Corporal punishment in schools creates more trauma for children
From Dr. Melissa Merrick, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America:
Hitting children is not only allowed across the US but, as we recently saw in Missouri, being encouraged to occur by state employees in school settings. Currently, there are 19 states across the US that allow children to be hit in public schools.
The experts agree: hitting kids does not promote healthy development. In fact, not a single scientific research study demonstrates that hitting children leads to healthy, compassionate, respectful, and successful adults. In fact, the opposite is true. Hitting children—whether you call it spanking, popping, paddling, whooping, slapping—increases the chances that children will be more violent, experience mental health and academic problems, and develop problems with drugs or alcohol. Heading this science, professional organizations and societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have taken strong positions against hitting children. Sixty-three countries across the world have banned the hitting of children—the US is not one of those countries.
And while anecdotal reports from a single administrator, in a single location may convince you that there is overwhelming support for such practices, survey research demonstrate a different consensus. In the early 2000’s, approximately 75% of adults disagreed with hitting children in schools. When Prevent Child Abuse America surveyed over 3,000 adults from across the US in 2020, only 18% of US adults disagreed with banning hitting in school. So, if most adults agree that this practice does not belong in schools, why are we creating laws to codify these practices?
What is the purpose of allowing hitting children in schools? Are they acting out in the classroom? Again, what the science tells us is that when children experience violence in their homes and communities, they are more likely to act-out behaviorally at school. Now consider the traumatizing experience of re-entering school with so many recent and ongoing threats–COVID, bullying and shootings–and now hitting. By allowing children to be hit in schools, by people that are supposed to be teaching and caring for them, we are not creating a safe and nurturing space for children to learn. Even the threat of experiencing violence in schools can have deleterious impacts for children.
We applaud states like North Carolina where, despite a law on the books allowing the hitting of children in schools, they have managed to institute voluntary bans of hitting across all school districts in the state. And, we encourage approaches like social emotional learning and other non-physical, developmentally-appropriate strategies that have been found to be effective at reducing problem behavior and create a positive learning environment for students.
Prevent Child Abuse America strongly opposes any use of violence against children, including in state sanctioned hitting in our schools.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Melissa Merrick
President and CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America
A Back to School Message from Dr. Melissa Merrick
A Message from Dr. Melissa Merrick
As millions of children nationwide embark on a new school year, let’s celebrate the annual rituals that help us transition into the first days of school – picking out special outfits, backpacks and supplies, and the rehearsal of summertime stories to share with friends.
What’s important is how parents, friends, neighbors, teachers and communities continue to create safe, stable and nurturing relationships and environments that allow our children to succeed and thrive.
As the flurry of the new school year gets to you, remember your mental state directly impacts our children. They’re okay when you are okay. This means putting self care, patience and compassion into practice–these things are integral to a healthy relationship with others, including our children.
This time of year also brings new stressors and challenges for many families, including lack of afterschool childcare support and the prevalence of gun and other violence in schools and communities which can have an acute, long-term psychological impact on children. The recently signed Inflation Reduction Act was a missed opportunity to provide support and relief for families (you can read more about it below), but PCA America will forge ahead and strengthen programs like our signature Healthy Families America home visiting model – these family supports are more important than ever during times of challenge and transition.
PCA America will continue to promote federal policies and investments that prioritize primary prevention. And I’m more committed than ever to lead PCA America forward with intention, ensuring all children and families have what they need so that they can thrive. Thank you for joining us in preventing child abuse, America – because childhood lasts a lifetime.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Melissa Merrick
President and CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America
PCAVT launches 'Do Absolutely Anything' Campaign
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont Announces New Annual Fundraiser
Montpelier, VT (August 24, 2022) – Prevent Child Abuse Vermont (PCAVT) is excited to announce a brand-new fundraiser that anyone can take part in, at any time, from anywhere. Do Absolutely Anything (to prevent child abuse) is an online platform that provides the tools to anyone who wants to raise funds doing any kind of activity they like. It is available all year long, allowing participants to start and promote their activity at the time that works best for them.
“These types of do-it-yourself fundraisers are growing in popularity because they are easy to do, effective, and allow participants to support causes in the way they choose,” explains Mary Rockwell Thon, PCAVT Development Director. “PCAVT is thrilled to provide this opportunity to anyone who wants to raise the crucial funds needed for our prevention work in Vermont, and we are here to help you create a fundraiser that best suits your interests.”
Participants can do any activity they choose - hiking, swimming, yoga, crafting, skiing, baking, yard sales – literally absolutely anything. They create a fundraising page on the Do Absolutely Anything website, personalize it, and invite friends and family to donate to their efforts and join them in their activity. They set their goals, and donors can simply and securely donate online. Activities can happen at the time and place each fundraiser chooses.
All funds raised will go toward the vital prevention work of PCAVT, for programs such as the Healthy Relationships Project, Family Support Programs, and Safe Environments for Infants and Toddlers. To learn more and create a fundraiser, go to pcavt.org/events.
The mission of PCAVT is to promote and support healthy relationships within families, schools, and communities to eliminate child abuse. Serving Vermont began as Parents Anonymous of VT in 1976 and has grown to have a helpline and 3 main programmatic areas: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, Family Support Programs, and the Safe Environments for Infants and Toddlers Program. PCAVT partners with over 250 organizations across Vermont, and many more both nationally and internationally. PCAVT’s programs are skills based, teaching adults how to nurture healthy development in children, and emphasize adult responsibility in keeping children safe.
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Vermont Voted 2022 2nd Best State to Have a Baby
Reprinted from WalletHub
Having a baby is both a joyful and stressful occasion – but the stress side is more amplified in 2022 with the continued presence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pregnant women might have an increased risk of severe illness or birth complications due to coronavirus, according to the CDC. Luckily, it is safe for pregnant women to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Aside from the difficulty of giving birth during a public health crisis, new mothers will also have to worry about the cost. One of the biggest expenses to keep in mind is medical bills. The average conventional delivery in the U.S. costs over $3,000 with insurance, and without insurance it could cost over $10,000.
Birthing costs, however, won’t hit your wallet as badly in some states as they will in others. Expenses can vary significantly, considering the wide disparities in cost of living. They can also differ from one pregnancy to another, given that some women experience delivery complications. But there’s more to think about than just cost. Some states provide better quality health care service and better environments in which to care for children.
To determine the most ideal places in the U.S. to have a baby, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 key measures of cost and health care accessibility, as well as baby- and family-friendliness. Our data set ranges from hospital conventional-delivery charges to annual average infant-care costs to pediatricians per capita.
Source: WalletHub
Best States to Have a Baby
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.
Ask the Experts
Parenthood readiness requires financial preparedness. To help expectant parents with the planning process and provide policy insight to local governments, we asked a panel of experts to weigh in with their thoughts on the following key questions:
When planning to have a child, what financial considerations should parents take into account?
What is the biggest financial mistake that prospective parents make?
What can local authorities do to make their cities more baby-friendly?
What makes low-income children in some cities do better than those in other cities?
What drives the birth rate to be in a continuing downward trend in the U.S?
Methodology
In order to determine the best and worst states to have a baby, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across four key dimensions: 1) Cost, 2) Health Care, 3) Baby-Friendliness and 4) Family-Friendliness.
We evaluated those dimensions using 32 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for expectant parents and newborns.
Finally, we determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.
Cost – Total Points: 20
Hospital Cesarean-Delivery Charges: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Hospital Conventional-Delivery Charges: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Average Annual Cost of Early Child Care: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Average Health-Insurance Premiums: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Current Status of Medicaid Expansion Decision: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Note: We included this metric because Medicaid Expansion helps cover a greater amount of birthing costs.Cost of Babysitter/Nanny: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Cost of Newborn Screening: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Health Care- Total Points: 40
Percentage of Residents Who Are Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19: Double Weight (~4.38 Points)
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 Live Births): Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Maternal Mortality Ratio (per 100,000 Live Births): Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Rate of Low Birth-Weight: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Rate of Preterm Births: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Low or Very Low Food Security for Babies: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Share of Children with All Seven Recommended Vaccines: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: “Recommended vaccines” include the following: DTaP vaccine; polio vaccine; measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine; Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine; varicella (chicken pox) vaccine; hepatitis B (HepB) vaccine; and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). “Children” include the population aged 0 to 35 months.Quality of Women’s Hospitals: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: This metric is based on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals for Gynecology” score.Quality of Pediatric Neonatology Facilities: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: This metric is based on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals for Pediatric Neonatology” score.Midwives & Obstetrician-Gynecologists per Capita: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Pediatricians & Family Doctors per Capita: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Fertility Clinics per Capita: Quarter Weight (~0.55 Points)
mPINC Survey Score: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: The mPINC (Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care) survey is a national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “to monitor and examine changes in practices over time at all hospitals and birth centers with registered maternity beds in the United States and Territories.”Prenatal Care Access: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Share of Children Aged 9-35 Months who Received Developmental Screening using a Parent-Completed Screening Tool: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: A parent-completed screening tool is a survey given to parents that may help identify developmental delays in their children.Rate of Postpartum Depression: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: This metric measures the percentage of women with a recent live birth who reported experiencing depressive symptoms.State Medicaid Policy for Maternal Depression Screening in Well-Child Visits: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: This binary metric measures if a state has or does not have a policy regarding maternal depression screening in well-child visits.State Policy for Medicaid-Covered Dyadic Treatment: Full Weight (~2.19 Points)
Note: This binary metric measures if a state has or does not have a Medicaid-covered dyadic (parent-child) treatment.
Baby-Friendliness - Total Points: 20
Parental-Leave Policy Score: Double Weight (~5.71 Points)
Mom Groups per Capita: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Child-Care Centers per Capita: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Share of Nationally Accredited Child-Care Centers: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Birth Rate: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
State Policy for Medicaid-Covered Parenting Programs: Full Weight (~2.86 Points)
Note: This binary metric measures if a state has or does not have a Medicaid-covered parenting programs.
Family-Friendliness - Total Points: 20
Family-Friendliness: Full Weight (~20.00 Points)
Note: This metric is based on WalletHub’s “Best & Worst States to Raise a Family” ranking.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, U.S. News & World Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Association of Public Health Laboratories, Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, The National Academy for State Health Policy - Healthy Child Development State Resource Center, National Center for Children in Poverty, Child Care Aware of America, Kaiser Family Foundation, Indeed, United Health Foundation, National Partnership for Women & Families, ZeroToThree.org, BabyCenter.com and WalletHub research.
Supporting Video Files:
UPDATE: On Aug 8th at 8pm ET we corrected the "Percentage of Residents Who Are Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19" metric, which changed the rankings. Instead of the smallest percentage awarding more points, the largest percentage now leads to a better score.
PCAVT Launches Recurring Giving Program
PCAVT is happy to announce new ways to protect Vermont’s children and strengthen Vermont’s families. By setting up a recurring donation using the payment method of your choice you can become a Sustaining Partner providing dependable funding for the effective programs and training. The need for prevention and the demand for education are ongoing and through recurring giving, the funds to change lives can be as well!
