Police Lethality in Public Hearing - RioOnWatch

Read our voting guide covering all candidates here.

The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Christina Veiga (0:00)

Okay, thanks again for doing this. Today is going to be on Pre-K, childcare, and youth services like after school programming and summer programming. So I want to kick off with sort of the big picture, which is that theres a lot of federal attention right now being paid to, especially early childhood education. And with that is coming a lot of resources. And so I would love to hear from you how you would prioritize using more federal funds to build and strengthen what we currently have here in New York City.

Ray McGuire (0:35)

So how would I use federal funds to strengthen what we currently have? I applaud President Bidens American rescue plan for expanding the Child and Dependent Care tax credit, so that all the families with incomes below $125,000, which is a number of families in New York City, save up to half the cost of their eligible childcare expenses. And for providing what I think is close to $1 billion, $1.1 billion in direct grants for childcare. As part of my plan, my education plan and cradle to career strategy. I will guarantee every parent access to quality early childcare, and education for infants and toddlers, in the program designed to address all aspects of early childhood, which is going to help every kid enter school on a level playing field and ready to succeed. And Im going to target federal funding to the childcare deserts. These are providers on the verge of closing in areas with the greatest demand.

Christina Veiga (1:30)

The city is making strides to make to make Pre-K more available, but infant and toddler care is still expensive and hard to come by. So with your Affordable Childcare for All plan, who would qualify for that? What ages would you serve? Where would these children be served? Right now we have a combination of, you know, community organizations, and also public schools. So can you give us a little more detail about how you would build out this system? And who would benefit from it?

Ray McGuire (2:01)

Sure. So um, how do I make it available for all those? How do I make it affordable, accessible. One access, we got to provide operating funds and capacity building the existing programs, as well as you know, an urgent grant program to help to train providers and launch new programs, in what are clearly childcare deserts. And then we need to make sure that we have quality of instruction, best in class training, or retraining where necessary to all childcare providers. Id work with CUNY and all the other early childhood education experts. Well develop a standard curriculum and certification for all providers based on best practices. Like we have one great one at CUNY. CUNY QUALITYstarsNY program. And then we got to ensure that that they are affordable childcare slots for every family that needs them. Out of pocket costs for families will be based on income for families at lower levels, including those receiving, so will receive fully subsidized childcare. And to cover the cost. Were going to leverage existing funding streams such as early headstart and the federal programs, which we outlined from the outset.

Christina Veiga (3:12)

Do you envision this in terms of the family side how they would access these programs? Would it be like a voucher program? Or how would it work?

Ray McGuire (3:19)

Yeah, I think a voucher program would work well, we need to make certain that that we treat these vouchers differently to how the citys treated many other vouchers is that you got to actually pay on time to the providers to whom the vouchers are given, can actually continue to operate. So yes, I would cut the bureaucracy, extend the vouchers, make sure that they are paid on time, and make sure you can get the best quality childcare, especially in the childcare deserts.

Christina Veiga (3:46)

And when youre talking about Affordable Childcare for All, what age group are we talking about here.

Ray McGuire (3:51)

I want to start early. I want to go my cradle-to-career education strategy has, at its core: I want to start early. Pre-K is good, but as you know, by the time we get to Pre-K, many of our children are already behind. So I want to start the early childcare program at zero, some zero to three, zero to four, to give them the kind of care thats necessary to make sure we have the appropriate reward for those caregivers as well. So I want to start early.

Christina Veiga (4:22)

So thats what you hope to do. Our current system, we have a voucher system where theres currently a backlog for families who want to benefit from this program. And meanwhile, providers say that they have slots in their centers that are going empty. So whats your diagnosis of where the problem is there, and how would you solve it?

