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Is online therapy right for you?

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UCLA Health

More than 50 million Americans live with mental illness, but less than half of them seek treatment. For many untreated individuals, getting to a mental health professional is inconvenient or too costly. For others, the idea of sitting in a strange room, talking face-to-face with someone about their mental health concerns, might feel unbearable.

The good news is that we live in a virtual age. Video conferencing connects us with coworkers, doctors, fitness instructors and teachers. Why should therapy be any different?

Online therapy, or teletherapy, provides the mental health support you may need, in the comfort of your home. Researchers looked at more than 60 studies and found that seeing a therapist virtually is just as effective as face-to-face sessions for most people with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). Another 40 studies showed online therapy for treating depression to be more effective than not receiving therapy in any form.

Violent crime is dropping fast in the U.S. — even if Americans don’t believe it

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NPR on 2/12/2024 by Karen Zamora , Ari Shapiro , Courtney Dorning

In 2020, the United States experienced one of its most dangerous years in decades.

The number of murders across the country surged by nearly 30% between 2019 and 2020, according to FBI statistics. The overall violent crime rate, which includes murder, assault, robbery and rape, inched up around 5% in the same period.

But in 2023, crime in America looked very different.

“At some point in 2022 — at the end of 2022 or through 2023 — there was just a tipping point where violence started to fall and it just continued to fall,” said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst and co-founder of AH Datalytics.

In cities big and small, from both coasts, violence has dropped.

Read More

Free CEUs: Youth Trauma & Resilience Juvenile Justice Learning Series

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Indiana University School of Medicine on 3/14/2024

The INTREPID Center hosts training opportunities on best practice trauma-informed services for individuals working with youth and families.

Available training is offered both in-person and virtually, often at no-cost, and continuing medical education (CME) credits may be available.

Project ECHO is a continuing education model to disseminate current best practice strategies for addressing complex topics across a range of settings. The Youth Trauma & Resilience ECHO will convene experts in child trauma and community-based youth-serving professionals to improve trauma-informed care across Indiana. Several tracks will be offered for different audiences throughout the award period.

  • Pediatric Healthcare Providers
  • Juvenile Justice
  • Child Welfare
  • Education
Informative Flyer as a PDF Document

Sign up for a free account for the series here.

Bridging the gap: Enhancing communication between jails and probation departments through technology

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Corrections1 on 3/5/2024

Effective communication is critical in any setting, but it becomes even more significant within the context of the criminal justice system, where people’s lives and futures are at stake

Editor’s note: This feature is part of Corrections1’s digital edition, “Advancing community corrections: Using technology to improve case management.” Click here to download.

The criminal justice system is a complex web of interdependent agencies, each tasked with its unique role in maintaining the rule of law. Among these, jails and probation departments play a pivotal role in the rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals into society.

Read more: Bridging the gap: Enhancing communication between jails and probation departments through technology

However, a significant challenge in this process is the lack of seamless communication between these two entities. In many instances, probation officers are left uninformed about the behavior and mental health status of defendants while they are in custody. As we seek to increase transparency and improve communication, technology, and more specifically, case management software, emerges as a viable solution.

Effective communication is critical in any setting, but it becomes even more significant within the context of the criminal justice system, where people’s lives and futures are at stake. Probation officers, tasked with monitoring and supporting individuals under their supervision, often face difficulties due to a lack of information about these individuals during their time in custody. This information gap can lead to challenges in formulating effective rehabilitation strategies and ensuring the safety of both defendants and officers.

“Communication is way more important than we realize,” explains Jason Mereness, an adjunct professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Human Services at Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota. “Not knowing that somebody has committed a new offense or been in custody somewhere poses a safety risk and can lead to other potential supervision issues as well.”

Susan Rice, a retired chief probation officer for Miami County, Indiana, and current president of the American Probation and Parole Association, highlights the staffing challenges that exacerbate communication issues, stating, “Lack of staff is often an obstacle, resulting in officers having too many people that they are responsible for supervising.”

Juveniles with guns on the rise in Fort Wayne

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wane.com on 1/22/2023 by Alyssa Ivanson

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – More juveniles are getting guns and committing crimes in Fort Wayne.

“In the last two years, I say we’ve probably seen more juvenile offenders booked for homicide than we’ve seen in the last five or six years,” Det. Marc Deshaies with the Fort Wayne Gang and Violent Crimes Unit said.

Already in 2024, the two homicides in Allen County involved juveniles and another shooting on January 20 in Fort Wayne also involved juveniles.

“My concern is juveniles haven’t gotten to that rational processing stage in their brain where they can make a decision about life and death, let alone their life, and you give them a tool that’s the equator of death and you have given it to something that’s irrational,” Deshaies said.

It’s easier for juveniles to access guns now through social media.