Here’s how to become a Sustaining Partner:
1. Click HERE
2. Choose the recurring amount and frequency of your gift
3. Choose your payment method
4. IT’S THAT SIMPLE!
If it’s easier for you, call us at 1-800- CHILDREN, and we’ll happily assist you in setting up your donation.
Sustaining Partners will receive:
-Regular newsletters with more detailed information about change you are making
-Periodic invitations to virtual panels, meet ups and Q &As with our staff and other experts
-In person events, when it is safe to gather
-AND some surprises too!
Our donors are an essential part of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont. We invite you to become more deeply and significantly connected to the critical work of the prevention and elimination of all types of child abuse. Become a Sustaining Partner today!
State to Launch New Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Starting July 16, Vermont is launching the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Callers will be immediately connected to compassionate, caring counselors who are trained to provide support for individuals experiencing everything from emotional distress to a mental health crisis. While they are trained to treat and address suicidality, it is not only for those individuals in crisis. The 9-8-8 Lifeline is also not only for those experiencing challenges with their own mental health. If you are the family member, loved one or friend of someone whom you believe might need help, counselors are trained and ready to answer your call. Beginning July 16, people can access the Lifeline by calling 9-8-8. It is free, available 24/7, and confidential.
A Message on Gun Violence from Dr. Melissa Merrick, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America
This week, the Chicagoland area and the entire nation mourns the loss of numerous lives and the injuries of many others in what can only be described as senseless acts of violence this Independence Day weekend. The understandable outrage and profound sadness following the mass shootings that occurred not only on Chicago’s South Side and in nearby Highland Park, Illinois, but also around the country, are feelings that we at Prevent Child Abuse America share. As a national organization headquartered in Chicago, all of us at PCA America feel the weight of these tragedies, and we stand in solidarity with our friends and neighbors.
The pain of these events cannot be quantified – and unfortunately, they are something far too many Americans have experienced. In fact, there have been 11 mass shootings every week during 2022, and Black men and youth face the highest rates of firearm homicide, many of which we don’t hear about. The deafening demands for change stemming from the shooting and killing of Black men are concerns that we at PCA America cannot ignore. It is impossible to ignore the traumatic effect gun violence has on our communities, our families and our children. In this period of immense grief and confusion, PCA America recognizes the importance of resources for those struggling to comprehend the weekend’s events.
Witnessing acts of violence can have an acute, long-term psychological impact on children. According to the Philadelphia ACE Survey, seeing or hearing violence at a young age is categorized as an adverse childhood experience (ACE) that can negatively impact health behaviors and health outcomes in adulthood, including higher risk for heart disease, suicide, substance use, and poor mental health.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) emphasizes the importance of psychological first aid (PFA) in the wake of mass violence – for both children and adults. See their PFA wallet card for eight key actions when providing PFA and support to others. Additionally, the NCTSN outlines suggested talking points for parents to reference when discussing gun violence with their children.
The impact of gun violence is far-reaching and extremely devastating, and research demonstrates that it leads to negative behaviors and health outcomes for children and adults. PCA America works everyday to prevent childhood adversity, and to create the conditions for all children, families and communities to be safe and thriving. It is imperative that we continue to advocate for a comprehensive approach to preventing violence.
For more information on psychological first aid and trauma responses, please visit the NCTSN Mass Violence Resources page.
NYT: Psychosis, Addiction, Chronic Vomiting: As Weed Becomes More Potent, Teens Are Getting Sick
With THC levels close to 100 percent, today’s cannabis products are making some teenagers highly dependent and dangerously ill.
Dabbing, a method of inhaling highly concentrated THC, has become increasingly popular among teenagers. Credit...Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times
June 23, 2022
Elysse was 14 when she first started vaping cannabis.
It didn’t smell, which made it easy to hide from her parents. And it was convenient — just press a button and inhale. After the second or third try, she was hooked.
“It was insane. Insane euphoria,” said Elysse, now 18, whose last name is being withheld to protect her privacy. “Everything was moving slowly. I got super hungry. Everything was hilarious.”
But the euphoria eventually morphed into something more disturbing. Sometimes the marijuana would make Elysse feel more anxious, or sad. Another time she passed out in the shower, only to wake up half an hour later.
This was not your average weed. The oil and waxes she bought from dealers were typically about 90 percent THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. But because these products were derived from cannabis, and nearly everyone she knew was using them, she assumed they were relatively safe. She began vaping multiple times per day. Her parents didn’t find out until about one year later, in 2019.
“We got her in a program to help her with it. We tried tough love, we tried everything, to be honest with you,” Elysse’s father said of her addiction.
Starting in 2020 she began having mysterious bouts of illness where she would throw up over and over again. At first she and her parents — and even her doctors — were baffled. During one episode, Elysse said, she threw up in a mall bathroom for an hour. “I felt like my body was levitating.”
Another time she estimated that she threw up at least 20 times in the span of two hours.
It wasn’t until 2021, after a half dozen trips to the emergency room for stomach illness, including some hospital stays, that a gastroenterologist diagnosed her with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition that causes recurrent vomiting in heavy marijuana users.
Although recreational cannabis is illegal in the United States for those under 21, it has become more accessible as many states have legalized it. But experts say today’s high-THC cannabis products — vastly different than the joints smoked decades ago — are poisoning some heavy users, including teenagers.
Marijuana is not as dangerous as a drug like fentanyl, but it can have potentially harmful effects — especially for young people, whose brains are still developing. In addition to uncontrollable vomiting and addiction, adolescents who frequently use high doses of cannabis may also experience psychosis that could possibly lead to a lifelong psychiatric disorder, an increased likelihood of developing depression and suicidal ideation, changes in brain anatomy and connectivity and poor memory.
But despite these dangers, the potency of the products currently on the market is largely unregulated.
‘I felt so trapped.’
In 1995, the average concentration of THC in cannabis samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration was about 4 percent. By 2017, it was 17 percent. And now cannabis manufacturers are extracting THC to make oils; edibles; wax; sugar-size crystals; and glass-like products called shatter that advertise high THC levels in some cases exceeding 95 percent.
Brightly colored vapes alongside a container of cannabis resin wax. In recent years, products like waxes — many containing more than 90 percent THC — have become increasingly popular.Credit...Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times
A liquid live resin in a girl’s bedroom. Some concentrated cannabis products are designed to look like juice boxes to highlight their fruity flavors.Credit...Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times
Meanwhile, the average level of CBD — the nonintoxicating compound from the cannabis plant tied to relief from seizures, pain, anxiety and inflammation — has been on the decline in cannabis plants. Studies suggest that lower levels of CBD can potentially make cannabis more addictive.
THC concentrates “are as close to the cannabis plant as strawberries are to frosted strawberry pop tarts,” Beatriz Carlini, a research scientist at the University of Washington’s Addictions, Drug and Alcohol Institute, wrote in a report on the health risks of highly concentrated cannabis.
Although cannabis is legal for recreational use in 19 states and Washington, D.C., and for medical use in 37 states and D.C., only Vermont and Connecticut have imposed caps on THC concentration. Both ban concentrates above 60 percent, with the exception of pre-filled cartridges, and do not permit cannabis plant material to exceed 30 percent THC. But there is little evidence to suggest these specific levels are somehow safer.
“In general, we do not support arbitrary limits on potency as long as products are properly tested and labeled,” Bethany Moore, a spokeswoman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement. She added that the best way to keep marijuana away from teens is to implement laws that allow the cannabis industry to replace illegal markets, which do not adhere to age restrictions, state-mandated testing or labeling guidelines.
The Food and Drug Administration has sent warnings about various cannabis products, including edibles, but so far federal regulators haven’t taken action to curb potency levels because cannabis is federally illegal, said Gillian Schauer, the executive director of the Cannabis Regulators Association, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that convenes government officials involved in cannabis regulation across more than 40 states and territories.
California lawmakers are now considering adding a mental health warning label to cannabis products specifying that the drug may contribute to psychotic disorders.
National surveys suggest that marijuana use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders decreased in 2021, a change partly attributed to the pandemic. However, over the two-year interval from 2017 to 2019, the number of kids who reported vaping marijuana over the last 30 days rose among all grades, nearly tripling among high school seniors. In 2020, 35 percent of seniors, and as many as 44 percent of college students, reported using marijuana in the past year.
Elysse got sober before entering college but soon found that seemingly everyone on her dorm floor habitually used weed.
“Not only carts,” she said, referring to the cannabis cartridges used in vape pens, “but bongs, pipes, bowls — absolutely everything.” Each morning, she found students washing their bongs in the communal bathroom at 8 a.m. to prepare for their “morning smoke.”
After a few weeks, she began vaping concentrated THC again, she said, and also started having dark thoughts, occasionally sitting alone in her room and sobbing for hours.
“I felt so trapped,” said Elysse, who has now been clean for nearly two months. “This is not fun in any way anymore.”
Teens are particularly affected by cannabis.
Michael McDonell, an addiction treatment expert at the Washington State University college of medicine, said that more research is needed to better understand how much more prevalent psychosis and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome have become among teenagers and others using high potency products.
Even so, he added, “we definitely know that there’s a dose-dependent relationship between THC and psychosis.”
One rigorous study found that the risk of having a psychotic disorder was five times higher among daily high potency cannabis users in Europe and Brazil than those who had never used it.
A couple with cannabis vape pens. In 2020, 35 percent of high school seniors, and as many as 44 percent of college students, reported using marijuana in the past year.Credit...Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times
Another study, published in 2021 in JAMA Psychiatry, reported that, in 1995, only 2 percent of schizophrenia diagnoses in Denmark were associated with marijuana use, but by 2010 that figure had risen to 6 to 8 percent, which researchers associated with increases in the use and potency of cannabis.
Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which can often be alleviated by hot baths and showers, is also linked to prolonged, high-dose cannabis use. As with psychosis, it’s unclear why some people develop it and others do not.
Dr. Sharon Levy, the director of the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, said there is “no doubt that higher concentration products are increasing the number of people who have bad experiences with cannabis.”
When her clinic opened in 2000, marijuana was illegal in Massachusetts. At the time, Dr. Levy said far fewer kids came in with psychotic symptoms “and we almost never saw cannabis hyperemesis syndrome.”
Now, she said, those numbers are shooting up. Psychotic symptoms while high can include hallucinations, trouble distinguishing between fantasy and reality, strange behaviors (one young man would spend his days tying plastic bags into knots) or voices talking to them in their head, she added.
If a teenager displays these symptoms, getting that person off cannabis “becomes an emergency,” she said. “Because maybe, just maybe they’ll clear up, and we’re preventing someone from developing a lifelong psychiatric disorder.”
‘Oh well, it’s just weed.’
Laura Stack, who lives in Highlands Ranch, Colo., said that when her son Johnny first confessed to using marijuana at the age of 14, she said to herself, “Oh well, it’s just weed. Thank God it wasn’t cocaine.”
She had used marijuana a couple of times in high school and cautioned him that marijuana would “eat your brain cells.” But at the time she wasn’t overly concerned: “I used it, I’m fine, what’s the big deal?”
