Volunteers can help professionals, families, and children themselves shape a better future. — April — Child Abuse Prevention Month and Volunteer Appreciation Month — arrives during what is heralded as the “year of the child.” It’s an occasion both to enhance related systems and to recognize how fundamentally those systems are connected, with collaboration an element in their success. In Connecticut and beyond…

Not only is Sunday Father’s Day; June 13–19 was “Children’s Week” (shouldn’t that be every week?) during Family Reunification Month, following Foster Care Month (May). Foster care should be temporary, children then reunited with families whenever safely possible. Even better, where feasible: preventing entry into the foster system altogether. That’s…

January is mentoring month. — January is Mentoring Month, January 17 International Mentoring Day — with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday a day of service. (January is also Human Trafficking Awareness Month, underscoring one risk of a lack of positive mentoring and other adult presences in a young person’s life.) Supportive, cross-generational relationships help…

Sweet appreciation, and helping those in need. — A decade ago, I reflected on turning 40 — this year I turned 50. In 2010, we were recovering from the Great Recession; now there’s a pandemic. Such calamities heighten what should be appreciation for all that we do have and enjoy, while so many neighbors are suffering. Illness, unemployment…

Domestic violence and substance abuse receive particular attention during October, a month for heightened awareness. This follows September, designated for recovery and suicide prevention, and months for often related issues — from child abuse prevention (April) and foster care (May) to mental health (May), among others. Also known as intimate…

This article about the Literacy Coalition of Greater New Haven and its YouTube resource first appeared in the New Haven Independent. …

I write as a (white) father, citizen, and volunteer basketball coach of fifth- and sixth-grade boys. They are the age of Tamir Rice, the Cleveland 12-year-old shot dead in 2014 on a playground by a police officer responding to a report of a “probably fake” — indeed toy — gun…

May is Foster Care Month, May 15 the International Day of Families. June is National Reunification Month, a complement in that the hope is for foster care to be temporary before children are reunited with their families. …

While April is officially “Volunteer Month,” it’s always timely to recognize those who give their hours, skills, and thoughts to serve others. Whether mentors or tutors, helping in hospitals or disaster relief, volunteers assist those of all ages and bring us together. This is harder when public health requires “social…