"My grief and frustration over JJ’s fate were compounded by all I learned about the effects of toxic stress on a developing brain."
Mental Health & Trauma
The chief of a domestic violence unit joined reporters from The Wall Street Journal and NBC News to share insights for covering this urgent story right now.
With psychiatric problems already on the rise for American children, mental health experts weigh in on what we might do to buffer COVID-19's effects on kids.
The Virginia Department of Social Services has seen a 50% drop in calls to the child abuse and neglect hotline since mid-March, but social workers are concerned that an increase in domestic violence and child abuse may be going unreported.
The four years I spent covering San Joaquin County included too many visits to homicide scenes and coroner’s name requests, but a cursory glance at the names and figures of the victims unsettled me.
“This decline in calls is unprecedented for Los Angeles County,” said one county official. “We are seeing similar trends across the state of California.”
Americans are reporting high levels of emotional distress from the coronavirus pandemic -- levels that some experts warn may lead to a national mental health crisis.
How a reporter used data and documents to show how the state of Pennsylvania failed in its duty to oversee the nation's oldest reform school and juvenile justice programs like it.
This story was produced as a project for the 2019 National Fellowship.
Child mental health experts offered some key takeaways reporters can relay to worried and overwhelmed parents.