“But I had no idea,” she added, referring to how marijuana has changed in recent years. “So many parents like me are completely ignorant.”
Initially, her son did not have any mental health problems and excelled in school. But he eventually started using high potency marijuana products multiple times a day, and this, Ms. Stack said, “made him completely delusional.”
By the time he reached college, he had been through various addiction treatment programs. He had become so paranoid that he thought the mob was after him and his college was a base for the F.B.I., Ms. Stack said. At one point, after he moved out of his childhood home, he threatened to kill the family dog unless his parents gave him money. His mother later discovered that Johnny had obtained his own medical marijuana card when he turned 18 and had begun dealing to younger kids.
After several stays at mental hospitals, the doctors determined that Johnny had a severe case of THC abuse, Ms. Stack said. He was prescribed an anti-psychotic medication, which helped — but then he stopped taking it. In 2019, Johnny died after jumping from a six-story building. He was 19. A few days before his death, Ms. Stack said, Johnny had apologized to her, saying that weed had ruined his mind and his life, adding, “I’m sorry, and I love you.”
A recent study found that people who used marijuana had a greater likelihood of suicidal ideation, plan and attempt than those who did not use the drug at all. Ms. Stack now runs a nonprofit called Johnny’s Ambassadors that educates communities about high-THC cannabis and its effect on the adolescent brain.
There’s ‘no known safe limit.’
It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly how much THC enters someone’s brain when they’re using cannabis. That’s because it’s not just the frequency of use and THC concentration that affect dosage, it’s also how fast the chemicals are delivered to the brain. In vaporizers, the speed of delivery can change depending on the base the THC is dissolved in, the strength of the device’s battery and how warm the product becomes when it’s heated up.
Higher doses of THC are more likely to produce anxiety, agitation, paranoia and psychosis.
“The younger you are, the more vulnerable your brain is to developing these problems,” Dr. Levy said.
Youths are also more likely to become addicted when they start using marijuana before the age of 18, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Furthermore, there is growing evidence that cannabis can alter the brain during adolescence, a period when it is already undergoing structural changes. Until more is known, researchers and clinicians recommend postponing cannabis use until later in life.
“I have kids asking me all the time, ‘What if I do this just once a month, is that OK?’” Dr. Levy said. “All I can tell them is that there’s no known safe limit.”
Dr. McDonell agreed that avoiding drug use entirely is always the safest option, but said that some kids might require a more nuanced conversation. He advised having open discussions about drugs with middle-schoolers and teenagers, while also educating them about the dangers of high potency cannabis products compared to those that are mostly made of CBD.
“I think that’s something we’re all struggling with as a community,” he added. “How do we get this information to parents and kids fast enough?”
Advice for Parents
More Young Kids Are Getting Sick From Cannabis Edibles
How to Talk to Teens About Edibles
Christina Caron is a reporter for the Well section, covering mental health and the intersection of culture and health care. Previously, she was a parenting reporter, general assignment reporter and copy editor at The Times. @cdcaron
COVID-19 Testing and Pediatric Vaccine Update From the Vermont Department of Health and the Child Development Division
State-run testing sites will be ending by June 25th. Please encourage families to make an appointment to pick up free tests at state sites before June 25th. They can get up to four antigen test kits and one LAMP test kit (similar to PCR) per appointment.
Appointments can be made for each family member. Families may also access tests from the Federal Free At-Home COVID Test Program. In the future, access to testing will be through pharmacies or primary medical providers.
In the upcoming weeks, the Vermont Department of Health’s test kit distribution to child care programs will also end (click here to order your kits).
The pediatric vaccine rollout for children ages 6 months to 4 years old is expected to start at the end of June, giving children the opportunity to be optimally protected. With the protection of vaccination made available, the reliance on testing will greatly decrease. Reach out to families to discuss the benefits of vaccination and encourage your families and staff to get vaccinated and/or boosted. For help with promoting the vaccine, there is also a social media toolkit for your use.
As we continue to recover, now is a great time to think about your sickness policy and to bring it into alignment with the Vermont Department of Health’s recommendations regarding Covid and possible Covid exposures. Having a policy that protects children based on the most current information allows families to continue to meet the demands of their employers as well as allowing you to have a more predictable schedule.
Thank you for caring for and educating Vermont’s youngest citizens.
Questions
If you have a health or vaccine related question, please contact 802-863-7240 (toll-free 833-722-0860) or AHS.VDHPublicCommunictaions@vermont.gov.
If you have questions about child care licensing, please contact the Licensor on Duty at 802-241-0837 (toll-free 800-649-2642, option 3) or AHS.DCFCDDchildcarelicensing@vermont.gov
The Mass Shootings Where Stricter Gun Laws Might Have Made a Difference
From the New York Times : The UpShot
By Quoctrung Bui, Alicia Parlapiano and Margot Sanger-Katz June 4, 2022
If the key gun control proposals now being considered in Congress had been law since 1999, four gunmen younger than 21 would have been blocked from legally buying the rifles they used in mass shootings.
At least four other assailants would have been subject to a required background check, instead of slipping through a loophole. Ten might have been unable to steal their weapons because of efforts to require or encourage safer gun storage. And 20 might not have been allowed to legally purchase the large-capacity magazines that they used to upgrade their guns, helping them kill, on average, 16 people each.
Taken together, those four measures might have changed the course of at least 35 mass shootings — a third of such episodes in the United States since the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, a New York Times analysis has found. Those 35 shootings killed a combined 446 people.
Mass shootings since Columbine
Mass shootings in which one of four gun policies might have had an effect are in bold
13 killed and 23 injured at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. (April 1999)
4 killed and 1 injured at a grocery store in Las Vegas (June 1999)
12 killed and 13 injured at two brokerage firms in Atlanta (July 1999) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
7 killed and 7 injured at a Baptist church in Fort Worth (Sept. 1999)
7 killed at an office in Honolulu (Nov. 1999)
5 killed and 3 injured at a hotel in Tampa, Fla. (Dec. 1999)
5 killed and 1 injured at a car wash in Irving, Texas (March 2000) The attacker stole a gun.
5 killed and 1 injured in multiple locations in Mount Lebanon, Pa. (April 2000)
7 killed at an office in Wakefield, Mass. (Dec. 2000)
4 killed at a wholesale store in Houston (Jan. 2001)
4 killed and 4 injured at a factory in Melrose Park, Ill. (Feb. 2001)
4 killed and 3 injured in multiple locations in Rifle, Colo. (July 2001)
5 killed and 2 injured in multiple locations in Sacramento (Sept. 2001) The attacker stole a gun.
4 killed and 5 injured at an aircraft parts plant in South Bend, Ind. (March 2002)
4 killed and 1 injured at an employment agency in Huntsville, Ala. (Feb. 2003)
6 killed and 8 injured at an aircraft parts plant in Meridian, Miss. (July 2003) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
6 killed at an auto supply warehouse in Chicago (Aug. 2003)
4 killed at a bar in Oldtown, Idaho (Oct. 2003)
5 killed and 2 injured at a meatpacking plant in Kansas City, Kan. (July 2004)
6 killed and 2 injured in a rural hunting area in Birchwood, Wis. (Nov. 2004)
4 killed and 2 injured at a nightclub in Columbus, Ohio (Dec. 2004)
4 killed and 3 injured at a courthouse in Atlanta (March 2005)
7 killed and 4 injured at a church in Brookfield, Wis. (March 2005)
9 killed and 7 injured at a high school in Red Lake, Minn. (March 2005) The attacker stole a gun.
4 killed near a church in Sash, Texas (Aug. 2005)
7 killed at a Postal Service building in Goleta, Calif. (Jan. 2006)
6 killed and 2 injured at a house party in Seattle (March 2006)
5 killed and 1 injured at a church in Baton Rouge, La. (May 2006)
5 killed and 5 injured at an Amish schoolhouse in Bart Township, Pa. (Oct. 2006)
5 killed and 4 injured at a mall in Salt Lake City (Feb. 2007)
32 killed and 26 injured at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (April 2007)
8 killed and 5 injured at a mall in Omaha (Dec. 2007) The attacker stole a gun.
4 killed and 5 injured at a youth center and a church in Arvada, Colo. (Dec. 2007)
6 killed and 1 injured at the city hall in Kirkwood, Mo. (Feb. 2008)
5 killed and 16 injured at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. (Feb. 2008)
4 killed at a salvage yard in Santa Maria, Calif. (March 2008) The attacker stole a gun.
5 killed and 1 injured at a plastics plant in Henderson, Ky. (June 2008)
6 killed and 4 injured in multiple locations in Alger, Wash. (Sept. 2008)
8 killed and 3 injured at a nursing home in Carthage, N.C. (March 2009)
13 killed and 4 injured at an immigration center in Binghamton, N.Y. (April 2009) The attacker used an extended magazine.
4 killed in a parking lot in Mt. Airy, N.C. (Nov. 2009)
13 killed and 32 injured at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas (Nov. 2009) The attacker used an extended magazine.
4 killed at a coffee shop in Parkland, Wash. (Nov. 2009)
4 killed and 2 injured at a restaurant in Los Angeles (April 2010) The attacker used an extended magazine.
4 killed and 3 injured at a restaurant in Hialeah, Fla. (June 2010)
8 killed and 2 injured at a beer distributor in Manchester, Conn. (Aug. 2010)
4 killed and 4 injured outside a restaurant in Buffalo (Aug. 2010)
5 killed in a mobile home park in Jackson, Ky. (Sept. 2010)
6 killed and 13 injured outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. (Jan. 2011) The attacker used an extended magazine.
7 killed and 1 injured in a neighborhood in Copley Township, Ohio (Aug. 2011)
4 killed and 7 injured at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nev. (Sept. 2011) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
7 killed and 3 injured at a Christian college in Oakland, Calif. (April 2012)
5 killed and 1 injured at a cafe in Seattle (May 2012)
12 killed and 70 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (July 2012) The attacker used an extended magazine.
6 killed and 3 injured at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis. (Aug. 2012)
6 killed and 2 injured at an office building in Minneapolis (Sept. 2012)
27 killed and 1 injured at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. (Dec. 2012) The attacker stole a gun.
4 killed and 2 injured at a barbershop and a car wash in Herkimer, N.Y. (March 2013)
4 killed at an apartment complex in Federal Way, Wash. (April 2013)
5 killed and 3 injured in multiple locations in Santa Monica, Calif. (June 2013) The attacker used an extended magazine.
6 killed at an apartment complex in Hialeah, Fla. (July 2013)
12 killed and 8 injured at a Navy facility in Washington (Sept. 2013)
4 killed and 2 injured at a Native American tribal office in Alturas, Calif. (Feb. 2014)
6 killed and 14 injured in multiple locations in Isla Vista, Calif. (May 2014)
4 killed and 1 injured at a high school in Marysville, Wash. (Oct. 2014) The attacker stole a gun.
9 killed at a historic Black church in Charleston, S.C. (June 2015)
5 killed and 2 injured at two military centers in Chattanooga, Tenn. (July 2015)
9 killed and 7 injured at a community college in Roseburg, Ore. (Oct. 2015) The attacker stole a gun.
