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Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Personal View: Impact of childhood trauma affects entire community

Guest Author, Blog, The City Club of Cleveland

by Habeebah R. Grimes

We've long recognized that extreme stress can lead to mental health problems. We rightfully hold veterans in our hearts and sympathize with the life-altering effects of war. We are arguably open to the idea that intense stress in daily life increases our risks for heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure and the like.

We've acknowledged that modern-day stress is literally making us sick, but we've mostly accepted this as par for the course. We're adults. We can take it, right?

We now know the human body cannot take it. In fact, when stress is unrelenting, it affects our brains and bodies. That is especially the case for children.

Extreme poverty, neighborhood violence, physical and sexual abuse, witnessing violence. These are just a few of the traumatic circumstances and events that are all too familiar for many children in Greater Cleveland.

Research findings from neuroscience, developmental psychology and the seminal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study demonstrate that traumatic stress begins exacting its toll on mental and physical health early in life, leaving its mark on the body's systems. It even impacts the expression of our genetic code.

The earlier in life trauma occurs, the more persistent it is as a child grows up — the more profound the impact. Childhood trauma disturbs brain development so dramatically, it undercuts the foundations necessary for young people to learn and grow. For children in Cleveland, this means they are at tremendous risk for poor health, education and economic outcomes, including early death.

Childhood trauma is rightfully described as a public health issue. Because of the impact trauma can have on educational attainment — without question the top public policy priority in Greater Cleveland — it's also an economic development issue.

Many of the children we serve at Positive Education Program (PEP) through our array of special education and mental health services have experienced several stressful or traumatic events. Many of these kids have been exposed to unspeakable horror that manifests in severe mental health and behavioral issues. Many of their parents have suffered similarly. Each year, the needs of the children we serve intensify.

At PEP, we have deeply invested in building a trauma-informed workforce. We've implemented a systems-oriented, trauma-informed framework, The Sanctuary Model, and forged a partnership with The ChildTrauma Academy, becoming a Phase 1 certified Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) site. We are heartened by the local foundations, hospitals and universities investing in this work, but we must do more.

Every institution in our city — funders, schools, nonprofits, economic development organizations, among others — must unite their efforts to understand the effect childhood trauma is having and respond.

Our community's commitment to improving education in the city of Cleveland is sincere — the Cleveland Plan for Transforming Schools and Say Yes to Education are evidence of that. Confronting the effects of childhood trauma should also be a cornerstone of discussions about how to improve the quality of life for our community's kids.

Cleveland has an incredible opportunity this week to hear from Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, one of the strongest voices regarding ACEs and their effects on long-term health. Burke Harris, a pediatrician who was recently named the first surgeon general of the state of California, will speak Thursday, March 21, at a City Club of Cleveland forum at the Global Center for Health Innovation.

We are hopeful her address can propel this conversation further in Cleveland. Leaders in Columbus also appear increasingly open to understanding the impact of childhood trauma. In his State of the State address, Gov. Mike DeWine described helping children overcome the barriers and disadvantages of poverty and trauma as a "moral and economic imperative."

We couldn't agree more.

Grimes is CEO of Positive Education Program, one of the state's largest nonprofits committed to children.

First published in Crain's Cleveland