April 30, 2009
Police officers pull man from burning house
By MARK I. JOHNSON
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Steve Beres is the first to admit he is no firefighter.
"I would rather grab a guy with a gun on crack than fight a fire," the Daytona Beach deputy police chief said Wednesday afternoon.
However, just hours before, he and three of his officers braved flames and smoke to pull a 60-year-old man from his burning home.
Dean Frederick Sweeney suffered second-degree burns over 80 percent of his body when a lamp cord overheated, sparking a fire that engulfed the living room of his South Ridgewood Avenue home just before midnight Tuesday, police said.
Beres was on routine patrol when he said he saw smoke drifting through the streetlights. He investigated, eventually going door to door in the block, before seeing flames inside Sweeney's home.
When a neighbor told him it was likely Sweeney was inside, the officer began looking for a way in, but locked doors and heavy smoke and flames blocked his way.
"I could hear him yelling, 'Help me! Help me!" Beres recalled. "And I could see him through the flames."
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Police officers pull man from burning house
Thursday, April 30, 2009
VVA Homeless Veterans Report
March / April 2009
ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORT:
Homeless Veterans
BY SANDY MILLER, CHAIR
HTF-1-07 Homeless Veterans as a “Special Needs Population”: To be continued. Nationally, 23-30 percent of the homeless population, or approximately 194,000, are veterans. While federal agencies acknowledge these statistics, they have yet to identify these veterans as a “special needs population.” They are due a fair share of the available federal dollars for programs and services funded in the United States.
Resolution HTF-1-07 urges the Presidential Interagency Council on Homelessness to recognize homeless veterans as a Special Needs Population. Further, we urge Congress to require all entities and agencies that receive or utilize federal program funding dollars to report statistics on the veterans they serve. Additionally, VVA supports legislation that would incorporate a fair-share dollar approach for the federal funding of homeless programs and services to specifically target homeless veterans.
HTF-4-07 Homeless Veteran HUD Transitional and Supportive Services Only Funding: To be retired.
HTF-5-07 Homeless Veteran HUD/VA Supportive Housing Funding: To be retired as fulfilled.
HTF-6-07 VA Homeless Grant and Per Diem Funding: To be continued. The VA HGPD Program is an effective tool in addressing veteran homelessness.
Resolution HTF-6-07 urges the VA HGPD Program to provide payment for services rather than the reimbursement for services it presently provides. Additionally, VVA supports and seeks legislation to establish Supportive Services Assistance Grants for VA HGPD Service Center Grant Awardees.
The committee is working on three new resolutions:
HUD Shelter Plus Care Housing Programs To Receive Supportive Service Dollars: The HUD Shelter Plus Care grants provide no funding for administrative or staffing support to provide the supportive services to veterans in Shelter Plus Care beds. HUD Supported Housing Program grants do provide for these services.
Support for Continued Funding and Oversight of the HUD/VASH Program: Continued funding for the existing HUD/VASH voucher program, as well as the proposed additional $75 million for 10,000 more vouchers, is key to ending homelessness among our nation’s veteran population. Oversight of the HUD/VASH program and its processes will be an invaluable tool in the continuance and expansion of this program.
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program To Remain at the U.S. Department of Labor and Be Fully Funded at $50 Million: Job readiness training and reeducation are congressionally mandated functions and responsibilities of the Department of Labor.
The Homeless Veterans Committee: Sandy Miller, Chair; Marsha Four, Vice Chair; Jack Devine, Chair of Chairs. Members: Tom Berger, Pat Bessigano, Cheryl Beversdorf, Ed Chow, TP Hubert, and John Neuman. Also: Melvin Colston, Homeless Liaison; Kathleen Aylward-Barnes, Special Advisor; Suzanne Blohm-Weber, AVVA Liaison; and Jim Grissom, VSF Liaison. Staff Liaison: Sharon Hodge.
VVA.org Homeless Veterans
ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORT:
Homeless Veterans
BY SANDY MILLER, CHAIR
HTF-1-07 Homeless Veterans as a “Special Needs Population”: To be continued. Nationally, 23-30 percent of the homeless population, or approximately 194,000, are veterans. While federal agencies acknowledge these statistics, they have yet to identify these veterans as a “special needs population.” They are due a fair share of the available federal dollars for programs and services funded in the United States.
