MAYOR WALSH, CITY LEADERS LAUNCH NEW NEIGHBORHOOD TRAUMA TEAMS

MAYOR WALSH, CITY LEADERS LAUNCH NEW NEIGHBORHOOD TRAUMA TEAMS

Neighborhood Trauma Teams (NTT) in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roxbury and East Boston will be managed by BPHC and co-led by teams consisting of a community health center and a community partner

BOSTON - Tuesday, April 25, 2017 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh joined public health officials Tuesday to launch new neighborhood-based trauma response and recovery teams that will offer immediate support to Boston residents and ongoing access to evidence-based trauma treatment. Overseen by the Boston Public Health Commission, the NTTs will support residents' and the community's ability to heal following a traumatic event. Specifically, the NTTs will offer individual and family crisis response services, short-term case management, coping groups and ongoing trauma recovery services. "With the new Neighborhood Trauma Teams, in the aftermath of violence, community health centers, hospitals and community groups will now be able to coordinate immediate response and sustained recovery for all those affected," said Mayor Walsh. "Together, we'll break the cycle of violence and help support those who are healing." This model was designed with input from over 350 community residents and providers through 14 neighborhood listening sessions hosted by BPHC, during which BPHC staff heard what residents and communities need most following a violent or traumatic event. "As a result of these listening sessions, we designed a citywide comprehensive strategy to meet the needs of residents following a traumatic event," said Chief of Health and Human Services Felix Arroyo. "Funds will support the Neighborhood Trauma Teams and a mobile vendor that is able to serve residents across the city, regardless of where they are or where the incident happened." "Over the past five years, BPHC has trained over 120 clinicians across the city in evidence-based trauma treatment and provided trauma awareness training to over 2,500 youth workers working in community-based organizations," said BPHC Executive Director Monica Valdes Lupi, JD, MPH. "The Neighborhood Trauma Teams will build on existing efforts and enhance response and recovery services for residents impacted by violence and trauma, creating a coordinated system of care in the City to address the needs of every resident, and identify and mitigate the impact of trauma on Boston families." "As trusted providers located right in our neighborhoods, health centers are well-positioned to provide critically needed trauma recovery services and to work with community partners to improve the comprehensive response to violence in our City, said James W. Hunt, Jr., president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. "The impacts of trauma are far reaching and this funding increases our centers' ability to offer skilled and compassionate care to those who suffer its effects." The NTTs are supported through a combination of City funding and grants from Boston Children's Hospital and Partners HealthCare System. The Justice Resource Institute's SMART Team will provide a 24-hour hotline for residents seeking support and citywide trauma response services for neighborhoods where a funded team is not based. This mobile team will also support the funded teams with backup care as needed. The teams were selected through a competitive RFP process and include: Dorchester: Bowdoin Street Health Center and Greater Four Corners Action Coalition Jamaica Plain: Brigham & Women's Hospital, Brookside Community Health Center Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center and Jamaica Plain Coalition: Tree of Life / Árbol de Vida Roxbury: Whittier Street Health Center and Madison Park Development Corp. East Boston: East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and North Suffolk Mental Health Association. Mattapan: Mattapan Community Health Center The NTTs will conduct community outreach and engagement to ensure residents know how to access services, and will host community meetings to share safety information and provide safe spaces for groups to come together for healing.

Baker-Polito Administration Proposes Modernizing the Laws that Govern Explicit Images

Baker-Polito Administration Proposes Modernizing the Laws that Govern Explicit Images

Legislation will protect children, provide more tools for District Attorneys, and update state law  

BOSTON – Today, the Baker-Polito Administration filed legislation modernizing the laws governing the distribution of sexually explicit images and empowering District Attorneys with additional tools to protect children. Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito announced the filing of An Act Relative to the Harmful Distribution of Sexually Explicit Visual Material alongside District Attorneys, Police Chiefs, members of District Attorney Conley’s Youth Advisory Council, local legislators, and other key stakeholders from across the Commonwealth at Boston Latin Academy in Dorchester.

“As parents, Lieutenant Governor Polito and I are pleased to propose legislation to better protect the Commonwealth’s children and will seek to educate them on the dangers associated with sharing explicit images,” said Governor Baker. “We look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this bill in a timely fashion, so that Massachusetts can join several other states in recognizing the need to update our laws consistent with modern technology to best protect our most vulnerable.” 