6 killed at a campsite in Tennessee Colony, Texas (Nov. 2015)
14 killed and 22 injured at a social services center in San Bernardino, Calif. (Dec. 2015) The attackers used an extended magazine.
6 killed and 2 injured in multiple locations in Kalamazoo, Mich. (Feb. 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine.
49 killed and 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. (June 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine.
5 killed and 7 injured during a protest in Dallas (July 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine.
5 killed at a mall in Burlington, Wash. (Sept. 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine and stole a gun.
5 killed and 43 injured at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Jan. 2017)
4 killed in multiple locations in Rothschild, Wis. (March 2017)
5 killed at a warehouse in Orlando, Fla. (June 2017)
58 killed and 887 injured at a country music festival in Las Vegas (Oct. 2017) The attacker used an extended magazine.
25 killed and 20 injured at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas (Nov. 2017) The attacker used an extended magazine.
5 killed and 12 injured in multiple locations in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif. (Nov. 2017)
4 killed and 1 injured at a car wash in Saltlick Township, Pa. (Jan. 2018)
17 killed and 17 injured at a high school in Parkland, Fla. (Feb. 2018) The alleged attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun.
4 killed at a gas station in Detroit (Feb. 2018)
4 killed and 4 injured at a Waffle House in Nashville (April 2018)
10 killed and 13 injured at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas (May 2018) The alleged attacker stole a gun.
5 killed and 3 injured at The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md. (June 2018)
5 killed at a trucking company in Bakersfield, Calif. (Sept. 2018)
11 killed and 6 injured at a synagogue in Pittsburgh (Oct. 2018)
12 killed and 21 injured at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Nov. 2018) The attacker used an extended magazine.
5 killed at a bank in Sebring, Fla. (Jan. 2019)
5 killed and 7 injured at a warehouse in Aurora, Ill. (Feb. 2019)
12 killed and 4 injured at a municipal building in Virginia Beach (May 2019) The attacker used an extended magazine.
23 killed and 26 injured at a Walmart in El Paso (Aug. 2019) The alleged attacker used an extended magazine.
9 killed and 37 injured outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio (Aug. 2019) The attacker used an extended magazine.
7 killed and 23 injured in multiple locations in Odessa, Texas (Aug. 2019) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
4 killed and 3 injured at a kosher market in Jersey City, N.J. (Dec. 2019)
4 killed and 3 injured at a gas station in Springfield, Mo. (March 2020)
8 killed and 1 injured at three spas in Atlanta (March 2021)
10 killed and 1 injured at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo. (March 2021)
4 killed and 1 injured at a real estate office in Orange, Calif. (March 2021)
8 killed and 7 injured at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis (April 2021) The attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun.
9 killed at a light rail yard in San Jose, Calif. (May 2021) The attacker used an extended magazine.
4 killed and 7 injured at a high school in Oxford, Mich. (Nov. 2021)
10 killed and 3 injured at a grocery store in Buffalo (May 2022) The alleged attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun and used an extended magazine.
21 killed and 17 injured at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (May 2022) The attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun and used an extended magazine.
Source: New York Times analysis of the Violence Project Mass Shooter Database
But in a nation awash with guns, the majority of mass killings might have been unaffected — either because assailants obtained their guns illegally or because they were older adults using weapons that wouldn’t have been subject to any proposed restrictions.
Another proposed measure, a ban on the sale of military-style semiautomatic guns known as assault weapons, could in theory have had greater impact. But it faces even tougher opposition than the other proposals. Congress banned the sale of such guns in 1994, but the law expired 10 years later, and the weapons have since surged in popularity. Weapons covered under the expired ban were used in 30 percent of the shootings in the data, causing nearly 400 deaths. In a speech Thursday, President Biden asked Congress to renew the ban.
No law would be guaranteed to stop any one shooting, and America already has more guns than people, leaving a motivated individual with numerous paths to violence. But after recent massacres in Texas and New York State, which authorities said were committed by 18-year-old men who legally bought military-style rifles, Democrats have made emotional appeals to advance gun-control legislation. “It’s time to act,” Mr. Biden said Thursday.
Republican leaders have dismissed many of the proposals as unfair or unconstitutional curtailments of law-abiding gun owners’ civil rights without clear evidence they would improve public safety.
“We all want to keep children safe in school, but this bill wouldn’t do that,” the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan of Ohio, said during a hearing on Thursday.
Researchers who study gun violence said that deterring a third of mass shootings would be a substantial success, given the nation’s widespread gun ownership. “There’s no such thing as a perfect, 100 percent effective policy or suite of policies,” said Garen Wintemute, the director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California at Davis. “But there is a chance to make a real difference.”
Several of the bills are unlikely to become law. To evaluate the range of possibilities, The Times analyzed a database of mass shootings kept by the Violence Project, a nonprofit group that has collected information about shootings in public places that have killed four or more people, not including the gunman. (This article’s definition of mass shooting is based on that standard. The database was last updated after the shooting in Buffalo, and The Times added the more recent Texas shooting.)
The Times’ accounting is conservative. The current proposal on large-capacity magazines in Congress would ban all that hold more than 10 bullets. The database defined extended-capacity magazines as ones where the gun’s standard magazine had been replaced with a larger one. If the standard magazine came with 30 bullets, for example, and was not replaced, it was not counted. The data also doesn’t have every detail about every shooting.
Nonetheless, the measure that seems most likely to achieve bipartisan support in the Senate — a broader background check law — would have had a clear influence on only a handful of shootings, according to the database. Measures to prevent gun thefts and to bar the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 bullets would have affected more shootings, but appear less likely to become law.
An additional measure that the House will vote on next week and that is under discussion in the Senate would expand so-called red-flag laws in more states, establishing a legal process for removing guns from people in crisis. Depending on how those laws were structured and how widely they are used, they could make a bigger difference: In a startling 46 percent of shootings in the database, attackers had told someone about their intent to cause harm before the attacks. And in 36 percent of cases, an attacker had previously expressed suicidal intentions, another cause for possible gun removal under the laws.
But invoking such red-flag laws generally requires a court order, making it hard to know when they might have been used. They would also be easy to evade unless Congress also expanded background checks, which would prevent flagged people from simply buying new weapons. And the analysis showed the limits of such laws: Eight shootings were carried out by gunmen who were known to have previously threatened violence or suicide, even though they lived in states that already had a red-flag law.
A majority of the House supports a broad package of gun reforms and has already passed legislation to expand background checks. Other measures are expected to pass in a floor vote next week. But gun legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where any measure will need the votes of 10 Republicans to overcome a legislative filibuster, even if every Democrat supports it.
Few Republican senators have signaled much enthusiasm for the bills, though a bipartisan group is negotiating over possible legislation. Some version of a red-flag law and some form of a background check have been part of those conversations so far.
Mass shootings account for a tiny share of the roughly 100 Americans who die on average every day from gun violence. But researchers say many of the measures under discussion to prevent mass shootings would also reduce other gun violence, including suicides.
Several of the measures are designed to close gaps in existing federal gun laws, which stop 18-year-olds from buying handguns but not assault rifles, and require background checks for guns bought from a licensed dealer but not those bought from private sellers, often online or at gun shows. Other proposals, like regulations for gun storage and high-capacity magazines, don’t currently exist in federal law.
Many states have already passed some or all of these policies already. But the patchwork of laws limits the effectiveness of such restrictions because gun purchasers can travel to a neighboring state with fewer rules. The authors of the House legislation have emphasized the value of national laws that would apply uniformly.
“They go to the states where it’s easy to buy guns, where there are practically no limitations, and then they take those guns to other states,” said Representative Ted Deutch, a Democrat from Florida, who is a co-sponsor of multiple parts of the House package. “And this will just ensure that this can’t happen.”
In a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the legislation Thursday, Republican members rejected the proposed measures as ineffective.
“It is not kind, and is not compassionate, to tell people you are doing something to help them, when in fact you have no idea whether or not this legislation that you’ve fashioned would in fact do that,” said Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida. “I would suggest that it’s potentially cruel to tell people that they’ve inspired a response to a tragedy when in fact that response won’t work.”
The National Rifle Association, the nation’s most influential gun lobby, opposes the package. In a news release Thursday, the group said the policies would harm the rights of law-abiding Americans “who have never, and will never, commit a crime.” A spokesman for the group declined to comment on the Times analysis.
There is limited academic evidence about what policies could prevent mass shootings. A 2020 review of research on gun policies by the RAND Corporation drew few conclusions. But Andrew Morral, who led the project, said the absence of clear proof did not mean that policymaking would be fruitless. Mass shootings are much rarer than other forms of gun violence, making them hard to study. And some policies will never be easy to evaluate if they are not tried.
“It’s great if you have rigorous scientific evidence on which to base your policies, but that’s almost never true, and it’s an impossible standard,” he said. “When there's no evidence there, it doesn’t mean the policies are not good. It only means the science isn’t good.”
Details of the proposals
Democrats are proposing several policies, with different prospects of becoming law. Here’s what we learned about six of them.
Raising the minimum age to purchase certain guns to 21 - Four gunmen were under the age of 21 and purchased their weapons legally.
17 killed and 17 injured at a high school in Parkland, Fla. (Feb. 2018) The alleged attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun.
8 killed and 7 injured at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis (April 2021) The attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun.
10 killed and 3 injured at a grocery store in Buffalo (May 2022) The alleged attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun.
21 killed and 17 injured at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (May 2022) The attacker was under 21 and legally bought a gun.
Source: New York Times analysis of the Violence Project Mass Shooter Database
The proposal: Federal law currently limits the ability of those under 21 to purchase handguns but does not stop those 18 and over from buying so-called assault rifles. A House proposal would raise the minimum gun-purchasing age to 21 for more weapons, but not all. (Eighteen-year-olds would still be able to buy hunting rifles.)
Where it stands: The House is expected to pass the measure next week. President Biden endorsed it in his speech. It does not appear to be the subject of current negotiations among senators. Republicans have called the provision unconstitutional, pointing to a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which found that California’s ban on the sale of some semiautomatic weapons to adults under 21 violated the Second Amendment.
What the analysis shows: Most mass shooters in the database who legally purchased their guns were older than 21, but four of the gunmen might have been stymied by such a law.
Mass shootings by younger attackers may be becoming more common. All four mass shooters who legally bought guns before turning 21 conducted their attacks in the last five years.
Age-based restrictions may limit gun violence more generally, evidence suggests, even if they may not have prevented many mass shootings. Studies of state laws have shown they seem in particular to prevent suicides, which are a leading cause of death among young Americans.
Expanding background checks to cover private sales
At least four attackers purchased a weapon from a private seller in a state where background checks were not required for such sales.
12 killed and 13 injured at two brokerage firms in Atlanta (July 1999) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
6 killed and 8 injured at an aircraft parts plant in Meridian, Miss. (July 2003) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
4 killed and 7 injured at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nev. (Sept. 2011) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
7 killed and 23 injured in multiple locations in Odessa, Texas (Aug. 2019) The attacker purchased a gun from a private seller, with no background check required.
