Archive for June 2024

The $5.2 million in the initial 162 community reinvestment grants authorized last year was sprinkled among scores of churches, youth programs and other nonprofits in census tracts deemed to be “disproportionately impacted areas,” or DIAs, as measured by poverty and residents convicted of drug crimes.

Displaced adolescents participate in a group activity organized by UNICEF and partners.

What is happening here? Why, rather than taking the moral concerns behind social reforms seriously, do we so often respond with this kind of petulant, knee-jerk defensiveness? It’s not that we don’t care about right and wrong. But cases like these can feel like a far cry from the sort of moral issues that we’re inclined to take seriously – you know, like murder and human rights. In fact, there seems to be an unspoken expectation that when we’re confronted with genuine, important arguments for moral change, they’ll be easy to recognise…. Annoyance and irritation, though, are often taken as a sign that the concerns aren’t that big of a deal, that the arguments are mere quibbles that can be safely dismissed. Call this the eyeroll heuristic: if it’s preachy and annoying, it’s OK to ignore it.

The Scottish Government has been forced to release 500 people from prison early, because of concerns about overcrowding and a lack of safety for prisoners and staff. While this is a stop-gap measure, it is an indication that our prison system can no longer cope with the role it is tasked with – implementing justice. Perhaps, then, this is a good time to ask whether it achieves this, even in better times.

The new law establishes a council that will create a model policy for police responding to sexual assault, and it received unanimous, bipartisan support. The law also requires that officers refer victims to a victim advocate, distribute information about services available, and help the victim and any children present obtain medical care. Every law enforcement agency in the state will have to meet or exceed the model policy by September 2025, and the council will collect data about police and the overall criminal justice response to sexual assault statewide.

“With nearly half of teens in New York City reporting depressive symptoms, and suicide as the second leading cause of death in youth, ages 10 to 24, we cannot wait; now is the time to take action and finally address the mental health crises affecting our children,” said Mayor Adams.

Since qualifying in the 1960s and then moving into academia, Professor June Thoburn has carried out extensive research, in the UK and overseas, about child protection, family support, adoption and services for children placed away from home. Crucially, she contributed to reforms that allowed parents to attend child protection conferences. She was also part of the advisory groups on both the Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002, conducting government-commissioned research that informed the latter.