“From the flexibility District Attorneys will now possess for educating minors, to the updates school districts will make to their cyber-bullying policies, this proposed legislation makes Massachusetts a better and safer state,” said Lt. Governor Polito, Chair of the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. “We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Legislature, District Attorneys, and the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence to update state law concerning sexual explicit images.”

Under the legislation filed today, the first step in an explicit images case involving minors will be to enroll in an educational diversion program rather than go through the juvenile justice process and potentially be committed to the Department of Youth Services. While District Attorneys and the Attorney General will still have the right to bypass educational diversion programs in certain instances, the focus will now be on educational diversion rather than legal punishment.

“This is a very serious issue that causes emotional distress, humiliation, and has the potential to destroy people’s lives,” said Dan Bennett, Secretary of Public Safety and Security. “Through the collaborative efforts of the Lt. Governor and members of the SADV council, the Administration has crafted a bill that would create new pathways for protecting the Commonwealth’s children and offer sensible alternatives to involvement in the juvenile justice system.”

Massachusetts law as currently written, calls for minors who engage in peer to peer distribution of sexually explicit visual material to be subject to prosecution for the distribution or possession of child pornography.  This legislation seeks to update the law consistent with our lives and 21st Century technology. Should a case proceed to the juvenile justice system, this bill affords District Attorneys the discretion to decide whether a minor should be charged with a misdemeanor rather than a felony. The flexibility provided under this law will help ensure minors that do not belong in the juvenile justice system do not wind up there.

“All too often, technology outpaces the law’s ability to protect individuals and address harmful behavior.  This is a smart, balanced bill that creates more appropriate and measured options ,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. “Right now, prosecutors reviewing juvenile sexting cases usually find themselves with the poor choice of pursuing either extremely serious charges or no charges at all.  Victims of surreptitious recordings and revenge porn could find the evidence in their cases made part of the public record.  This legislation provides meaningful, proportionate, and age-appropriate responses to emerging offenses, including an educational diversion option for most juveniles. It also improves confidentiality assurances for victims and maintains constitutional protections for free speech.  I want to thank Governor Baker and his team for working so closely with us to develop this bill and help bring Massachusetts law into the 21st century.”  

"This legislation addresses juvenile sexting in a smart and progressive way," said Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan

The legislation filed by the Baker-Polito Administration today will also require schools to provide age-appropriate education on the risks and harmful effects of the creation, possession, and distribution of sexually explicit visual depictions of minors as they relate to cyber-bullying.  Schools will be given the autonomy to use their existing cyber-bullying policies as a framework to incorporate education for their students on the harmful effects of distributing explicit images and any bullying associated with it.

  

"I am honored to join the Governor and Lieutenant Governor on this legislation which will protect kids from the harmful effects from transmission of explicit images," said Representative Jeffrey N. Roy (D-Franklin). "Earlier in the session, I filed similar legislation which provides additional tools for law enforcement along with educational programming that brings a coordinated effort and holistic approach to address an increasingly prevalent behavior among teens. I look forward to partnering with the Lieutenant Governor in the effort to get both bills enacted in this session."

This proposal also seeks to close a loophole under current law by creating penalties for adults who distribute a sexually explicit image for purposes of revenge or embarrassment. While current law addresses non-consensual recording of an unsuspecting person, it does not address instances where someone distributes an image without consent regardless of whether the initial image may have been taken with consent.  This legislation closes the gap in our law by creating a new felony offense and empowering judges in criminal proceedings to ensure an explicit image in question is permanently destroyed.

If passed, Massachusetts will join states from over half the country that have enacted similar legislation to protect their citizens.

第20屆哈佛中國論壇"共擔時代責任" (圖片)

所有圖片，周菊子攝。

哈佛大學教務長歐立德(Mark Elliott)。

中國駐紐約總領事館富總領事張美芳。

小米創辦人雷軍

章偉宗(右)

黃晶生。

陳東昇

右起，毛振華，陳東昇，雷軍。

林書豪以視頻致意。

達拉斯小牛隊東主。

徐辰。

曹德旺。

張曉青(左一)主持。

左起，方愛之，鄭博仁，張路，曹強，童士豪。

朱雲來。

劉自鴻。

潘石屹。

北京影響力。

蕭健雄(左)，張鋒(右)。

黑土麥田創辦然秦玥飛

曾任哈佛中國論壇主席的陳羿綸也是黑土麥田董事。

孟曉犁。