Source: New York Times analysis of the Violence Project Mass Shooter Database
The proposal: Americans who buy guns from licensed dealers have to undergo a background check, but under federal law, such checks are not required when people buy guns from private sellers at gun shows or through online marketplaces. A bill that passed the House would make such checks more universal, and give investigators more time to complete the check.
Where it stands: President Biden has endorsed the House bill. A bipartisan group of senators is discussing a possible background check bill, but it may differ in its details or may not advance in any form.
What the analysis shows: Among the perpetrators of mass shootings in the database, four purchased guns from private sellers. One, the gunman in a 2019 shooting that killed seven people in Odessa, Texas, had already failed a background check before purchasing his weapon.
Several other attackers had backgrounds that should have prevented them from obtaining a gun, but the information was not uncovered during the check. The gunman in a 2017 shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, who killed 25 people in a church, had a domestic violence conviction that should have made him ineligible to purchase a gun, but it was never reported to the database.
No background check law can prevent all private gun transfers. Many people purchase guns from acquaintances, or buy them using purchasers with no flags who were hired to obtain the weapons. But subjecting more gun purchases to background checks would make it harder for ineligible people to obtain guns through legal channels.
Encouraging safe gun storage and punishing people who fail to secure guns from children and criminals
10 percent of the shootings involved a stolen gun.
5 killed and 1 injured at a car wash in Irving, Texas (March 2000) The attacker stole a gun.
5 killed and 2 injured in multiple locations in Sacramento (Sept. 2001) The attacker stole a gun.
9 killed and 7 injured at a high school in Red Lake, Minn. (March 2005) The attacker stole a gun.
8 killed and 5 injured at a mall in Omaha (Dec. 2007) The attacker stole a gun.
4 killed at a salvage yard in Santa Maria, Calif. (March 2008) The attacker stole a gun.
27 killed and 1 injured at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. (Dec. 2012) The attacker stole a gun.
4 killed and 1 injured at a high school in Marysville, Wash. (Oct. 2014) The attacker stole a gun.
9 killed and 7 injured at a community college in Roseburg, Ore. (Oct. 2015) The attacker stole a gun.
5 killed at a mall in Burlington, Wash. (Sept. 2016) The attacker stole a gun.
10 killed and 13 injured at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas (May 2018) The alleged attacker stole a gun.
Source: New York Times analysis of the Violence Project Mass Shooter Database Note: Thefts include guns borrowed or stolen from a friend or family member.
The proposal: Measures before the House would impose requirements and incentives for safer gun storage, which could make guns harder to steal. The bill would also impose penalties for people who fail to secure a gun, but those would apply only to households where a minor “is likely to gain access” or where a person prohibited from owning a gun lives. Other provisions would teach the public about the benefits of safe storage and offer rebates for people who buy safety devices.
Where it stands: President Biden endorsed the House bill in his speech. Safe gun storage legislation does not appear to be a topic of current negotiations in the Senate.
What the analysis shows: Ten percent of mass shootings involved weapons that were stolen. Several of those shootings have involved young assailants, including in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Banning the sale of large-capacity magazines
Extended magazines were used in a fifth of shootings.
13 killed and 4 injured at an immigration center in Binghamton, N.Y. (April 2009) The attacker used an extended magazine.
13 killed and 32 injured at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas (Nov. 2009) The attacker used an extended magazine.
4 killed and 2 injured at a restaurant in Los Angeles (April 2010) The attacker used an extended magazine.
6 killed and 13 injured outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. (Jan. 2011) The attacker used an extended magazine.
12 killed and 70 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (July 2012) The attacker used an extended magazine.
5 killed and 3 injured in multiple locations in Santa Monica, Calif. (June 2013) The attacker used an extended magazine.
14 killed and 22 injured at a social services center in San Bernardino, Calif. (Dec. 2015) The attackers used an extended magazine.
6 killed and 2 injured in multiple locations in Kalamazoo, Mich. (Feb. 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine.
49 killed and 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. (June 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine.
5 killed and 7 injured during a protest in Dallas (July 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine.
5 killed at a mall in Burlington, Wash. (Sept. 2016) The attacker used an extended magazine.
58 killed and 887 injured at a country music festival in Las Vegas (Oct. 2017) The attacker used an extended magazine.
25 killed and 20 injured at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas (Nov. 2017) The attacker used an extended magazine.
12 killed and 21 injured at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Nov. 2018) The attacker used an extended magazine.
12 killed and 4 injured at a municipal building in Virginia Beach (May 2019) The attacker used an extended magazine.
23 killed and 26 injured at a Walmart in El Paso (Aug. 2019) The alleged attacker used an extended magazine.
9 killed and 37 injured outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio (Aug. 2019) The attacker used an extended magazine.
9 killed at a light rail yard in San Jose, Calif. (May 2021) The attacker used an extended magazine.
10 killed and 3 injured at a grocery store in Buffalo (May 2022) The alleged attacker used an extended magazine.
21 killed and 17 injured at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (May 2022) The attacker used an extended magazine.
Source: New York Times analysis of the Violence Project Mass Shooter Database
The proposal: The House is also considering a bill that would ban the purchase of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.
Where it stands: The House is expected to pass the bill next week, and President Biden endorsed it. Senate Republicans are seen as unlikely to advance the measure.
What the analysis shows: At least 19 percent of all shootings in the database involved assailants who upgraded their guns with magazines that were larger than those that came standard with their weapons, including several with the largest death counts.
The approach used in the database undercounts the number of shootings that could be affected by the current House proposal, which would make the magazines that come standard in many guns illegal. According to research from Louis Klarevas, a professor at Columbia University, and colleagues, at least an additional 13 mass shootings through 2019 involved magazines that held more than 10 bullets. The omitted shootings include Sandy Hook, where the assailant used several 30-round magazines that came standard with the Bushmaster XM15 rifle he used.
A ban on large-capacity magazines might reduce the number of mass shootings by eliminating a tool that makes them seem possible to would-be gunmen, advocates say. They could also reduce the number of people shot, by requiring more frequent reloading.
The 2017 shooting of spectators at a country music concert in Las Vegas caused the greatest number of deaths of any event in the database; it involved several large-capacity magazines, and a gun modification known as a “bump stock” that can make a semiautomatic weapon function more like a fully automatic machine gun. Without such tools, it is unlikely the gunman could have shot so many people.
Expanding red-flag laws to remove guns from people in crisis
In 46 percent of shootings, an attacker expressed interest in harming others. In 36 percent, at least one attacker was previously known to be suicidal.
13 killed and 23 injured at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. (April 1999) One attacker was suicidal and both expressed intent to harm.
12 killed and 13 injured at two brokerage firms in Atlanta (July 1999) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
7 killed and 7 injured at a Baptist church in Fort Worth (Sept. 1999) The attacker was suicidal.
7 killed at an office in Honolulu (Nov. 1999) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 1 injured in multiple locations in Mount Lebanon, Pa. (April 2000) The attacker was suicidal.
7 killed at an office in Wakefield, Mass. (Dec. 2000) The attacker was suicidal.
4 killed and 3 injured in multiple locations in Rifle, Colo. (July 2001) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 2 injured in multiple locations in Sacramento (Sept. 2001) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
6 killed and 8 injured at an aircraft parts plant in Meridian, Miss. (July 2003) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
6 killed at an auto supply warehouse in Chicago (Aug. 2003) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
4 killed at a bar in Oldtown, Idaho (Oct. 2003) The attacker was suicidal.
4 killed and 3 injured at a courthouse in Atlanta (March 2005) The attacker was suicidal.
9 killed and 7 injured at a high school in Red Lake, Minn. (March 2005) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 1 injured at a church in Baton Rouge, La. (May 2006) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 4 injured at a mall in Salt Lake City (Feb. 2007) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
32 killed and 26 injured at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (April 2007) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
8 killed and 5 injured at a mall in Omaha (Dec. 2007) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
4 killed and 5 injured at a youth center and a church in Arvada, Colo. (Dec. 2007) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
6 killed and 1 injured at the city hall in Kirkwood, Mo. (Feb. 2008) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 16 injured at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. (Feb. 2008) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
4 killed at a salvage yard in Santa Maria, Calif. (March 2008) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 1 injured at a plastics plant in Henderson, Ky. (June 2008) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
6 killed and 4 injured in multiple locations in Alger, Wash. (Sept. 2008) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
8 killed and 3 injured at a nursing home in Carthage, N.C. (March 2009) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
13 killed and 32 injured at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas (Nov. 2009) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
4 killed at a coffee shop in Parkland, Wash. (Nov. 2009) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
8 killed and 2 injured at a beer distributor in Manchester, Conn. (Aug. 2010) The attacker expressed intent to harm.State red flag law was in effect.
5 killed in a mobile home park in Jackson, Ky. (Sept. 2010) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
6 killed and 13 injured outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. (Jan. 2011) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
12 killed and 70 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (July 2012) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
27 killed and 1 injured at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. (Dec. 2012) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.State red flag law was in effect.
6 killed and 14 injured in multiple locations in Isla Vista, Calif. (May 2014) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
4 killed and 1 injured at a high school in Marysville, Wash. (Oct. 2014) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
9 killed at a historic Black church in Charleston, S.C. (June 2015) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 2 injured at two military centers in Chattanooga, Tenn. (July 2015) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
6 killed at a campsite in Tennessee Colony, Texas (Nov. 2015) The attacker was suicidal.
49 killed and 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. (June 2016) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 7 injured during a protest in Dallas (July 2016) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed at a mall in Burlington, Wash. (Sept. 2016) The attacker was suicidal.
4 killed in multiple locations in Rothschild, Wis. (March 2017) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed at a warehouse in Orlando, Fla. (June 2017) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
25 killed and 20 injured at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas (Nov. 2017) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 12 injured in multiple locations in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif. (Nov. 2017) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.State red flag law was in effect.
4 killed and 1 injured at a car wash in Saltlick Township, Pa. (Jan. 2018) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
17 killed and 17 injured at a high school in Parkland, Fla. (Feb. 2018) The alleged attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
4 killed at a gas station in Detroit (Feb. 2018) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
4 killed and 4 injured at a Waffle House in Nashville (April 2018) The attacker was suicidal.
10 killed and 13 injured at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas (May 2018) The alleged attacker expressed intent to harm.
5 killed and 3 injured at The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md. (June 2018) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
11 killed and 6 injured at a synagogue in Pittsburgh (Oct. 2018) The alleged attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.
5 killed at a bank in Sebring, Fla. (Jan. 2019) The alleged attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.State red flag law was in effect.
5 killed and 7 injured at a warehouse in Aurora, Ill. (Feb. 2019) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.State red flag law was in effect.
23 killed and 26 injured at a Walmart in El Paso (Aug. 2019) The alleged attacker expressed intent to harm.
9 killed and 37 injured outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio (Aug. 2019) The attacker was suicidal.