Ray McGuire (4:41)

You know, part of this is to make sure that we advertise that the programs exist. That we have ambassadors, if you will, who can go into the communities and to the faith based organizations and to the community centers. We need to revive the community centers, but part of this is letting community you know that the services exists that there is, in fact, affordable childcare. And so part of this is advertising and getting into the community organizations and funding them, making sure that theyre well run. And once weve done that, and given the option for childcare, my confidence is that we will bridge that gap of those people who need it, who dont know about it, and get those people dont know about it into the opportunity.

Christina Veiga (5:28)

I want to turn to the workforce, the early childhood education workforce, which is predominantly women and many women of color. They are among the lowest paid workers in the city. And while the city has made progress on salary parity in some areas, there are still things like longevity pay, and also teachers in Special Education Pre-K centers have not seen much movement in terms of salary, salary equity. So what is your plan for addressing salary parity during your administration? And do you have a timeline in which youd like to see that accomplished?

Ray McGuire (6:01)

So what is my plan to address salary parity, it is immediate. My plan is to make sure that is immediate. Given whats taking place in the school system. Today, we need our child care givers. So my initiatives are support childcare workers in the city, many of whom are small business owners, and were amongst the most impacted by the pandemic. Salary parity is key to supporting them, all childcare providers are going to have a seat at the table. When these initiatives are introduced, ensure they earn fair wages and benefits, investing in childcare for all is going to increase for local providers so they can continue to grow, and create more accessible jobs in our communities. I have a track record of making certain that where we need to make sure that we are equitable, pay equity, we need to do that. And given that this is these are the most precious times for our children, we need to make sure that we have salary equity. So Ive said Pre-K is good, before Pre-K, and making certain that those child care givers are appropriately compensated.

Christina Veiga (7:03)

So I want to turn to youth services now, after school and center programming are really important for working families. But providers say that every year theyre caught in a budget dance where they have to advocate for this funding to be reallocated. And so Im wondering, are there specific programs in these areas that you would like to see funded on a more long term basis? And if so, Which ones?

Ray McGuire (7:27)

Yes. So after school and summer programs are essential, you know, th way I got here, I got here through education. I had a summer job that allowed me to, to one, have that summer job so I could learn about the possibilities, also allowed me to, it was a paid summer internship. My sense, my view, and my education plan addresses this directly, is that: we need to invest in after school and summer programming, which is critical for students to stay engaged, weve lost far too many. During the free time they can learn skills in areas that may not be taught in school. I will increase funding and training to the local not-for-profits, so they have the capacity to provide a multitude of afterschool and summer options for the students. They can include programs in theater, in coding, in nutrition, and all the other academic subjects. We need to invest now in our children as we move from an industrial world to a technology world. And for the older students. Im going to leverage my relationship both big and small in New York City employers to launch what I call my Comeback Summer Job Program. Im going to build an existing Youth Summer Employment Program, which is one of the first things that this administration said it was going to cut. Im going to build on that, guarantee summer job to every New York City public high school student who watch one. Summer jobs, they help our young people develop skills and relationships. And they allow them get the first job out of high school, have valuable internships during college. Theyre fundamental to this city. So whatever it takes public private partnerships of which I would be very supportive to get our kids paid summer internships, so they understand the possibilities of the future, are also part of my cradle to career, core education, where I restructure education here. So its not random Pre-K to 12. But its transformed to be intentional about how our kids grow and develop and have opportunities.

Christina Veiga (9:13)

Something else thats really important for working families is to have child care beyond a typical school day or the school year, year round care and extended hours. Providers say that there are not enough of these slots. Do you think that access to extended day and extended school year slots should be universal?

Ray McGuire (9:31)

I do. I think that we should increase given where we are in education when our childs childrens lives are determined by their zip code. And if I look at the Nations Report Card and the state report card, where third to eighth grade students, Black and brown 80% below proficient. Yes, I need I want to extend the school year. I want to extend the school day to take care of that three-to-five or three-to-eight hour where a lot of mischief occurs. Make sure that we have invested in our children during those times in the community centers. Focus on making certain we get the resources that the community center so that we can add summer jobs, clearly summer jobs, and maybe even the year round, as I think about my overall approach to education, so the answer is, yes. We should have it across the city. And we should have it available to all New Yorkers.

