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The National Human Services Assembly (National Assembly) is a leading voice in the human service sector and champions collaboration among engaged organizations to advance the collective power, knowledge, strategy, and systems that build well-being within individuals and our communities.

Two weeks ago, my message in this space asked the question: “What Do We Tell Our Children?” I got it wrong. I wrote that column less than twenty hours after the tragic shooting at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida. As a parent, I had immediately thought about the difficulty in explaining another […]

Once again, we are faced by the news of a school shooting. This time there are 17 dead, 14 injured, and hundreds more who experienced the horror of an active shooter in their school building. Families are grieving, a community is in shock, and our children are traumatized. How will we respond? Of course, the […]

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandparents. Three of them were immigrants to this country and one was the child of recent immigrants. One grandmother came to the U.S. accompanied only by her 8 and 11 year old brothers, after their father had come ahead to earn enough for each of his ten […]

Like many people of my generation, I grew up in a mostly racially segregated society. Despite my public school years being a decade and more after “Brown v. Board of Education,” I attended 100% or nearly 100% white schools. I watched black children who lived within a mile of my house get on buses to […]