7 killed and 23 injured in multiple locations in Odessa, Texas (Aug. 2019) The attacker was suicidal.
8 killed and 1 injured at three spas in Atlanta (March 2021) The attacker was suicidal.
8 killed and 7 injured at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis (April 2021) The attacker was suicidal.State red flag law was in effect.
9 killed at a light rail yard in San Jose, Calif. (May 2021) The attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.State red flag law was in effect.
4 killed and 7 injured at a high school in Oxford, Mich. (Nov. 2021) The alleged attacker expressed intent to harm.
10 killed and 3 injured at a grocery store in Buffalo (May 2022) The alleged attacker was suicidal and expressed intent to harm.State red flag law was in effect.
21 killed and 17 injured at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (May 2022) The attacker expressed intent to harm.
Source: New York Times analysis of the Violence Project Mass Shooter Database
The proposal: Nineteen states have passed laws that allow the police and other citizens to seek a court order to temporarily confiscate guns from people who are deemed an immediate threat to themselves or others. Congress is considering legislation that might broaden such laws.
Where it stands: A House bill would allow federal courts to issue such orders in states without their own laws. Senators are considering a proposal that would offer grants as an incentive for more states to establish such laws.
What the analysis shows: Research has shown that awareness of the laws and enthusiasm for using them varies by jurisdiction. But there is some evidence they can prevent violence.
A study in Connecticut found that the presence of such a law reduced the number of gun suicides, which is the most common type of gun-related death. A study of red-flag applications in California from 2019 included several examples of people who had threatened mass violence.
In one case, a man who threatened to shoot his former co-workers after losing his job was flagged while he waited for a background check to clear on a shotgun. When the police visited his home, they found 400 rounds of ammunition. Dr. Wintemute, a co-author on the study, said about 30 percent of red-flag applications in California had involved possible mass shooters.
“It critically depends on people being willing to obey the old adage: If you see something, say something,” he said. “There has to be a report. And that’s just the first step.”
In 57 percent of shootings, the attacker had issued a specific threat or was known to have been previously suicidal, behavior that might have initiated a gun confiscation. But in eight of those shootings, states had already enacted red-flag laws, an indication that threats of violence have not always resulted in gun confiscations, even when a law is on the books.
Banning so-called assault weapons
30 percent of shootings involved guns that were banned under the now-expired 1994 federal assault-weapons law.
13 killed and 23 injured at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. (April 1999) The attackers used an assault weapon.
7 killed at an office in Wakefield, Mass. (Dec. 2000) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 4 injured at a factory in Melrose Park, Ill. (Feb. 2001) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 2 injured in multiple locations in Sacramento (Sept. 2001) The attacker used an assault weapon.
6 killed and 2 injured in a rural hunting area in Birchwood, Wis. (Nov. 2004) The attacker used an assault weapon.
8 killed and 5 injured at a mall in Omaha (Dec. 2007) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 5 injured at a youth center and a church in Arvada, Colo. (Dec. 2007) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed in a parking lot in Mt. Airy, N.C. (Nov. 2009) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 7 injured at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nev. (Sept. 2011) The attacker used an assault weapon.
12 killed and 70 injured at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. (July 2012) The attacker used an assault weapon.
27 killed and 1 injured at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. (Dec. 2012) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 3 injured in multiple locations in Santa Monica, Calif. (June 2013) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 2 injured at two military centers in Chattanooga, Tenn. (July 2015) The attacker used an assault weapon.
14 killed and 22 injured at a social services center in San Bernardino, Calif. (Dec. 2015) The attackers used an assault weapon.
49 killed and 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. (June 2016) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 7 injured during a protest in Dallas (July 2016) The attacker used an assault weapon.
58 killed and 887 injured at a country music festival in Las Vegas (Oct. 2017) The attacker used an assault weapon.
25 killed and 20 injured at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas (Nov. 2017) The attacker used an assault weapon.
5 killed and 12 injured in multiple locations in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif. (Nov. 2017) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 1 injured at a car wash in Saltlick Township, Pa. (Jan. 2018) The attacker used an assault weapon.
17 killed and 17 injured at a high school in Parkland, Fla. (Feb. 2018) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 4 injured at a Waffle House in Nashville (April 2018) The attacker used an assault weapon.
11 killed and 6 injured at a synagogue in Pittsburgh (Oct. 2018) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
23 killed and 26 injured at a Walmart in El Paso (Aug. 2019) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
9 killed and 37 injured outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio (Aug. 2019) The attacker used an assault weapon.
7 killed and 23 injured in multiple locations in Odessa, Texas (Aug. 2019) The attacker used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 3 injured at a kosher market in Jersey City, N.J. (Dec. 2019) The attackers used an assault weapon.
4 killed and 3 injured at a gas station in Springfield, Mo. (March 2020) The attacker used an assault weapon.
10 killed and 1 injured at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo. (March 2021) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
8 killed and 7 injured at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis (April 2021) The attacker used an assault weapon.
10 killed and 3 injured at a grocery store in Buffalo (May 2022) The alleged attacker used an assault weapon.
21 killed and 17 injured at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas (May 2022) The attacker used an assault weapon.
Source: New York Times analysis of the Violence Project Mass Shooter Database
The proposal: A House bill, not scheduled for a vote, would bar the sale of certain semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns that the bill describes as assault weapons.
Where it stands: More than 200 House Democrats have co-sponsored the bill, but not enough to command a majority of the House. Representative Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he and colleagues were trying to persuade more lawmakers to support such a bill. An assault weapons ban seems unlikely to advance in the Senate. Some of the Republican senators who have been negotiating on other measures have opposed banning such a popular category of weapon.
What the analysis shows: Around 30 percent of the mass shootings in the database involved a weapon that would probably be banned by such a law. On average, they caused twice as many fatalities as other shootings.
If an assault weapons ban were added to the other policies under consideration, the share of mass shootings that could have been affected would rise to 47 percent.
An Interview & Virtual Discussion with Jane Stevens: America's Gun Violence Epidemic
This interactive event will include a virtual discussion and will take place on June 10th at 9:00am PT/11:00am CT/12:00pm ET via Zoom. Space is limited. REGISTER THROUGH THE LINK BELOW.
The collective trauma of the past two years has accelerated America's already dire gun violence epidemic. Recent shootings in Buffalo, NY, Uvalde, TX and Tulsa, OK have put 2022 on track to have a record number of mass shootings in a single year. The trauma of gun violence in our country ripples far beyond the individuals lost or injured and greatly impacts their families, loved ones and our society, as a whole. How can we, as a country, address this epidemic of violence? How can we use PACEs science to mobilize our collective efforts?
Please join us as PACEs Connection CEO, Ingrid Cockhren, interviews Jane Stevens concerning our nation's gun violence crisis. Jane Stevens is founder and publisher of PACEs Connection, comprising the social network PACEsConnection.com and the news site ACEsTooHigh.com. Stevens has been a health, science and technology journalist for more than 35 years. She began reporting about PACEs science in 2005. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and National Geographic. Check out her recent podcast interview focused on how the mainstream media does a poor job of reporting on violence.
A new federal law bans baby sleep products linked to nearly 200 infant deaths
President Biden signed the Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021 on Monday, outlawing the manufacture and sale of crib bumpers and certain inclined infant sleepers.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Two baby sleep products linked to nearly 200 infant deaths will soon be banned under federal law, a move child safety advocates say will save children's lives.
President Biden signed the Safe Sleep for Babies Act of 2021 on Monday, outlawing the manufacture and sale of crib bumpers and certain inclined infant sleepers.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recorded 83 crib bumper-related deaths as well as 97 fatalities due to inclined sleepers, lawmakers said.
"For decades, consumer, health and parent groups have decried the sale of these dangerous products," Nancy Cowles, executive director of the group Kids In Danger, said in a statement.
"We thank the families and organizations who have worked so hard to keep children safe and look forward to the end of these deadly products on store shelves and in our nurseries," she added.
What the new law does to protect infants
Some padded sleep products pose a significant risk to infants who can roll over onto the padded surfaces and suffocate.
The legislation will ban inclined sleepers greater than 10 degrees that are "intended, marketed, or designed" as a sleeping surface for children up to age one.
It also outlaws products aimed at preventing babies from injuring themselves on the sides of a crib or fitting between the slats, such as padded crib bumpers, vinyl bumper guards and vertical crib slat covers. Non-padded mesh crib liners are excluded from the ban
"Families will finally get the peace of mind that comes with knowing the sleep products they purchase for their newborns are safe," said Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., who introduced the legislation. "This new law will save lives and protect our kids by banning life-threatening crib bumper pads and inclined sleep products from store shelves."
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies sleep alone and on their backs on a firm, flat surface.
Both items will be designated as hazardous products banned under the Consumer Product Safety Act no later than 180 days after the law was enacted.
Inclined sleepers have been under scrutiny for a while
A number of companies in conjunction with the CPSC have recalled their infant inclined sleeper products in recent years over suffocation risks.
Among them was Fisher-Price's massively popular Rock 'n Play sleeper, which was brought to the market in 2009 and recalled a decade later in 2019 after selling roughly 4.7 million units.
The Rock 'n Play was the subject of a congressional investigation last year that found that the company knew of the risks posed by the sleeper long before it pulled it from store shelves.
Last June the CPSC approved a new federal safety standard for infant sleep products, such as inclined sleepers, ensuring they are at an angle 10 degrees or lower and meet other guidelines in place for cribs and bassinets.
USDA Continues Urgent Actions to Address Infant Formula Shortage
From Our Friends at the Vermont Foodbank:
USDA Continues Urgent Actions to Address Infant Formula Shortage
At the Vermont Foodbank, we know that many of our neighbors are struggling with the nationwide shortage of infant formula. While we do not carry infant formula, we would like to share the news release below with the intent to help parents and care givers access the most up to date information available about this shortage.
If you are a WIC participant, the Vermont WIC office recommends you speak with your pediatrician about safe and appropriate feeding alternatives, or contact the WIC office for additional information. Additionally, they shared that Vermont has implemented all of the flexibilities offered by the USDA for WIC participants and have offered the following resources:
Updated FNS Infant Formula Safety webpage, highlighting the Status of Infant Formula Recall – Related Waivers for each WIC State agency.
Blog posted on Keeping Infants Safe in Midst of Formula Shortages.
American Academy of Pediatrics posted tips for parents and caregivers who are struggling to find baby formula during the shortage, which may be helpful to parents and caregivers.
USDA Continues Urgent Actions
to Address Infant Formula Shortage
Urges states to adopt flexibilities to support families amid recall
WASHINGTON, May 13, 2022 – As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s coordinated drive to end the infant formula shortage, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is urging states to take advantage of flexibilities the department is offering in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC, to help families get the safe formula they need.
“We’re acutely aware that the ongoing recall has left many parents and caregivers concerned about access to formula and how they will feed their babies,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Our team is committed to the health and safety of all Americans and is calling on states to act immediately to offer maximum flexibility, information, and support to WIC participants. Meanwhile, USDA will continue the work we started in February, working not only within our department, but across the federal government, suppliers and partners to end this infant formula crisis as quickly as possible.”
