The latest from National Institutes of Health ... American Community Survey ... Children’s Health Fund

New York University will study how staff training promotes safety among incarcerated youth in New York City’s juvenile justice system. A $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund the research by Shabnam Javdani and Eric Godfrey, which will take place over five years. “The staff training will be developed in collaboration with (Administration for Children’s Services) and their Workforce Institute, and take place as part of ACS’s standard procedures. The training will include evidence-based knowledge and skills in suicide detection and prevention to enable staff to respond to acute instances of youth crisis. It will also provide staff with concrete tools, informed by dialectical behavior therapy and positive youth development perspectives, to effectively respond to a range of youth needs and experiences,” reads a Sept. 27 NYU press release.

Citizens’ Committee for Children is getting ready to do some new data crunching. New 2017 data from the American Community Survey shows that children under age 5 make up about 30 percent of New York City children living in poverty – just one insight from the new survey. Here are a few other data points that the nonprofit says merit more study, taken more or less verbatim from an Oct. 1 statement.

• Children under 18 make up the largest percentage of those living below the poverty level in New York City at 25.2 percent.
• The highest percentage of children living below the poverty level is in the Bronx, with nearly 40 percent of children under 18 (141,034), compared to 15.6 percent (72,328) in Queens.
• NYC residents who are white make up the largest number of those living in poverty (474,041). However, a larger share of black residents are living in poverty at 21.3 percent (438,174).
• Families with black heads of household are almost twice as likely to be living in poverty as families with a white household head, at 17.3 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively.

Elizabeth Goodman is the new executive vice president and chief medical officer at Children’s Health Fund. In that role, she will be in charge of nationwide programs for the New York City-based organization, which was founded in 1987 by Irwin Redlener, singer Paul Simon and program designer Karen Redlener. The Fund now operates more than 400 sites across 16 states. “A national expert regarding the effects of social determinants on children’s health, Dr. Goodman serves a dual appointment as president of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She brings 20 years of experience as an accomplished pediatrician and child advocate at renowned institutions including Harvard Medical School, Mass General Hospital for Children, Boston Children’s Hospital, Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and the Heller School at Brandeis University,” reads an Oct. 2 press release.

United Hospital Fund raised $1.3 million at its annual gala. The event took place on Oct. 1 at Cipriani 42nd Street and was attended by more than 500 people, according to Philanthropy New York. Stanley Brezenoff was recognized for his four decades of work, including his tenures leading New York’s public hospital network. Revlon President Debra Perelman also received recognition for her work supporting treatment for childhood mental health disorders. Read more here.

Citizens' Committee for Children also has something to say about Raise the Age and juvenile justice priorities moving forward: