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BrainLine is a national multimedia project offering information and resources about preventing, treating, and living with TBI. BrainLine includes a series of webcasts, an electronic newsletter, and an extensive outreach campaign in partnership with national organizations concerned about traumatic brain injury. BrainLine serves anyone whose life has been affected by TBI. That includes people with brain injury, their families, professionals in the field, and anyone else in a position to help prevent or ameliorate the toll of TBI.

Each year the Annie E. Casey Foundation funds a national survey of child well-being. The new report was recently released. Montana is again ranked 28th, same as last year.The data is analyzed in four different categories: education, economic well-being, family and community and health.Montana was above average in three of the four categories, but finished 50th in child health.The report shows that Montana improved in economic well-being, up to 15th from 20th last year. We held steady on education at 13th. We declined a bit on family and community, down to 14th from 13th.But it’s the child health numbers that seem to be the greatest cause for concern.If you dig into the health numbers, Montana did improve over last year’s report in having fewer uninsured kids — down to 12 percent — and fewer teens abusing alcohol and drugs — down to 10 percent. However, we have increased our percentage of children with low birth weights — 7.5 percent — and increased the number of child and teen deaths per 100,000 — 45.How do we make sense of this data? It’s hard because for many of us these kinds of statistics don’t mean a lot when you pull them apart. As a state, Montana’s 28th place ranking is the lowest in the region. North Dakota ranks sixth, Wyoming ranks 15th, South Dakota ranks 18th, and Idaho ranks 20th.What the report tells us about child health is we have more work to do. It may seem like 88 percent of children being covered by health insurance is pretty good, but we’re average for the region. Similar to Idaho and Wyoming, but lower than both Dakotas.For teen death rates, we’re highest in the region at 45 per 100,000. Idaho is at 28, Wyoming at 32, North Dakota at 34 and South Dakota 39.In general what this means is in Montana we can do a better job, in this areas, of improving the health of our kids. The good news is that health continues to be a priority of the Gov. Steve Bullock’s administration, which launched an initiative last week called “A Healthier Montana: A Plan to Improve the Health of Montanans.”Bullock’s plan focuses on six areas: Preventing, identifying and managing chronic diseases; promoting the health of mothers, infants and children; preventing, identifying and controlling communicable disease, preventing injuries and reducing exposure to environmental health hazards; improving mental health and reducing substance abuse; and, strengthening Montana’s public health and health care system.Reports like Kids Count, are one of many analyzing different aspects of health in Montana and around the country, said Jon Ebelt, spokesman for the Montana Department of Health and Human Services. Typically, those reports only tell part of the story. And though the state takes the Kids Count report seriously, it fit into the broader look of health in Montana now outlined in Bullock’s initiative.“We’ve done a lot of work the last year to set the priorities on where we can make the most difference,” Ebelt said.At Lewis and Clark County, county health officer Melanie Reynolds is also focused on local work.The county has been working for a number of months on their community health improvement plan and is looking to unveil soon.So while the news from Kids Count was mixed, we’re pleased the state and local governments are continuing their efforts to support better health for Montanans. We anticipate these efforts will show themselves with an improved report next year.

Bullying, particularly among school-age children, is a major public health problem. This compendium provides researchers, prevention specialists, and health educators with tools to measure a range of bullying experiences: bully perpetration, bully victimization, bully-victim experiences, and bystander experiences.

CARY, N.C., July 7 -- A new coalition of six national autism non-profit organizations, Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response Education (AWAARE), launched its website today (www.awaare.org) in a collaborative effort to prevent wandering-related injuries and deaths, apparently on the rise in the autism community. Coalition member organizations are AutismOne, Autism Speaks, the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, the HollyRod Foundation, the National Autism Association (NAA), and Talk About Curing Autism (TACA.)

You can begin registration here! What:Participate in this webinar to hear Reece Peterson, Joe Ryan, and Michael Rozalski discuss the latest information on the legislative, policy, and practice issues concerning restraint and seclusion. Federal legislation is pending that, if passed, will regulate the use of physical restraint and seclusion in school settings. The webinar will also provide an overview of the content that will be covered in more detail in the strand on restraint and seclusion at the CEC Convention & Expo in Denver in April.Federal legislation is pending that, if passed, would regulate the use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures for students in school settings. This webinar will discuss the legislative, policy, and practice issues that have arisen because of the deaths and injuries of students due to these procedures. The webinar will provide an overview of the content that will be covered in more detail during the strand on restraint and seclusion at the CEC Convention & Expo in April 2012. Participants will be able to: Identify current laws, policies, and guidelines governing the use of physical restraint and seclusion procedures in school settings. Understand the lack of knowledge in many schools of the underlying ethical and moral problems and the role the media may play in covering abusive incidents. Identify recommendations for “best practice” in using these procedures, including training needs and the use of prevention and de-escalation strategies. When:March 8, 20122:00 pm - 3:00 pm MTContact:CECPhone: 888-232-7733   TTY: 866-915-5000

Bullying doesn't wound students; it pours salt on a pre-existing injury, causing it to hurt even more. Most students who are bullied have already been hurt. They are wounded by exclusion when they find themselves without friends or allies. They are wounded when they fail in school, or when they don't gain the approval of their peers or, all too often, their teachers. They are wounded when they don't get the help they need. And they are wounded when they feel they have no place to go, or no one to talk to.

Safe Kids and the MetLife Foundation have partnered to bring you a series of safety videos highlighting how you can take precautions in the home to help prevent injuries to children with physical, developmental or cognitive disabilities.

Click here to register for this event (Cost $75) What: Develop skill sets and the tools to help direct support staff, parents as well as self-advocates, develop and customize sexuality education to the level suitable for the individual adult being supported. Well-rounded education is the key: teaching adults with autism or other developmental disabilities the necessary facts and skills to develop self-worth, friendship and loving relationships. Appropriate sexuality education can help prevent inappropriate behaviors from escalating in public, towards others or self-injurious activities. Skill sets, best practices and guidelines to: Discussing dating, sex and sexuality Helping folks differentiate the types of love Teach to respect boundaries/understand privacy Empowering people to recognize and report abuse When: Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 11:00 am to 1:00pm Mountain Who: Presenter Monica J. Foster, CC