Leading Stories
Q&A: Human trafficking is focus of cross cultural work
By Catherine Robertson Souter
It shouldn’t happen but it does. Human trafficking is one crime that we imagine happens in the shadowy alleys or dirt poor towns of third world countries, where local...
Fire-setting: an under-addressed issue
By Phyllis Hanlon
In 2008, 30,500 fires were set, resulting in 315 deaths and $866 million in loss, according to the United States Fire Administration (USFA). Even more alarming, Federal Bureau...
Arts programs make inroads with DYS students
By Jennifer E Chase
The Mass. Department of Education holds youth who are serving time in juvenile detention centers to the same state-mandated compliance standards as their counterparts “on...
In Practice: “Genuine Voices” heals as it teaches
By Jennifer E Chase
After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Berklee School of Music Senior Juri Ify Love chose a community service-based senior project that would change her life as much as those she...
Special education and residential schools gradually disappearing
By Phyllis Hanlon
As states across the country continue to seek ways to reduce costs, services and programs relating to mental health issues often suffer the greatest cuts. In New England, the...
New Hampshire wants new women’s prison
By Catherine Robertson Souter
As far back as 2004, a report by the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women detailed issues with the state’s services for female inmates including overcrowding...
FDA warns maker of alternative autism treatment
By Nan Shnitzler
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June sent a warning letter to the maker of a product that was being used to treat symptoms of autism, the Chicago Tribune reported. The...
Pre-schoolers display mental health issues
By Ami Albernaz
It’s well-known that social competence and behavior problems that are apparent when children are five or six are predictors of their later academic and social...
Study: Older people happier
By Ami Albernaz
If you’re facing down 50 with some degree of dread, you may find comfort in a study that suggests people who’ve passed that milestone tend to experience less stress...
Legislation proposed to ban corporal punishment in schools
By Ami Albernaz
For some of us, corporal punishment brings to mind school days of old, with nuns rapping across the knuckles of the disobedient. Though corporal punishment is no longer used in...