Christina Veiga (10:19)

Does that include childcare and Pre-K?

Ray McGuire (10:21)

Yes, it does include childcare and Pre-K. Yes, I want to transform this right. It cant be the case today that this is sustainable, because we have the systemic inequities that exist in education. Our children are not being educated in the way that they should be. We paid $26,000 a year to educate a child on average, in New York City. We pay $446,000 a year to keep an inmate at Rikers Island. We need to invest now, or pay later. Id rather invest today.

Christina Veiga (10:49)

So I want to zoom out to the school year to come. The next mayor will will take office about midway through the next school year. But Id love to hear from you: what you think the city needs to be doing now to build trust with families, so that they actually return to in-person learning. Weve seen steep drop-offs and enrollment in Pre-K this year. And weve seen many families of color decided not to return to building so how can the city turn that tide for the next school year?

Ray McGuire (11:17)

So the first thing we need to do is, to plan for it better than what we planned for this school year. And that means we need to have those people who provide the tablets available. We need to build the broadband out immediately. So that to the extent that that we do, and Im saying this to the last alternative. I think kids need to be in school. I think our teachers need to be in school, which means that we need to get vaccination out. We need to have a better a better way of communicating the vaccination, because many of many people, our community are skeptical of vaccination. So we need to make sure that they understand that the fact that that the vaccine is, you know, is efficacious. That the vaccine is not going to harm, we need to do much better job at that. We need to get the vaccine into the healthcare and transportation desert, so that all those who are eligible for the vaccine, and how weve reduced the age requirements can get a vaccine. We need to educate on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. We need to get our kids back in school. So I would plan for our kids getting back in school immediately, which is how Im going to address the COVID vaccine, get them back into school, get the teachers back in school. And then as a insurance, lets make sure that all of our children have tablets, and or laptops that work, and that we have broadband that is successful. I sat on the board in New York Public Library, where we made sure that we could, where available, get Wi-Fi hotspots into the branches so that kids can go to homework. Our children need to have access to Wi-Fi. It should be a basic right for anybody, but especially our children here,

Christina Veiga (12:47)

Theres a lot of attention paid to segregation in the K-12 space in New York City Schools. But Pre-K is actually more segregated than kindergarten classrooms here. But its often left out of the conversation. And so Im wondering, is integration at the Pre-K level, something thats important to you? And if so, do you have any ideas for how to address that?

Ray McGuire (13:06)

So the answer is, I am looking forward to having quality education in every zip code. It is not possible to integrate so that we can achieve that through integration. So where we can integrate, Id be for integration. So I want to be clear: only way I got here is education. So I want the highest quality education. in whatever form it comes to the form of integration that comes in the form of district schools, comes in the form of magnet schools, comes in the form of parochial schools, and it comes in the form of charter schools. Parents have a choice, which makes certain we get the highest quality education, so the parents can choose that which is best for their children. And so that means, yes, integration if thats going to achieve that. But how far are you going to integrate, and how far youre going to integrate a child in a completely different borough? So that becomes that much more challenging given the all the other challenges that our parents or caregivers have. To take them from one borough, her or him from one borough to the next borough, as a toddler, Pre-K. Its not so practical that we can do that. But we can do is make sure that we get the best toddler Pre-K programs in our districts, in our zip codes, which is that which Im going to advocate for at the highest level with the loudest voice.

Christina Veiga (14:24)

Im going to turn it over to you quickly in case theres anything that we havent addressed in terms of the early education, space, and Youth Services.

