I doubt you would get an argument from anyone working at the Centers for Disease Control if you described the US as a country experiencing an epidemic of childhood trauma.
How do we begin to address an epidemic? We can start with a hypothesis. In our book Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment, we hypothesized that if children and parents have access to family-friendly resources—behavioral health care, medical and dental care, stable housing, food pantries, early childhood learning programs, family-centered schools, youth mentors, and job training—we can increase family resilience and decrease childhood adversity, abuse and neglect.
To prove our hypothesis, we must first strengthen our understanding of our community’s family members by asking what services they have access to. Whether families live in gated communities, suburbs or housing projects, we need to know how accessible services are.
Our Resilient Community Experience Survey, which is given to parents and youth, can assess their ease in accessing ten vital family services.
RESILIENT COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE SURVEY
How do you rate the following services in your community? The term “accessible” means affordable and/or not a burden to get to, and not subject to long waiting lists.
1. Mental health care services to provide counselors to speak with about emotional problems, treat depression and untreated mental health challenges, and address adverse childhood experiences and trauma
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
2. Medical and dental care to increase health, resiliency and longevity
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
3. Housing programs to prevent homelessness and provide a safe place if a home is unsafe
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
4. Food pantries and programs to reduce hunger
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
5. Public transport that ensures residents get to vital social services, work or school
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
6. Job training to provide access to jobs with livable wages
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
7. Early childhood programs that strengthen early learning
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
8. Family-centered schools. (Schools that offer support with academics, tutoring, family support, and health and social services, and do so before, during and after school, on weekends, and over summer break. They also offer counseling services and can screen students and family members for emotional trauma and mental health challenges or refer them to local behavioral health care agencies.)
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
9. Parent supports, including home visitation and respite programs, to strengthen families and reduce the chance of childhood injury, trauma or maltreatment
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
10. Youth mentors to provide strong role models and support for every boy and girl
Very accessible / Accessible / Not very accessible / Not Accessible / Don’t know
How Data Can Guide Action
The survey responses can reveal where gaps in services are, helping health promotion groups within government and non-profits focus their energies on addressing health disparities. The survey is eye-opening as it illustrates that, in some communities, we still have children and parents experiencing hunger, unstable housing and lack of medical care. Some children have never seen a dentist. Some parents have never had access to behavioral health care. We may learn that services we assumed should be easy to access, like early childhood learning centers and youth mentor programs, aren’t. Every community within each county will be different.
Our surveying is only the first step in creating safe childhoods and strong families. The next phases of planning and action can achieve important results if we are data-driven, cross-sector and systemic. I like to avoid jargon (or insider concepts from public health) when I write, so please indulge me as I end with three definitions we shared in our book’s preface.
Data-driven: Instead of the common government method – decisions based on hunches, what’s been done before, or the whim of the director, we base all our work on data. We’re swimming in excellent data and research that provides all the information we need to start solving challenges today. And data are far from only quantitative (intimidating numbers). Data are also qualitative and come from the stories and inspiring life experiences of our friends and neighbors.
Cross-sector: Instead of doing our work in isolation or a silo, we reach across the key sectors of the multi-disciplinary public sector to coordinate work. We’ve identified (in Anna, Age Eight, Chapter 7: Why our zip code should not determine our destiny) ten vital services in ten distinct social sectors that make up a resilient family-friendly community. This means child welfare and public health work in synch with education, youth development, behavioral health care, and job training. We communicate across our agencies to assess challenges, plan with research, implement action and measure progress.
Systemic: Instead of looking at only one particular part of the challenge facing families, we approach our work by looking at the health of an entire community system. The magnitude of the problem requires that we take into thoughtful consideration all the interrelationships and interdependencies among the parts of the whole, whether it be our own organization or the communities we focus on. Technology makes systemic work, internally and externally, transparent. For meaningful change, systemic thinking is required.
Ready. Set. Go.
You now have a survey tool to better understand your families. By asking the right questions, you’ll learn much about your community’s children and parents. Consider the possibilities for making measurable and meaningful change.
About a community conversation on Child Welfare 2.0: The authors of Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment, Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello, discuss their book focused on how we must and can fix child welfare—a monumental challenge that requires the engagement of all of us. Thursday, June 28, 2018 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM, Santa Fe Community Foundation Fees: FREE. Please register. Contact: amclaughlin@santafecf.org or 505-988-9715. Download a free chapter here: www.AnnaAgeEight.org
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