Greetings faithful readers. Let’s start off with the Corrs, doing an acoustic cover of the REM song, Everybody Hurts. The past week in America has been one filled with sorrow and anger. Get inspired by the Corrs, in spite of the sadness, and then get to readin’ Friday Update, cuz we got work to do!

Most important reads for this week

In America – Advocacy Tales, 6-22-18
When you drop off your dry cleaning, you get a ticket with a detailed inventory of items to be cleaned and a receipt. When you drop off your car for servicing, you get a ticket with a detailed inventory of repairs and a receipt. When you drop off your lawn mower for servicing, you get a ticket with a detailed inventory of repairs and a receipt. When your child is ripped from your arms at the border, you get… nothing.

Listen to Children Who’ve Just Been Separated from Their Parents
ProPublica has obtained audio from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, in which children can be heard wailing. The desperate sobbing of 10 Central American children, separated from their parents one day last week by immigration authorities at the border, makes for excruciating listening. But we must listen. We must not turn away from the horror being inflicted on these children.

A Reckoning After Trump’s Border Separation Policy: What Kind of Country Are We?
Trump’s brutal gambit at the border reflects a President uncomfortable with ideals.

Migrant Children: ‘Lies Just Big Enough to Stick’ Are All Too Familiar to George Takei, Who Was Interned in America During WWII
Takei said he sees haunting echoes of this time in scenes of migrant children, some housed in metal cages, separated from their parents at the border. First lady Laura Bush drew similar parallels in an op-ed in The Washington Post, saying the images today are “eerily reminiscent of the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history.” But, Takei said, “in one core, horrifying way, this is worse.” At least during the internment, Takei and other children were able to stay with their families.” 

The “Animal” Debate Is over: Separating Families at the Border Shows Exactly What Donald Trump Thinks of Immigrants
Last month, during a roundtable conversation on immigration, President Trump decried the “animals” entering the United States. “We have people coming into the country, or trying to come in—and we’re stopping a lot of them—but we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are,” he told a group of California sheriffs. “These aren’t people. These are animals.”

Federal Employees and Contractors Trapped by Trump’s Family Separation Policy
Few things have marked President Trump’s penchant for deflection, lies, and deception more than his policy of separating children from parents accused of entering the country illegally. For now, children and families will continue to suffer, as will the nation’s reputation. To a lesser extent than the families, to be sure, federal employees and contractors also suffer. They are trapped between a policy that is morally and ethically bankrupt and their duty to follow it.

Separating Children from Parents Can Impair Brain Development
The members of the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, a group of experts in neuroscience, behavioral science and public policy, feel compelled to issue a statement in response to the practice of separating immigrant children from their parents. And while this practice has now been halted, the damage has been done, with 2,300 having been separated with little effort being placed toward their reunification. A multitude of voices has risen up to condemn this inhumane approach, and now the need to reunify these families. However, the potentially devastating neurological, psychological and behavioral effects to these children have not yet been fully articulated.

American Academy of Pediatrics Position Statement Against Separating Children from Parents at the Border
The Academy has been speaking out against this practice since early 2017 when reports emerged that the policy was under consideration. This advocacy has intensified as the policy has taken effect and staggering numbers of children are forcibly separated from their parents.

In the Trump Administration, Science Is Unwelcome. So Is Advice
We are working on an in-depth story on the changes within SAMHSA regarding the phasing out of the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) and the ramping up of the National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory. In a press announcementearlier this year, SAMHSA wrote, “The Policy Lab will play a central role in shaping SAMHSA’s efforts to bring more science to the evidence-based practices used in the prevention, treatment, and support services being provided by behavioral health practitioners and other clinicians.” A recent article in the New York Times paints a troubling picture of how the Trump Administration views the role of science and science advisors. As we continue our investigative work on how SAMHSA views the role of science, this article gives us pause. Read the New York Times article to get a broad stroke view of how the Trump Administration views the role of science. We will be out soon with a Morning Zen post that drills down to how SAMHSA regards science and its applicability to the grant programs it funds.

Housing and Transition: Meeting the Needs of Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions
Finding stable housing can be especially challenging for transition-age youth and young adults with mental health conditions. A new report from Pathways, Housing and Transition: Meeting the Needs of Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions by Barbara J. Friesen & Nancy M. Koroloff, outlines the challenges and contextual issues that impact housing, provides program design options and recommendations, and includes perspectives of youth from first-person accounts. 

Investing in Child Health to Ensure Equity, Population Health, and Long Term Cost Savings: Opportunities in State Health Care Reform
The Child Health and Development Institute’s latest Issue Brief, “Investing in Child Health to Ensure Equity, Population Health, and Long Term Cost Savings: Opportunities in State Health Care Reform,”explores ways to achieve improved population health outcomes through value-based payment in child health services.

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