Ray McGuire (14:41)

So listen, education is what got me here. We need to make sure to ensure that every child in New York City gets an education, so that they have the opportunity to go on and be productive citizens in this community. Today, were not doing that. And today, we need to transform the way we approach education, from the random Pre-K to 12, to something thats much more intentional, which is my plan for cradle to career, which you can see at Rayformayor.com, focus solely on whats in the best interests of New York Citys children. We have a triangle, which are the parents, the caregivers, and the child. That parents, caregivers and the teacher, or the parents, teachers all together, and the child. And so we need to focus on that triangle today. We need to bring it together in ways that up to this point, weve not done so well. My focus is on again on educating our children.

Go here to read the rest:

Watch: NYC mayoral candidate Ray McGuire on early education, youth programs - Chalkbeat New York

Stefania Arteaga is the Regional Immigrants' Rights Strategist for the ACLU of North Carolina.(Photo: Contributed by Stefania Arteaga)

For Stefania Arteaga, the fight for immigration rights is a deeply personal mission.

When she was 7 years old, for safety reasons,Arteaga and her family moved to the U.S. from El Salvador.Her childhood was defined by moments that illuminatedexperiences similar to many Central American immigrants.

Her family was in New Bedford, Mass., when theyexperienced one of the largest ICE raids of the Bush administration, she said. After moving to North Carolina following the 2008 financial crisis, her journalist mother began covering deportations at a time when North Carolinas Latino population was rapidly growing.

Arteaga went to work in her own way.Sheco-foundeda grassroots group, Comunidad Colectiva and pushedto elect a newsheriff, whounlike his predecessor,refused to cooperate with ICE. The groupalso fought against an uptick in ICE traffic stopsduring the Trump administration, and their work was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary "Immigration Nation."

Nowthe regional immigrants' rights strategist for the ACLU of North Carolina,Arteagais fighting against SB 101, which would require all local law enforcement agencies in North Carolinato cooperate with ICE.Arteaga spoke to USA Today's The American South about the immigrant experience, the power of grassroots organizing, and the systemic biases against Central American migrants.

The American South:There's a moment in the documentary where, after one of the traffic stops you arrive at to live stream, you get in your car and admit feeling afraid. You say, You never know what will happen. What's something that most Americans don't understand about (this specific)immigrant experience?

Stefania Arteaga: The fear. The fear of knowing that there's some intentional structures even, you know from your local government, that try to erase your existence. I think there's this common misconception that immigrants are here to steal jobs or take resources, but there's so many ways that we're not allowed any protections. That's something I saw clearly under the Trump administration, the way people were just trying to wipe their hands clean of anything that had to do with immigrants or immigrant support, just allowing the system itself to try to figure out how to continue to put us in the deportation pipeline. I think the structural racism that exists at state, local, even non-profit levels really affects us, and communities of color in general.

Related: I was so afraid to die alone: COVID-19s toll on Mississippis chicken plant employees

En Espaol: Tena tanto miedo de morirme solo: El costo del COVID-19 para los trabajadores de las procesadoras de pollo de Mississippi

TAS:How did your parents prepare you for that experience?

SA:Growing up, my dad was always really fearful for us. He constantly preached that we had to be twice as good, that any mistake that we could possibly commit could put us in a situation that would return us to a country that we hadn't seen since we were toddlers.

TAS:Was there a particular event growing up that drove home those challenges and that mantra of having to be twice as good?

SA:It wasn't until I was 18 when I was able to get my driver's license, when I saw folks in my neighborhood in East Charlotte repeatedly being stopped at driver's license checkpoints, because the police knew that they didn't have identifications, because they were taken away and having to pick up my neighbors knowing that it didn't matter that they were leaving church with their kids or going into the grocery store or leavinga soccer game. They were going to be repeatedly targeted, because law enforcement knew that they didn't have status, and they filled a quota.

TAS:In Immigration Nation, theres a white man who mentions being thankful that migrant workers are working on houses after a hurricane, but he adds that they should follow the rules and become citizens. Is it as simple as some people think?

