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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Helping Children Navigate Through Trauma

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Tuesday, June 1, 2021   

DENVER, Colo. -- School closures, social isolation, gaps in health-care access and other pandemic-related disruptions have taken a toll on children's mental health, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation report.

Jade Woodard, executive director of Illuminate Colorado, said toxic stress can change the way a child's brain develops, and parents and those who work with children should keep an eye out for physical symptoms such as head and stomach aches, acting out, or other signs of lingering impacts of trauma.

"And as parents what we really need to do is change our language, to stay positive, to stay calm, to take deep breaths and manage our own emotions," Woodard advised. "And to understand that they've experienced major disruptions as a result of everything that has happened."

Children of color and LGBTQ youths are at higher risk for experiencing significant emotional and cognitive challenges.

Woodard emphasized it's important for parents to find time to get away from screens and engage with their kids. She suggested playing games or other activities are ways to make space for kids to open up, in their own time, and share their experiences and emotions.

Nearly half of parents surveyed in an American Psychiatric Association poll said the public health emergency contributed to mental-health challenges for at least one of their children.

Vicki Jay, CEO of the National Alliance for Grieving Children, said the pandemic's impacts could last a lifetime.

"We've all been affected by COVID," Jay observed. "We've all experienced loss and change and disappointment and trauma this year. And it's not going to be over with; there's not a switch to flip. It becomes a part of who we are, and it's what we take forward with us."

Woodard explained as the nation emerges from the pandemic, all families need support, grace, and understanding. She stressed ensuring families can access mental health care, and meet their basic needs, can help kids cope with the impacts of trauma, and prevent trauma in the future.

"We really must be building communities that are supporting this healing," Woodard asserted. "And so just like a plant is more likely to thrive in a garden with good soil and plenty of sunlight and water, children and families are more likely to thrive in nurturing communities."


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Health and Wellness

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Social Issues

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Environment

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New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

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