Since the recall was first announced in February, USDA has been working closely with FDA to ensure program participants and stakeholders have the information they need to keep infants safe. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) immediately reached out to states to offer support and within days, announced a suite of flexibilities available, such as allowing states to broadly offer alternate sizes, forms, and brands of formula and allowing stores to accept exchanges of formula purchased with WIC benefits.
USDA is also in communication with Abbott, the manufacturer at the center of the recall, with Secretary Vilsack today calling on the company to redouble their efforts to ensure WIC participants have access to safe formula, especially those who rely on specialty formulas produced by Abbott.
WIC supports the purchase of formula for moms and families of young children. Typically, there are rules about what products families can purchase with WIC benefits and what stores can allow. USDA has been working with states to relax those rules to help deal with the impacts of the shortage.
To date, not all states have adopted all flexibilities. With today’s letter and ongoing technical assistance efforts, President Biden and USDA are strongly urging all states to immediately take advantage of those flexibilities to alleviate burdens across the supply chain and stand ready to assist with their requests.
USDA continues to work closely with WIC agencies as they review and implement these flexibilities, in coordination with their vendors and local offices. USDA also asked WIC agencies to encourage families to exchange their recalled formula, issued reminders about options for returns and exchanges of recalled products, and posted several resources on infant formula safety including guidance for parents and caregivers.
Over the last several months, the federal government has worked round the clock to address the production shortfall brought about by the recall. As a result of ongoing work, more infant formula has been produced in the last four weeks than in the four weeks that preceded the recall, despite one of the largest infant formula production facilities in the country being offline during that time.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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Twitter Q&A for Child Abuse Prevention Month
Hosted by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children April 27, 2022 2:00 p.m. ET
Join us and the child safety experts at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on April 27th at 2PM EST for a Twitter chat for National Child Abuse Prevention Month. #NCAPM If we don’t talk about online child sexual exploitation it won’t stop. Join the conversation.
STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT regarding Transgender Community
PRESS RELEASE
STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR PHIL SCOTT
14 APRIL 2022
Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement:
“Across the country, we have seen disturbing hostility towards the transgender community. Unfortunately, recent events show we are not immune to this in Vermont, and we must commit to continuing our work to make Vermont a more inclusive and welcoming place. Exploiting fear and targeting divisive rhetoric at people who are just trying to be who they are is hateful and can lead to violence.
“I ask Vermonters to do their part to ensure everyone feels safe in our state and to engage in these conversations from a place of empathy and understanding. Legitimate policy debates can and should be had and should be fact-based and respectful. Sadly, data shows transgender people are more likely to be victims of violence and die by suicide so it’s important to realize ‘how’ we discuss these issues matters.
“To Vermonters in the LGBTQA+ community, I want you to know we stand with you and support you but know we have more work to do.”
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Research Findings:
Student populations (including both students who identify as LGBT and those do not) reported higher levels of feeling safe in schools that had LGBTQ inclusive curricula (Snapp, et al., 2015).
Teacher attitudes and general school climate act as a protective factor for rates of school bullying, in general (Espelage, 2014). Then it isn’t surprising that schools with better strong, positive, support for LBGT students had lower rates of bullying targeting these youth (Moyano, et al., 2020 ). Schools with professional development about LGBT youth along with gay-straight alliances have lower rates of bullying and violence against this group (Basile, 2020).
School supports for LGBT youth relate to better academic outcomes for this group (Kosciw, et al., 2013).
Parental support and friendships with adults were protective factors against sexual violence against LGBT youth in a research study of 4,822 high schoolers. “Findings suggest that prevention and intervention efforts to address gender-based harassment should focus on building protective, supportive environments across the schools, families, and communities” (Valido, et al., 2021).
School policies that prevent transgender or gender non-conforming youth from using the restroom or locker room that matches their gender identity are related to higher rates of sexual violence against these youth (Murchison, 2019).
Valido, A., Rivas-Koehl, M., Espelage, D. L., Robinson, L. E., Kuehl, T., Mintz, S., & Wyman, P. A. (2021). Protective factors of homophobic name-calling and sexual violence perpetration and victimization among LGB, trans, and heterosexual high school students. School mental health, 13(3), 602-615.
Espelage, D. L. (2014). Ecological theory: Preventing youth bullying, aggression, and victimization. Theory into Practice, 53(4), 257-264.
Moyano, N., & del Mar Sánchez-Fuentes, M. (2020). Homophobic bullying at schools: A systematic review of research, prevalence, school-related predictors and consequences. Aggression and violent behavior, 53, 101441.
Murchison, G. R., Agénor, M., Reisner, S. L., & Watson, R. J. (2019). School restroom and locker room restrictions and sexual assault risk among transgender youth. Pediatrics, 143(6).
Basile, K. C., Clayton, H. B., DeGue, S., Gilford, J. W., Vagi, K. J., Suarez, N. A., ... & Lowry, R. (2020). Interpersonal violence victimization among high school students—youth risk behavior survey, United States, 2019. MMWR supplements, 69(1), 28.
Kosciw, J. G., Palmer, N. A., Kull, R. M., & Greytak, E. A. (2013). The effect of negative school climate on academic outcomes for LGBT youth and the role of in-school supports. Journal of School Violence, 12(1), 45-63.
Snapp, S. D., McGuire, J. K., Sinclair, K. O., Gabrion, K., & Russell, S. T. (2015). LGBTQ-inclusive curricula: Why supportive curricula matter. Sex Education, 15(6), 580-596.
Community Health's Pinwheel Gardens Grow
April 11, 2022
CONTACT:
Jill Jesso-White
jjwhite@chcrr.org
(802) 855-5393
Community Health's Pinwheel Gardens Grow
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month
Rutland -- Pinwheel gardens have sprouted up at Community Health’s practices in Rutland and Addison counties in support of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont’s 2022 Child Abuse Prevention Month and their theme “growing a better tomorrow for our children.”
“At Community Health, our focus on children, their health, safety and development is steadfast and constantly evolving,” said Jill Jesso-White, Community Health director of communications and development. “You’ll see pinwheels at all our practices because we want families to know that we are here to support them to foster healthy child and youth development."
Community Health offers behavioral health services at all their practices, including pediatric behavioral health specialists who can address specific needs of children and their families. And, Community Health Pediatrics and Community Kids Dental provide preventive dental and medical care just for children.
Governor Phil Scott declared April Child Abuse Prevention Month in a proclamation that read “Children, Vermont’s most precious resource, must be guaranteed their health, well-being and protection.” According to data from the state’s Department for Children and Families, in 2021 of the substantiated child abuse cases, 228 were related to sexual abuse and 302 to physical abuse.
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont has created resources and a calendar of activities to encourage awareness and community activities including instructions on how to create your own pinwheel. Pinwheels for Prevention has been a national symbol for child abuse prevention for over 14 years.
For more information about preventing child abuse, check these websites
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont (https://www.pcavt.org/)
Centers for Disease Control (https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/index.html
Community Health is Vermont’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), a network of primary care, pediatric, behavioral health, dental and pharmacy services with offices in Rutland, Brandon, Castleton, West Pawlet and Shoreham. Community Dental offices are located in Rutland and Shoreham; Community Kids Dental is in Rutland; Community Health Pediatrics is in Rutland and Behavioral Health services are available at all of our locations. Community Health Express Care Centers, open 7 days a week, are located at the Rutland and Castleton Community Health Centers. For career opportunities at Community Health’s network of health care services, check our Career Center.
The mission of Community Health (Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region) is to be the foremost integrated community health center providing quality and collaborative care that is accessible to all people, in order to live their best lives and build stronger communities.
Washington Post: ‘A cry for help’: CDC warns of a steep decline in teen mental health
‘A cry for help’: CDC warns of a steep decline in teen mental health
More than 4 in 10 told the health agency they felt ‘persistently sad or hopeless’
By Moriah Balingit, The Washington Post
March 31, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. EDT
Public health officials are raising the alarm about adolescent mental health, saying the pandemic exacerbated existing problems. (sestovic/Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning of an accelerating mental health crisis among adolescents, with more than 4 in 10 teens reporting that they feel “persistently sad or hopeless,” and 1 in 5 saying they have contemplated suicide, according to the results of a survey published Thursday.
“These data echo a cry for help,” said Debra Houry, a deputy director at the CDC. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created traumatic stressors that have the potential to further erode students’ mental well-being.”
The findings draw on a survey of a nationally representative sample of 7,700 teens conducted in the first six months of 2021, when they were in the midst of their first full pandemic school year. They were questioned on a range of topics, including their mental health, alcohol and drug use, and whether they had encountered violence at home or at school. They were also asked about whether they had encountered racism.
Although young people were spared the brunt of the virus — falling ill and dying at much lower rates than older people — they might still pay a steep price for the pandemic, having come of age while weathering isolation, uncertainty, economic turmoil and, for many, grief.
In a news conference, Kathleen A. Ethier, head of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health, said the survey results underscored the vulnerability of certain students, including LGBTQ youth and students who reported being treated unfairly because of their race. And female students are far worse off than their male peers.
“All students were impacted by the pandemic, but not all students were impacted equally,” Ethier said.
‘This is a crisis’: Tens of thousands of children affected by pandemic-related deaths of parents
It’s not the first time officials have warned of a mental health crisis among teens. In October, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health, saying that its members were “caring for young people with soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality that will have lasting impacts on them, their families, and their communities.”
In December, Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued an advisory on protecting youth mental health.
“The pandemic era’s unfathomable number of deaths, pervasive sense of fear, economic instability, and forced physical distancing from loved ones, friends, and communities have exacerbated the unprecedented stresses young people already faced,” Murthy wrote. “It would be a tragedy if we beat back one public health crisis only to allow another to grow in its place.”
The CDC survey paints a portrait of a generation reeling from the pandemic, grappling with food insecurity, academic struggles, poor health and abuse at home. Nearly 30 percent of the teens surveyed said a parent or other adult in their home lost work during the pandemic, and a quarter struggled with hunger. Two-thirds said they had difficulty with schoolwork.
But the survey also offers hope, finding that teens who feel connected at school report much lower rates of poor health. The finding calls attention to the critical role schools can play in a student’s mental health.
Ethier said the findings add to a body of research that show that feeling connected at school can be “a protective factor" for students. Schools can deliberately foster connectedness in a number of ways, including instructing teachers on how to better manage classrooms, to facilitating clubs for students and ensuring that LGBTQ students feel welcome. Such steps can help all students — and not just the most vulnerable — do better, she said.
“When you make schools less toxic for the most vulnerable students, all students benefit — and the converse is also true,” Ethier said.
Katelyn Chi, a 17-year-old junior at Rowland High School in Rowland Heights, Calif., said her school’s Peer Counseling Club was key to helping her get through last school year, which was entirely virtual. At the beginning of each online club meeting, she and other members filled out a Google form that simply asked them how they were doing. The forms were viewed by the club’s president, who checked in with her whenever she indicated she felt down.
“It really helped,” Chi said. “I received support and validation.”