Resolution HTF-1-07 urges the Presidential Interagency Council on Homelessness to recognize homeless veterans as a Special Needs Population. Further, we urge Congress to require all entities and agencies that receive or utilize federal program funding dollars to report statistics on the veterans they serve. Additionally, VVA supports legislation that would incorporate a fair-share dollar approach for the federal funding of homeless programs and services to specifically target homeless veterans.
HTF-4-07 Homeless Veteran HUD Transitional and Supportive Services Only Funding: To be retired.
HTF-5-07 Homeless Veteran HUD/VA Supportive Housing Funding: To be retired as fulfilled.
HTF-6-07 VA Homeless Grant and Per Diem Funding: To be continued. The VA HGPD Program is an effective tool in addressing veteran homelessness.
Resolution HTF-6-07 urges the VA HGPD Program to provide payment for services rather than the reimbursement for services it presently provides. Additionally, VVA supports and seeks legislation to establish Supportive Services Assistance Grants for VA HGPD Service Center Grant Awardees.
The committee is working on three new resolutions:
HUD Shelter Plus Care Housing Programs To Receive Supportive Service Dollars: The HUD Shelter Plus Care grants provide no funding for administrative or staffing support to provide the supportive services to veterans in Shelter Plus Care beds. HUD Supported Housing Program grants do provide for these services.
Support for Continued Funding and Oversight of the HUD/VASH Program: Continued funding for the existing HUD/VASH voucher program, as well as the proposed additional $75 million for 10,000 more vouchers, is key to ending homelessness among our nation’s veteran population. Oversight of the HUD/VASH program and its processes will be an invaluable tool in the continuance and expansion of this program.
Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program To Remain at the U.S. Department of Labor and Be Fully Funded at $50 Million: Job readiness training and reeducation are congressionally mandated functions and responsibilities of the Department of Labor.
The Homeless Veterans Committee: Sandy Miller, Chair; Marsha Four, Vice Chair; Jack Devine, Chair of Chairs. Members: Tom Berger, Pat Bessigano, Cheryl Beversdorf, Ed Chow, TP Hubert, and John Neuman. Also: Melvin Colston, Homeless Liaison; Kathleen Aylward-Barnes, Special Advisor; Suzanne Blohm-Weber, AVVA Liaison; and Jim Grissom, VSF Liaison. Staff Liaison: Sharon Hodge.
VVA.org Homeless Veterans
Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
By Josh Bennett • DEMOCRAT WRITER • April 29, 2009
A 300-person motorcade Tuesday escorted the traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., into Veterans Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola.
The display is part of a four-day event Thursday through Sunday in memory of the 58,000 soldiers who never returned from the Vietnam War.
The plaza, which is home to the recently built "Three-Soldier Statue South" war memorial, will host a wide array of public events, including a memorial service on Saturday. Volunteers will read the names of all 58,000 deceased or missing soldiers.
"This unique event is the first of its kind ever," said Tom Brocato, a volunteer coordinator and Vietnam veteran. "No where outside of Washington, D.C., have these two memorials been in the same location."
More than 500 volunteers will lend a hand to make these four days a reality.
"The most important part of this event is to honor our veterans and educate the public about the many issues that they faced when coming back from Vietnam," said Dan Scheck, program director of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, an organization that focuses on Vietnam War veteran awareness. Soldiers back then weren't given the respect and honor that these soldiers get today."
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Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
By Josh Bennett • DEMOCRAT WRITER • April 29, 2009
A 300-person motorcade Tuesday escorted the traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., into Veterans Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola.
The display is part of a four-day event Thursday through Sunday in memory of the 58,000 soldiers who never returned from the Vietnam War.
The plaza, which is home to the recently built "Three-Soldier Statue South" war memorial, will host a wide array of public events, including a memorial service on Saturday. Volunteers will read the names of all 58,000 deceased or missing soldiers.
"This unique event is the first of its kind ever," said Tom Brocato, a volunteer coordinator and Vietnam veteran. "No where outside of Washington, D.C., have these two memorials been in the same location."