SA:I think it's so relative to where you are geographically. You know, if you're an immigrant, trying to seek refugee status through the court system in North Carolina, you only have about a 1% or 2% approval rating at the Charlotte immigration court. We have one of the most punitive immigration courts in the country, but we have one of the lowest denial rates. And so the immigration system as a whole has not been built to be unbiased. Simply obtaining status is just not attainable for many people, when there's intentional barriers for people to obtain them in the first place.

If we look at the history of migration in this country, as we've taken steps to provide pathways to legalization for communities, we've also seen significant increases in criminalization of those same communities. I don't think we're anywhere near reckoning with the fact that this country continues to exploit immigrant labor for profit. I think communities are still seen as disposable.

TAS:Your grassroots work with Comunidad Colectiva helped elect a sheriff in Mecklenburg County who opted out of the federal program that allowed the previous sheriff to work with ICE. What can other states in the South learn from that work?

SA:Shortly after 2018, we saw the same campaign tactics being utilized in DeKalb County, Georgia, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, immigrant communities, building real intentional coalitions around solidarity and mutual understanding of policing. I think we're seeing what community building looks like throughout the South, and how we can really question elected officials and law enforcement who are elected and accountable to communities. I think we're seeing it slowly but surely across the country. Progress is done, at the end of the day, at the grassroots level, and I think that's what we try to accomplish here in Charlotte is making sure that communities who are over-policed understand that their Black and Brown brothers are also being over-policed. I think it was that education that really helped us have an intentional community conversation about this.

TAS:What have you learned about grassroots organizing that helps build community-wide support?

SA: You build family, and organizing is a lineage of people that are planting little seeds here and there over time that create generational change. Change doesn't come quickly. We slowly build it together.

Note: The interview was edited for length and clarity.

This story is part of Shaping the Souths Future, a Q&A series byThe American South, centered on courageous conversations about the topical issues of our time.

News tips? Questions? Call reporter Andrew Yawn at 985-285-7689 or email him at ayawn@gannett.com. Sign up for The American South newsletter.Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/american-south/2021/05/20/netflix-documentary-immigration-nation-put-activists-work-centerstage/5095250001/

See the original post here:

What this North Carolina activist says we need to move immigration rights forward in the South - Tennessean

(Illustration by iStock/ma_rish)

Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets, physician and health-policy expert Paul Batalden said.1 This much-repeated quote captures a way to conceptualize equitable implementation that takes into account factors like the history of racial discrimination and access to health care when studying why disparities exist and assessing the needs of a community to eliminate them.

Implementation sciencethe study of the uptake, scale, and sustainability of social programshas failed to advance strategies to address equity. This collection of articles reviews case studies and articulates lessons for incorporating the knowledge and leadership of marginalized communities into the policies and practices intended to serve them. Sponsored by the Anne E. Casey Foundation

Some very alarming statistics reveal population-level disparities within our social and health-care systems. One prominent example is the 30-year gap in life expectancy between people living in the poor, predominantly African American neighborhoods on Chicagos South Side, as compared to those in the more affluent, predominantly white neighborhoods just nine miles away in Chicagos Loop. This is the largest life expectancy gap in the United States, according to the City Health Dashboard,2 and is attributable to few economic opportunities and high rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and stroke in South Side neighborhoods.3 The origins and ramifications of this wide difference in life expectancy are deeply, systemically entrenched and must be acknowledged if we are to effectively close the gap.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the urgent need to tilt health-care systems toward equitable outcomes,4 the causes are rooted in centuries of systemic racism, economic exploitation, and other factors. Further, mistrust of the health-care system and of medical research runs deep in communities of color,5 and for good reason. For example, in the Tuskegee Study, which ran from 1932 to 1972, the US Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intentionally withheld treatment from African American men with syphilis in order to study the progression of the disease.

