In Oklahoma, children under the age of five experience Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) at an alarming rate. In Tulsa County, nearly a quarter of these children are born to mothers aged 15 to 19 (Healthy Teens Oklahoma, 2022). Young mothers face a unique set of challenges, and they often feel unprepared for parenting (DeVito, 2010). However, a strong, stable presence is essential for preventing long-lasting effects of ACEs in children. Thus, equipping mothers with skills is vital for both their well-being and their children’s. Equipping Mothers and Preventing Trauma in Toddlers (EMPTT) will provide parenting classes, avenues of social support, and connection with prenatal, post-natal, and mental health care to mothers aged 15 to 24. Additionally, a preschool will be founded to screen for ACEs and implement a resilience-building curriculum with the children of these mothers, up until the age of five. Through these activities, EMPTT aims to improve child welfare in Tulsa County on the individual, interpersonal, and community levels of the Social Ecological Model.
Consideration of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) trauma-informed principles will be given (Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia et al., 2016; SAMHSA, 2014). Safety will be implemented through early screening for ACEs and creation of a safe and comfortable environment, particularly within the portion of the Adolescent Emergency Shelter that will be adapted for the program. Peer support will be modeled by including people with lived trauma experiences for all EMPTT staff positions and throughout the organization. Trustworthiness and transparency will be shown through the input of community into the development of the curricula, as will collaboration and mutuality as people who have gone through the program will become leaders in it.
This program addresses all levels of prevention. Primary prevention will occur through the parental skill education provided to new mothers, aiming to reduce the number of ACEs their children will experience. Secondary prevention occurs through the observation of signs of distress in the children, and tertiary prevention is addressed by providing health services to the mothers, which will include counseling for past trauma. The resilience-building curriculum for children could be considered primary or tertiary prevention depending on whether a child has already experienced ACEs.
References:
DeVito, J. (2010). How adolescent mothers feel about becoming a parent. Journal of Perinatal Education, 19(2), 25–34. https://doi.org/10.1624/105812410x495523.
Healthy Teens Oklahoma. (2022). Teen Birth Numbers and Rates by County, 2017 – 2021. Fast Facts. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from http://healthyteensok.org/wp-c...-Rates-2017-2021.pdf.
Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. (2016). Trauma informed philanthropy: A funder’s resource guide for supporting trauma-informed practice in the Delaware Valley. Retrieved April 12, 2023 from https://www.scattergoodfoundat...anthropy-volume-one/.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4884. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014.
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