More than 500 volunteers will lend a hand to make these four days a reality.
"The most important part of this event is to honor our veterans and educate the public about the many issues that they faced when coming back from Vietnam," said Dan Scheck, program director of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, an organization that focuses on Vietnam War veteran awareness. Soldiers back then weren't given the respect and honor that these soldiers get today."
go here for more
Vietnam Wall replica comes to Apalachicola
Murder of Former Marine Sparks Anxiety Among the Homeless
The Dom in Orlando VA Hospital is one place taking care of veterans like Todd Hill. I've visited there a few times and each time as I looked at the "residents" all I could see was the fact they all were willing to risk their lives for this country, home of the brave, but ended up having to call a shelter home. Just doesn't seem right.
Back in Boston, the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans is an amazingly large building with several floors housing male and female veterans. The cafeteria is filled with veterans from all generations.
While I feel for all our homeless men, women and yes, we even have whole families homeless, it is the veterans tugging at my heart the most. I think of it as if we can't take care of the people willing to defend this nation, the odds of taking care of the civilians is not very good at all. There has got to be a better way.
Mental illness is a huge part of the homelessness in this country. There was a time when they were sent to secure hospitals until they were able to stand on their own two feet. While there were many problems with these hospitals, at least they had a place to live. When they were closed across the nation, it left them all out to fend for themselves, unable to be taken care of by their families or abandoned by them, they had no place to go. If you go to see the movie The Soloist, keep that in mind and remember there are homeless people in every state.
When it comes to homeless veterans, there are many reasons they are homeless. For most their plight can be directly linked to PTSD. They sought drugs and alcohol to kill off feelings they could no longer cope with. Some are alcoholics on top of having PTSD, which is a deadly mixture.
These men and women are viewed as heroes when they serve but when they need the nation, they are forgotten about simply because they survived war but could not survive coming home.
How is it that this nation cannot or will not take care of the "least among" us when we talk so much about being a "Christian nation" when it suits our desires but we never seem to live as if the vast majority of us are Christians, supposedly following the teachings of Christ?
Support your local veterans shelter and if you do not have a veterans shelter, support the homeless shelters for all of our countrymen. If you happen to be a veteran standing in judgment of the homeless remember that "There but for the grace of God go I."
Back in Boston, the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans is an amazingly large building with several floors housing male and female veterans. The cafeteria is filled with veterans from all generations.
While I feel for all our homeless men, women and yes, we even have whole families homeless, it is the veterans tugging at my heart the most. I think of it as if we can't take care of the people willing to defend this nation, the odds of taking care of the civilians is not very good at all. There has got to be a better way.
Mental illness is a huge part of the homelessness in this country. There was a time when they were sent to secure hospitals until they were able to stand on their own two feet. While there were many problems with these hospitals, at least they had a place to live. When they were closed across the nation, it left them all out to fend for themselves, unable to be taken care of by their families or abandoned by them, they had no place to go. If you go to see the movie The Soloist, keep that in mind and remember there are homeless people in every state.
When it comes to homeless veterans, there are many reasons they are homeless. For most their plight can be directly linked to PTSD. They sought drugs and alcohol to kill off feelings they could no longer cope with. Some are alcoholics on top of having PTSD, which is a deadly mixture.
These men and women are viewed as heroes when they serve but when they need the nation, they are forgotten about simply because they survived war but could not survive coming home.
How is it that this nation cannot or will not take care of the "least among" us when we talk so much about being a "Christian nation" when it suits our desires but we never seem to live as if the vast majority of us are Christians, supposedly following the teachings of Christ?
Support your local veterans shelter and if you do not have a veterans shelter, support the homeless shelters for all of our countrymen. If you happen to be a veteran standing in judgment of the homeless remember that "There but for the grace of God go I."
Murder of Former Marine Sparks Anxiety Among the Homeless
Posted on April 29, 2009 by assteditor
By ERICK GALINDO
MIAMI — Lured by sunshine and balmy seas, Todd Hill came to Miami from his native Oregon three years ago looking for a fresh start.