A primary way to advance health equity is to focus exclusively on implementing interventions in communities that experience disparities in treatment. Simply including populations with disparities in larger studies with nondisparity groups potentially neglects the need for strategies that address underlying structural causes of the disparities, such as the disinvestment in communities of color that has resulted in scarce and under-resourced health-care systems.6

You need both fertile soil and viable seeds for plants to thrive, yet medical research too often focuses on the seeds while neglecting to cultivate the soil. The field of implementation science aims to improve health outcomes by studying how to deliver the best available interventions (i.e., the seeds) in a manner that overcomes barriers and leverages individual, system, and community assets (i.e., the soil).7 Using implementation science to address health inequities has only recently become an explicit goaleven though a prominent report by the National Academy of Medicine declared equity, which they define as quality care that does not vary simply because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status, as a standard back in 2006.8

To establish equitable health care, customized awareness, and accessibility and availability of interventions, implementation researchers must bring the voices of community members to the forefront and integrate those voices throughout their work. How researchers engage with the community is critical for the sustained success of any improvement initiative. The key to hearing and listening to the community starts with creating synergy among trusted voices on a particular health-related goal.

Below we detail the key ingredients to achieving equitable implementation of an intervention for hypertension among African American adults living in Chicago. Our three-pronged strategy includes understanding the specific challenges identified by the community that need immediate attention; intentional inclusion of community stakeholders as early as possible in order to prioritize their perspectives; and building and delivering tangible resources for addressing the needs expressed by the community. Doing so will yield enduring solutions and effective strategies required to address awareness of, access to, and capacity for implementation of better interventions in these communities.

Implementation science has long recognized the critical role of meaningful partnerships with the various persons and entities that are involved in the delivery of new interventions,9 but it is often underdeveloped and not explicitly leveraged in service of achieving equity. Much of the focus has been on the partnership between academic researchers and more traditional health-care delivery systems, such as safety-net community health centers (CHCs).

Years ago, the three of us began setting the groundwork for a seven-year project focused on hypertension among African American adults, with equitable implementation at the fore. We officially began the project, called Community Intervention to Reduce CardiovascuLar Disease in Chicago (CIRCL-Chicago), in August 2020. In CIRCL-Chicago, our partnership model included working with Pastors for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (P4P), which is a hub for faith-based communities and leaders interested in research engagement.10

Since its inception in 2013, P4P has successfully engaged church congregations and leaders in health-related initiatives.11 Even for nonreligious individuals, churches in predominantly African American neighborhoods serve as crucial anchors and trusted voices for community gathering, resources, and support.12 P4P includes stakeholder input by actively listening, proactively involving, and quickly training members of the communitynot as segregated contributors but as members of a collaborative partnership. CIRCL-Chicago takes this partnership model a step further by connecting churches with CHCs in the same neighborhoods to both engage participants in the process and to deliver the intervention. Our approach includes the voices of people who have experience both with hypertension and with the local health-care system.

P4P leads community-driven processes for identifying health priorities to give local churches a voice in how to care for community members. In 2016 and 2018, P4P administered a 10-item community health assessment to 836 residents living in 12 ZIP codes that corresponded to member churches.13 High blood pressure was the highest-rated health priority both years. This priority is consistent with the high prevalence of hypertension among African Americans both in Chicago and across the United States.14

In planning CIRCL-Chicago, we convened diverse stakeholders, including P4P leaders, academic researchers, community-based research organizations, CHCs serving our study community, and representatives from organizations such as the American Heart Association and American Medical Association. We jointly selected an evidence-based, multicomponent intervention for high blood pressure comprised of evidence-based blood pressure-control guidelines, a health system-wide hypertension registry, quarterly blood pressure-control reports, follow-up visits for blood pressure measurement and management by health-care professionals, and promotion of single-pill combination pharmacotherapy.15

Developed and tested by the Kaiser Permanente of Northern Californias health-care system, this multicomponent intervention is now being adapted to the context of Chicagos South Side neighborhoods in partnership with community members. Prior efforts to translate the Kaiser intervention bundle to CHCs were successful, but less so than the trial by Kaiser Permanente of Northern California that first established its effectiveness.16 This suggests there is a need for a focused effort to implement the bundle in a way that is both acceptable to community members and feasible to implement.