Concerns about adolescent mental health were rising before the pandemic: Teens had been reporting poor mental health at higher rates. Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of teens who reported having “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” rose from 26 percent to 37 percent. In 2021, the figure rose to 44 percent.
'I'm still trying to understand': Family speaks out after 15-year-old's suicide
By sharing her brother’s story, Hannah Zang hopes to normalize seeking help for mental health problems, which for many has been exacerbated by the pandemic. (Video: Joy Yi/The Washington Post, Photo: The Washington Post)
For months, he helped his son keep suicidal thoughts at bay. Then came the pandemic.
The survey results also underscore the particular vulnerability of LGBTQ students, who reported higher rates of suicide attempts and poor mental health. Nearly half of gay, lesbian and bisexual teens said they had contemplated suicide during the pandemic, compared with 14 percent of their heterosexual peers.
Girls, too, reported faring worse than boys. They were twice as likely to report poor mental health. More than 1 in 4 girls reported that they had seriously contemplated attempting suicide during the pandemic, twice the rate of boys. They also reported higher rates of drinking and tobacco use than boys.
And, for the first time, the CDC asked teens whether they believed that they had ever been treated unfairly or badly at school because of their race or ethnicity. Asian American students reported the highest levels of racist encounters, with 64 percent answering affirmatively, followed by Black students and multiracial students, about 55 percent of whom reported racism. Students who said they had encountered racism at school reported higher rates of poor mental health and were more likely to report having a physical, mental or emotional problem that made it difficult for them to concentrate.
The study also shed light on household stresses. One in 10 teens reported being physically abused at home, and more than half reported emotional abuse, including being insulted, put down or sworn at.
The survey also revealed that students who felt connected at school fared far better than those who did not. Teens who said they felt “close to people at school” were far less likely to report having attempted or thought about attempting suicide, and they were far less likely to report poor mental health than those who did not feel connected at school. The same held true for teens who felt connected virtually to friends, family members and clubs.
What happened to America’s teens when coronavirus disrupted high school?
“Comprehensive strategies that improve connections with others at home, in the community, and at school might foster improved mental health among youths during and after the pandemic,” the report concluded.
Chi said she wishes policymakers could take adolescent mental health more seriously. She sometimes feels like people her age are dismissed because of their age.
“I’d like to ask them to provide us with a lot of more resources and a lot more empathy on what we’re going through,” Chi said, adding that her school delayed the opening of a much-needed student wellness center this year. “With things so hard right now, it’s hard to see the future as something better.”
John Gies, the principal of Shelby High School in Shelby, Ohio, said he noticed a rise in the number of his students who were “struggling.” Sometimes, they would not make eye contact. Other times, students without previous disciplinary issues acted out and ended up in his office.
So he used some of the money the school received from the American Rescue Plan to connect more students with counseling, and created an arrangement to bring counselors from a local counseling center to school several times a week. The school has created a support group for grieving students and for a cohort of freshmen who educators worry could fall through the cracks.
“The mental health struggle had been there” before the pandemic, Gies said. “The pandemic really brought it to the surface and made it actually a little bit worse.”
Many Teens Report Emotional and Physical Abuse by Parents During Lockdown
New data on teen mental health during the pandemic suggests that for many, home life was full of stressors like job loss, hunger and even violence.
New data underscores the protective role that schools can play in the lives of young people, especially those grappling with racism or gender identity, experts said. Credit...Kim Raff for The New York Times
By Ellen Barry, New York Times
March 31, 2022
New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on adolescents’ mental health during the coronavirus pandemic suggests that for many teenagers who were ordered to stay at home, home was not always a safe place.
A nationwide survey of 7,705 high school students conducted in the first half of 2021 built on earlier findings of high levels of emotional distress, with 44.2 percent describing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness that prevented them from participating in normal activities, and 9 percent reporting an attempt at suicide.
It also found high rates of reported abuse, with 55.1 percent of teenage respondents saying they suffered emotional abuse from a parent or another adult in their house in the preceding year, and 11.3 percent saying they suffered physical abuse.
In the survey, emotional abuse was defined as swearing, insulting or belittling; physical abuse was defined as hitting, beating, kicking or physically hurting.
Research conducted before the pandemic, in 2013, showed that self-reports of parental abuse were substantially lower, with 13.9 percent of respondents ages 14 to 17 reporting emotional abuse during the preceding year, and 5.5 percent reporting physical abuse.
Abuse was only one of the stressors that teenagers reported at home, according to the new study. Twenty-nine percent of those interviewed in the survey reported that a parent or another adult in the home lost a job, and 24 percent said that they had experienced hunger.
The data underscores the protective role that schools can play in the lives of young people, especially those grappling with racism or gender identity, said Kathleen Ethier, who heads the adolescent and school health program at the C.D.C.
“Schools provide a way of identifying and addressing youth who may be experiencing abuse in the home,” she said, calling the reported rise in physical abuse “beyond worrisome” and the rise in suicidal behavior “hugely significant.”
“These data really confirm that we are in a severe crisis in terms of mental health among young people, particularly among female students and students who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual,” she said.
Researchers and clinicians have expressed alarm about a sharp decline in the mental health of young people during the pandemic, which was described as “devastating” in a rare public advisory from the U.S. surgeon general in December.
After much of the country went into lockdown, emergency room visits for suicide attempts rose 51 percent for adolescent girls in early 2021 as compared with the same period in 2019, according to the surgeon general’s report. The figure rose 4 percent for boys. A C.D.C. report released in February found that emergency room visits by teenage girls relating to eating disorders had doubled during the pandemic.
Research released this week from the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey from the C.D.C. adds to those findings.
More than one in three high schoolers experienced poor mental health, with 44.2 percent reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Nearly 20 percent said they considered suicide, and 9 percent said they had attempted suicide during the previous year.
“That is hugely significant,” Dr. Ethier said. “That means a significant portion of our young people are telling us they don’t want to live right now.”
The rise in suicidal behavior during lockdown is especially pronounced among young women and students who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual. Researchers worry “about those youth being separated from school and being home with families who may not be supportive of their sexual identify or sex orientation or gender identity,” Dr. Ethier said.
Dr. Moira Szilagyi, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a specialist in abuse cases, said adolescents benefit from access to the large network of adults who are present at school.
“It exposes you to a whole other group of adults and peers,” she said. “There is a sea of people there, and among them — your teacher, your coach, the school administration — there are caring adults youth can seek out, and who identify when a youth isn’t doing well.”
The C.D.C. data showed that mental health was better among students who described a strong sense of “connectedness” or closeness with people at school, even when they were attending school remotely.
Previous research has shown that children who were unable to complete assignments during the pandemic lockdown also reported higher levels of anxiety and depression.
A longitudinal study of 168 children ages 5 to 11 who are patients at Boston Medical Center found a sharp rise in symptoms of depression and anxiety during the pandemic, to 18 percent from 5 percent. Worse mental health was correlated with caregiver depression and increased screen time, as well as failure to complete assignments.
The findings underline that school “is good for kids on multiple levels,” said Dr. Andrea E. Spencer, a child psychiatrist at Boston Medical Center and one of the paper’s authors.
“Families are extremely important, but often that peer group is not replaceable within the confines of the family home,” Dr. Spencer said. “Then you add parent stress on top of that, and it adds up to increased conflict in a house where no one can escape from each other. That recipe is not going anywhere good.”
Under normal circumstances, clinicians would “mobilize support to those families and really wrap around them and provide people in the home with resources,” Dr. Spencer said. But during periods of intense spread, public health conditions required much more isolating at home, which is “exactly the opposite of what we try to do for kids who are at risk,” she said.
Ellen Barry covers mental health. She has served as The Times’s Boston bureau chief, London-based chief international correspondent and bureau chief in Moscow and New Delhi. She was part of a team that won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. @EllenBarryNYT
A version of this article appears in print on April 1, 2022, Section A, Page 24 of the New York edition with the headline: Teenagers Report Abuse At Home in Lockdown. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
Former Vermont man faces murder charge in years-old case of shaken baby syndrome
Article by y Shaun Robinson, VT Digger Apr 1 2022
A Tennessee man was arrested Friday on a second-degree murder charge in connection with the 2016 death of his daughter due to complications from an intentional injury she sustained as a 1-month-old in Vermont, Vermont State Police said.
Jason Roberts, 44, is being held in Tennessee pending his extradition to Vermont to face the charge, according to a state police press release.
Vermont State Police said Roberts was previously charged with first-degree aggravated domestic assault in Orleans County Superior Court in 2001 after he was accused of shaking his infant daughter, Destiny Roberts, at their home in Derby, according to a police affidavit filed in support of the murder charge.
The baby — who was later adopted and named Madison Simoneau — suffered “severe” brain injuries from shaken baby syndrome, according to the affidavit, resulting in quadriplegia, a seizure disorder and blindness in one eye. She required medical care up until her death.
Roberts pleaded no contest to the domestic assault charge in 2002 and was sentenced to four to 15 years in prison, according to the affidavit. He was released in 2011.
Madison died in July 2016 at Boston Children’s Hospital when she was 15 years old, state police said. The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and found her death to be a homicide caused by “‘complications of remote acceleration/deceleration of the head’ (traumatic brain injury),” according to the affidavit.
Officials began investigating her death the following year, they said.
Throughout multiple interviews, police “asked if anyone had witnessed or were aware of any injuries (Madison) suffered aside from the injury caused by Jason Roberts, and no one reported any significant incidents or injuries that would have affected the trajectory of her life,” they wrote.
Over the past two years, a Vermont State Police detective re-interviewed Roberts — who denied causing Madison’s injuries — and sought the expert opinion of a doctor, according to the affidavit.
Although Roberts admitted to shaking his daughter in a 2001 interview with Vermont State Police, he later claimed that Madison was kicked in the head by a roommate who temporarily lived with Roberts, Madison and the girl’s mother, Tammy Hildreth.
But James Metz, the doctor who reviewed thousands of pages of documents on the police’s behalf, found it to be “highly unlikely” Madison’s head injuries stemmed from blunt force trauma, such as a kick. Metz, division chief of child abuse medicine at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, said the girl’s injuries were “much more consistent with a whiplash type, shaking injury,” noting she had no bruising on her face or body that would suggest she had been kicked.
Metz delivered his opinion to investigators in August 2021, police said.
A warrant for Roberts’ arrest was issued on Thursday and he was taken into custody on Friday by the Blount County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service in Maryville, Tennessee, according to Vermont State Police.
Police did not indicate a date for his extradition. An email sent Friday evening to Orleans County State’s Attorney Jennifer Barrett was not returned.
Madison was adopted by Tim and Tammy Simoneau in 2003, according to the affidavit and a Facebook post from the Vermont State Employees’ Association. Tim Simoneau was a corrections worker and child abuse prevention advocate who died in 2016, according to the post. The Simoneaus began fostering Madison in August 2001, it says.
The couple said at the time that child abuse prevention was important to them because they had seen Madison’s injuries and never wanted them to happen to another child.
Alan J. Keays and Maggie Cassidy contributed to this report.