After battling homelessness for 10 years, Hill, 41, a decorated Marine who fought in the first Gulf War, found an apartment and a job as a security guard. But his newfound stability did not last. Eight months after receiving a promotion, he was back on the streets. And on Nov. 26, on the bench he had come to call home, he was beaten severely with a tire iron, and pronounced dead at the hospital.
Hill lived his last moments surrounded by junkies sleeping on used garbage bags, in the shadow of the condominiums he’d helped build as a homeless laborer.
“Todd didn’t deserve to die like that,” said former Marine Samuel Hall, 62, who lived on the streets with Hill. “It was just senseless. He was homeless, but he always was willing to help others out.”
Hill was one of two homeless veterans recently beaten to death here. Ernest Holman, 67, a Vietnam veteran, was killed two weeks after Hill. No arrests have been made in his death. Secrecy Singleton, 29, also homeless, was charged in Hill’s murder.
The killings have heightened concern among the more than 250 homeless veterans in Miami-Dade, representatives for the local Veteran Affairs office said, and prompted a demonstration by dozens of homeless veterans in downtown Miami on New Year’s Eve.
Charles Buford, founder of VetsUnited.org, which is dedicated to feeding and rehabilitating homeless veterans, led the protesters in their demand for more federal money for homeless programs and shelters. There are an estimated 200,000 homeless veterans around the country, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. At least 400 are new veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Murder of Former Marine Sparks Anxiety Among the Homeless
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Counselor who helped others is gunned down
Counselor who helped others is gunned down
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Marlon Mayorga was a social worker at UCSF who dedicated his life to counseling victims of violent crime and helping those who were struggling to kick drugs. The native of Nicaragua had insight into such problems, having gone through recovery years ago.
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Marlon Mayorga was a social worker at UCSF who dedicated his life to counseling victims of violent crime and helping those who were struggling to kick drugs. The native of Nicaragua had insight into such problems, having gone through recovery years ago.
"He was an absolutely amazing person. It's particularly devastating for us to have someone like Marlon, who was so good at working with victims of violence, become another casualty on the streets of Oakland," said Alicia Boccellari, director of the trauma recovery center at UCSF, where Mayorga worked for the past five months.
As part of the program, Mayorga went to San Francisco General Hospital to meet with victims of crimes such as sexual assault and domestic violence. "He poured his heart and soul into his work," Boccellari said.
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Counselor who helped others is gunned down
Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
Story Highlights
U.S. soldier survived Spanish flu pandemic not once, but twice
1918 Spanish flu ravaged military camps where soldiers trained for WWI
Letter says camp put "under quarantine to prevent an epidemic of Spanish influenza"
Martin "Al" Culhane in letter told his brother to keep infection secret from rest of family
By Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Pentagon producer
Editor's note: With fears of a swine flu pandemic rising daily, CNN Pentagon producer Larry Shaughnessy remembered a batch of letters from his grandfather, a World War I soldier who battled the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "I'm coming, I'm coming
For my head is bending low
I hear those gentle voices calling
Old Black Joe"
As World War I rages in Europe, fresh U.S. Army soldiers pass the time on a train ride to to Camp Forrest, Georgia. "The boys are just starting to sing," Martin Aloysius Culhane wrote on September 6, 1918, to his friend back home. "They've gotten back to 'Old Black Joe' so far."
Stephen Foster's classic song from the Civil War is about the death of slaves who had become his friends. But Culhane, known as "Al," and the soldiers who sang along could not know how much death would hunt the recruits on that train, most of whom never made it to Europe to fight in the Great War.
They would find themselves in the deadliest influenza pandemic in history.
Culhane's letters to his older brother Frank and his long-time "chum" Clif Pinter are a young soldier's firsthand account of life as a draftee private and how he coped with a disease that would haunt Army camps around the United States and eventually infect people around the world. Some estimates say as many as 50 million people were killed by what's called the Spanish influenza in 1918 and 1919, far more than the number killed in combat during the war.
Three weeks after the train trip to Georgia, Culhane, a 21-year-old clothing salesman from Chicago, Illinois, writes again. Already the flu occupies his thoughts.
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Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
Story Highlights
U.S. soldier survived Spanish flu pandemic not once, but twice
1918 Spanish flu ravaged military camps where soldiers trained for WWI
Letter says camp put "under quarantine to prevent an epidemic of Spanish influenza"
Martin "Al" Culhane in letter told his brother to keep infection secret from rest of family
By Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Pentagon producer
Editor's note: With fears of a swine flu pandemic rising daily, CNN Pentagon producer Larry Shaughnessy remembered a batch of letters from his grandfather, a World War I soldier who battled the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "I'm coming, I'm coming
For my head is bending low
I hear those gentle voices calling
Old Black Joe"
As World War I rages in Europe, fresh U.S. Army soldiers pass the time on a train ride to to Camp Forrest, Georgia. "The boys are just starting to sing," Martin Aloysius Culhane wrote on September 6, 1918, to his friend back home. "They've gotten back to 'Old Black Joe' so far."
Stephen Foster's classic song from the Civil War is about the death of slaves who had become his friends. But Culhane, known as "Al," and the soldiers who sang along could not know how much death would hunt the recruits on that train, most of whom never made it to Europe to fight in the Great War.
They would find themselves in the deadliest influenza pandemic in history.
Culhane's letters to his older brother Frank and his long-time "chum" Clif Pinter are a young soldier's firsthand account of life as a draftee private and how he coped with a disease that would haunt Army camps around the United States and eventually infect people around the world. Some estimates say as many as 50 million people were killed by what's called the Spanish influenza in 1918 and 1919, far more than the number killed in combat during the war.
Three weeks after the train trip to Georgia, Culhane, a 21-year-old clothing salesman from Chicago, Illinois, writes again. Already the flu occupies his thoughts.
go here for more
Soldier's letters give first-hand look at Spanish flu pandemic
DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 29, 2009 17:23:07 EDT
Defense and service officials have settled on final rules that will allow career service members to share Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits with their immediate families beginning Aug. 1.
In general, service members — officer, warrant officer or enlisted personnel — must be on active duty Aug. 1 and must have completed a minimum of six years of service, with a commitment to serve four more, in order to share their new Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
For most students, the benefits will cover full tuition and fees at any four-year public college or university at in-state tuition rates for undergraduate studies.
Defense officials expect to begin accepting requests to transfer benefits in June. But payments could not begin before Aug. 1, the start date of the new GI bill program.
Special rules have been approved for people who are eligible to retire before Aug. 1, 2012, or who have at least 10 years of service and are prevented by high-year tenure, mandatory retirement or other personnel rules or laws from completing the four years of additional service needed to earn transfer rights.
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DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Apr 29, 2009 17:23:07 EDT
Defense and service officials have settled on final rules that will allow career service members to share Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits with their immediate families beginning Aug. 1.
In general, service members — officer, warrant officer or enlisted personnel — must be on active duty Aug. 1 and must have completed a minimum of six years of service, with a commitment to serve four more, in order to share their new Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
For most students, the benefits will cover full tuition and fees at any four-year public college or university at in-state tuition rates for undergraduate studies.
Defense officials expect to begin accepting requests to transfer benefits in June. But payments could not begin before Aug. 1, the start date of the new GI bill program.
Special rules have been approved for people who are eligible to retire before Aug. 1, 2012, or who have at least 10 years of service and are prevented by high-year tenure, mandatory retirement or other personnel rules or laws from completing the four years of additional service needed to earn transfer rights.
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DoD issues new GI Bill family transfer rules
Florida Gator prefers Toyota and shakes things up at car lot
Visit by big alligator shakes up Pasco car lot
By Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
NEW PORT RICHEY — Something moved in the shadows. Denise Anderson peered close and then froze. Next to the used Toyota Sequoia she planned to test drive was an alligator.
"I saw its eyes. Mouth. Its jaws. Its teeth," said Anderson, 33.
It measured 8 feet 7 inches.
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Visit by big alligator shakes up Pasco car lot
By Erin Sullivan, Times Staff Writer
An alligator measuring 8 feet 7 inches is corralled by a trapper at Sun Toyota on Tuesday. “I was shaking,” said Denise Anderson, the first person to see the gator. Courtesy of Michael Chaparro
NEW PORT RICHEY — Something moved in the shadows. Denise Anderson peered close and then froze. Next to the used Toyota Sequoia she planned to test drive was an alligator.