Now six months into the project, CIRCL-Chicago has met with leaders from churches, local CHCs, P4P and members of the community who might participate in the intervention, local and national professional organizations, and academic experts in implementation science, blood pressure control, informatics, and community-engaged research. Based on these meetings, we are following an established process for adapting the intervention17 to ensure a systematic and comprehensive approach that stays true to the core aspects of the Kaiser bundle responsible for its effectiveness, while making necessary adaptations for the intervention to be successful in the local community.

For example, P4P ensures that the initial program messaging is delivered from a trusted community voice and makes certain that in every face-to-face meeting, familiar faces are there to provide service and answer questions. We plan to enlist such community health workers to take blood pressure measurements instead of using medical assistants. We hope this strategy will help mitigate mistrust of the health-care system that patients may experience and reduces the burden on understaffed CHCs.

We also propose a registry that will provide blood pressure-control reports. The goal of this platform is to enable the sharing of data concerning participants blood pressure and treatment across care settings such as churches and CHCs to create enhanced opportunities to identify and treat people with hypertension. P4Ps practices include free-of-charge follow-up contacts to ensure honest and consistent communication, including virtual meetings to discuss progress and findings.

The CIRCL-Chicago project will first see whether the adapted Kaiser intervention bundle can be delivered in a small number of churches and CHCs. Early testing of the implementation provides critical data to inform the ongoing process of adaptation that is constantly informed by the community. Next, we will begin a community-level trial within the South Side Chicago neighborhoods that experience the greatest disparities in hypertension and cardiovascular health outcomes.18 Within these neighborhoods are approximately 16 churches that are part of the P4P network and 12 CHCs that are members of two health-center networks, AllianceChicago and Access Community Health Network.

Based on estimates of the prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure in these neighborhoods, we expect to enroll between 600 and 1,800 participants in the adapted Kaiser intervention bundle, and we will compare our outcomes to participants residing on Chicagos West Sidean area with similar disparities in hypertension rates to the South Sidethat are receiving the usual health care in their community.

CIRCL-Chicago seeks to comprehensively evaluate the implementation of the Kaiser intervention bundle.19 To determine whether the implementation is successful, we will track the proportion of eligible adults in the community that experience blood pressure control (i.e., <130/80 mm Hg) from the intervention. We will also dig deeply into these data to understand the representativeness of the participants that are referred to and receive the Kaiser intervention bundle, and those that experience blood pressure control.20 CIRCL-Chicago will be implemented in neighborhoods that are predominantly African American, and we will focus on patient age, gender, insurance status, and health-care system variables that could lead to inequity within this population. Any differences that emerge signal the need for deeper exploration to understand the nature and cause of variable impact.

CIRCL-Chicagos community-driven approach shows that neighborhoods like the South Side, and indeed many other communities across the United States, need investment in different implementation strategies and resources than those used to support implementation in other populations. Neglecting this reality has the potential to exacerbate disparities through inequitable implementation.

The premium often placed on generalizable findings in implementation research runs the risk of assuming equality is the answer. But real solutions are only possible with equitable strategies that recognize the contribution of historical and contemporary policies, economics, and health-care access, among other factorsthe consequences of which are repeatedly underscored in health disparities. Community-driven, equitable implementation approaches hold the key to unlocking sustainable solutions to eliminate health disparities that are embraced by the community. A key driver of sustaining this intervention hinges on fostering co-leadership, co-ownership, and equal decision-making among all partners and stakeholders.

Read the original:

Community Intervention to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Offers Community-Driven Health Solutions for Hypertension Among African Americans in South...