April Thomas

The Fight for Science Thoughts and Actions to Take From My Visit to Capitol Hill

Science funding is on the line, which jeopardizes life-saving research and research that helps improve our communities. Please read this post for action steps you can take to help #savescience, before it is too late. #SaveNIH #SaveNSF

open.substack.com/pub/fromthes...

Most Americans use federal science information on a weekly basis, a new poll finds Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.

Over 90% of Americans rely on federally funded science, But only 10% are worried about losing access to it.

That’s a dangerous disconnect.

Help us close the gap. Join our #SummerFightForScience and help spread the word about how essential science is to everyday lives.

www.npr.org/2025/05/06/n...

Celebrating Gault, But Still Fighting | Juvenile Law Center Today is the 50th Anniversary of In Re Gault, the U.S. Supreme Court case that granted children the right to counsel and other key due process protections when facing delinquency charges in juvenile c...

On this anniversary of the Supreme Court Gault decision establishing children have the same due process rights as adults, we celebrate the victory but recognize the ongoing fight to realize its true promise.

I made my calls today to advocate for the importance of NSF funding! Did you? Make your calls today to #SaveNSF

Unpaywalled version

www.removepaywall.com/search?url=h...

Research shows juveniles differ from adults in ways that are meaningful for their criminal responsibility (i.e., impulsivity, susceptibility to peer influence, and ability to consider the future - including thinking about consequences of potential actions), thus warranting less harsh punishment.

The EPA didn't release its annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions report, but we got the data. Here's what we found The Environmental Defense Fund published the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks after filing a Freedom of Information Act request last month.

For the first time in nearly 30 years, the EPA under Trump failed to release the U.S.’s annual greenhouse gas emissions report.

So a nonprofit did it instead.

Facts don’t disappear just because the government refuses to print them.

Read their findings below ⬇️
www.cbsnews.com/news/greenho...

Don't miss a beat. Sign up for our email list and get the latest on our fight for youth rights and justice, and how you can help. jlc.org/newsletter-s...

Trump Delivers Massive Blow to Youth Justice Programs | The Imprint Trump administration cuts to federal grants threatens organizations with programs to prevent gun violence, protect runaways and more.

This is devastating. It will cause immense harm and make communities less safe. We know that youth justice programs like these benefit everyone. We condemn this cut to critical funds. imprintnews.org/justice/juve...

50 Years of Disrupting the School to Prison Pipeline | Juvenile Law Center Over and over again, the juvenile legal, criminal legal, and family regulation/child welfare systems pull children out of school and then deny them a quality education. Since its founding in 1975, Juv...

NEW BLOG ALERT!
Check out the newest entry on our blog from Kate Burdick where she dives into the many educational challenges youth face when their lives are disrupted by the family regulation & juvenile and criminal legal systems.

Read below!
#50for50
jlc.org/news/50-year...

The science that we do can matter.

#WithoutNSF @caitcavanagh.bsky.social and I wouldn’t have been able to study the short and long-term effects of juvenile incarceration on youth development and future offending, or examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected justice-involved youth. #SaveScience

U.S. scientists’ lives and careers are being upended. Here are five of their stories As the second Trump administration sends U.S. science into upheaval, countless researchers are fighting for their futures

Sad, Sad, Sad, and shocking:
U.S. scientists’ lives and careers are being upended. Here are five of their stories @science.org @standupforscience.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

What does this mean for those working with justice-involved youth? The benefits of social connection are even greater for justice-involved youth, suggesting a need for more opportunities for such youth to engage in social contact, even if that contact is only possible through phone or video calls.

Social connection with others is a critical need - particularly during sensitive periods of development, like adolescence. These findings reveal the potential power for social connection to enhance well-being for particularly vulnerable youth, specifically those who are justice-involved.

We found that justice-involved youth especially benefitted from social connections during the pandemic, as they had better self-conceptions and stronger feelings of social connection (although more loneliness as well) on days with virtual social contact.

New article alert w/ @caitcavanagh.bsky.social and others! In this daily diary study, we explored how virtual social interactions (i.e., via phone or online) affected the mood and mental health of justice-involved and community adolescents across the first year of the pandemic.

t.co/DxOa8NwMC0

Last week was Youth Violence Prevention Week! Here's an op-ed I wrote about violence prevention efforts in Michigan.

cj.msu.edu/news/2025-ca...

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Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

Spencer Foundation joins Kapor Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to launch a rapid response bridge funding program (up to $25,000) for education scholars impacted by the abrupt grant cancellations by the National Science Foundation (NSF)!

#AcademicSky

Frontiers | Two centuries of vaccination: historical and conceptual approach and future perspectives Over the past two centuries, vaccines have been critical for the prevention of infectious diseases and are considered milestones in the medical and public he...

Want to up your game on vaccination to inform family members, neighbors, friends, or students (or yourself)? This in-depth review covers a lot of ground, including the history of vaccination, vaccine technologies, and public health benefits 🧪 #AcademicSky www.frontiersin.org/journals/pub...

Will US science survive Trump 2.0? President Donald Trump and his administration have gutted science agencies, terminated research programmes and cancelled billions of dollars in grants to universities. What are the long-term impacts for the United States and the world?

President Donald Trump and his administration have gutted science agencies, terminated research programmes and cancelled billions of dollars in grants to universities. A feature in Nature examines the long-term impacts for the US and the world. #Academicsky 🧪

The May 2025 Juvenile Justice Bulletin is here!
This month's newsletter from the Rutgers Juvenile Justice & Youth Development Certificate Program issues a call to action on behalf of justice-involved youth in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.

Download at adobe.ly/4cZG0ro

In association with the @ap-ls.org's Corrections Committee, we have officially launched the Correctional Psychology Forum--a respectful online space to make connections, generate healthy discussions, and share evidence-informed resources related to correctional psychology issues. #corrections

Measles Outbreak Response | Center for Outbreak Response Innovation

Remember the awesome COVID-19 dashboard Hopkins created and populated during the pandemic? They are back but this time tracking measles

🚨 On May 1, 2025, in cities across the US, we will gather in solidarity—honoring the legacy of workers who organized for the 8-hour day.

Today, we face a new threat. A billionaire-backed minority is quietly reshaping our democracy.

BUT a peaceful People’s Movement is growing. 👉 www.FiftyFifty.one

Discover how policies can help create a more hopeful and equitable future for youth in the justice system with the new Rutgers JJYD course Redefining Justice: Policies That Empower Youth, live on Zoom April 24 & May 1, from 1p to 4p EST. Register at bit.ly/4jftPct

The Promise of American Higher Education No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue

"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."

www.harvard.edu/president/ne...

Do not normalize children dying from measles. Measles was previously eliminated in the US, thanks to vaccines.

When children die from measles, it means that adults have catastrophically failed to protect them because they have rejected basic science.

So infuriating! This is such a vital source of data.