"I saw its eyes. Mouth. Its jaws. Its teeth," said Anderson, 33.
It measured 8 feet 7 inches.
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Visit by big alligator shakes up Pasco car lot
National Convention for Veterans
You are cordially invited to attend and participate in the National Convention for Veterans to be conducted in the distinguished Reserve Officers' National Headquarters, a block from the US Capital in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 13th & Thursday, May 14th.
The Convention will advance a comprehensive veterans' platform and raise the priority for veterans in our nations' agenda. The two day program will feature the following:
* National Veterans' Leaders from Around the Country
* Leading Members of the United States Congress
* Highly Credentialed and Outspoken Speakers & Panel Members on the Subjects Veterans' Advocacy, National Defense and Budgetary/Spending Reform
* Continuous Media Opportunities with Nation & Regional Outlet's, Especially Live National Talk Radio
Complimentary morning and afternoon passes each day are issued until the hall is booked up. Complimentary tickets for Veterans' Leaders Luncheon on Wednesday May 13th, Congressional Leaders' Luncheon on Thursday May 14th and cocktail receptions are available to those with personal and institutional standing in support of American Veterans, a fiscally sound budgeted economy and a strong national defense.
Confirmation numbers for all tickets will be issued until all events are filled.
To RSVP to This Event Click Here:
http://vetsvision.org/registration.html
The Convention will advance a comprehensive veterans' platform and raise the priority for veterans in our nations' agenda. The two day program will feature the following:
* National Veterans' Leaders from Around the Country
* Leading Members of the United States Congress
* Highly Credentialed and Outspoken Speakers & Panel Members on the Subjects Veterans' Advocacy, National Defense and Budgetary/Spending Reform
* Continuous Media Opportunities with Nation & Regional Outlet's, Especially Live National Talk Radio
Complimentary morning and afternoon passes each day are issued until the hall is booked up. Complimentary tickets for Veterans' Leaders Luncheon on Wednesday May 13th, Congressional Leaders' Luncheon on Thursday May 14th and cocktail receptions are available to those with personal and institutional standing in support of American Veterans, a fiscally sound budgeted economy and a strong national defense.
Confirmation numbers for all tickets will be issued until all events are filled.
To RSVP to This Event Click Here:
http://vetsvision.org/registration.html
Having problems registering online? Contact us at (800) 528-5385 and we will register you personally.
For More Information Regarding the Circle of Friends for American Veterans Visit Our Website at www.vetsvision.org.
Our nation is as strong as the core. Veterans are the core. We take care of the veterans and we take care of the core. My God Bless American Veterans and Continue to Bless Our Great Country.
Children exposed to violence have PTSD symptoms
If you happen to be among the few in this country saying too much money is spent on PTSD research and treating our soldiers and veterans, consider this. Whatever the government spends on trying to get a grip on PTSD is a benefit to the entire country. PTSD is real and it comes after traumatic events striking humans. The troops, veterans, police officers, firefighters, emergency responders, families living with all of the people wounded by PTSD and regular civilians. Now read this about children exposed to traumatic events and understand there should never be a limit on what the government spends until we find the best way to treat this. The spending however should never include doing studies they have repeated over and over and over again over the last 30 years. In that case, it's just wasted time and money when it could be used on finding something new.
Children exposed to violence have PTSD symptoms
Wed Apr 29, 2009
By Joene Hendry
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among children showing high levels of stress in reaction to exposure to community violence, researchers found stress hormone responses similar to children diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms include attention or sleep problems, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and other symptoms of psychological distress.
In previous research in children, Dr. Shakira Franco Suglia, at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, identified a disruption of the stress hormone, cortisol, among those with PTSD. Suglia and colleagues have now found "similar effects among children living in urban communities who have not been diagnosed with PTSD," Suglia told Reuters Health.
The study involved 28 girls and 15 boys, 7 to 13 years old. Forty-six percent were Hispanic, 54 percent were white. Forty-two percent of the children had mothers with less than a high-school education, Suglia and colleagues report in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
The researchers assessed mothers' reports of their children's exposures to hearing gunshots or witnessing other forms of community violence, and mother's and children's reports of symptoms typical of PTSD.
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Children exposed to violence have PTSD symptoms
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