Panel Charged With Eliminating Child Abuse Deaths, Early brain development susceptible to neglect, abuse, Elytte Barbour to return to county prison; Miranda stays at SCI-Muncy

Panel Charged With Eliminating Child Abuse Deaths
by February 25, 2014

A federal commission to prevent children's deaths from abuse and neglect held its first meeting on Monday. Figuring out the extent of the problem is just one challenge facing the new commission.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
About 1700 children die in the U.S. each year as the result of abuse and neglect. At least that's the official count. Many experts think the real number is much higher. Figuring out the extent of the problem is just one challenge facing a new commission set up to help eliminate such deaths. The panel held its first meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C....
http://www.npr.org/2014/02/25/282359501/panel-charged-with-eliminating-child-abuse-deaths

Part Four: From care to where? Early brain development susceptible to neglect, abuse
Emotional, physical trauma in childhood can cause delays in brain maturation, say experts
By Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun February 25, 2014

The human brain is not fully developed until about age 25. Before that, young people can be impulsive, make poor decisions, and are often more susceptible to addictions.

Psychiatrists have a phrase for this stage of reasoning: “Hyperrational thinking.”

It is a tendency to focus on the upside of situations and ignore risks, says Daniel J. Siegel, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles school of medicine....

When a young person has been neglected, abused, or has no secure attachments, brain development may be compromised, Siegel said.

Children in government care have often been neglected or abused, making them more vulnerable to developmental delays and mental health problems....

“Young people who have experienced early emotional or physical trauma may suffer from delays in brain maturation, leaving them ‘behind’ in brain development during adolescence,” states a report called The Adolescent Brain by the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, an American foundation that works to help former foster kids transition to independence. “When stressful events or traumatic experiences occur, children, youth, and adults may temporarily regress to an earlier developmental stage or accomplishment.”

The experts agree that stress during childhood not only physically compromises brain development, it also has far-reaching effects on mental health that can be compounded by things like poverty or living in a chaotic home. Put together, adverse childhood experiences like neglect and abuse, have long-term effects that spill over into physical health....
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Part+Four+From+care+where+Early+brain+development+susceptible/9546381/story.html


Elytte Barbour to return to county prison; Miranda stays at SCI-Muncy
By Justin Strawser
February 26, 2014
SUNBURY - Accused killer Miranda Barbour will remain at State Correctional Institution-Muncy (SCI-Muncy) for the time being, but her husband, Elytte, will be moved to Northumberland County Prison....

The international attention around Barbour's claim to The Daily Item that she killed more than 22 people has disrupted security and efficiency at the prison, Johnson said. "It made it very, very difficult to focus on all the issues of all the inmates," Johnson said. Nineteen-year-old Miranda Barbour and 22-year-old Elytte Barbour are charged in the Nov. 11 slaying of Troy LaFerrara in Sunbury....
http://newsitem.com/news/elytte-barbour-to-return-to-county-prison-miranda-stays-at-sci-muncy-1.1640921