Adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACEs, are highly prevalent across the United States and especially within low-income communities[i],[ii],[iii],[iv]. This is particularly important for Alachua County where 12% of families live below the poverty line and 6% of the population are currently unemployed[v]. Furthermore, recent research shows the Violent Crime Rate was 579.1per 100,000 while the Child Abuse Rate children aged 5-11 was 11.8 per 1,000 [vi].
My grant proposal aims to address the prevalence and long-lasting consequences of ACEs through an enriched preschool program. The needs addressed by the proposed program are twofold. First, the program aims to provide wholistic care to low-income children at risk for experiencing these intrapersonal, interpersonal, and community-based risk-factors and trauma. Second, the proposed program incorporates parent participation and training in order to increase social support for the child’s school experience and build a resilient familial structure. The suggested program focuses on the “whole child”[vii] by addressing cognitive skills, school readiness, and social and emotional development for participating children while parents will receive home-visits and will participate in activities, such as educational workshops concerning childhood development and ACEs, resilience building activities, and other trauma-informed practices.
This program emphasizes the use of SAMHSA’s key principles throughout the development and implementation of the enriched preschool program[viii]. In order to promote safety, staff will be trained in trauma-informed practices and principles, which includes how to prevent and identify re-traumatization. Furthermore, the program will work carefully with parents and classroom outreach personnel to maintain safety for all parties during home visits. In order to maintain transparency and trust between the program personnel and participants, staff will ensure that parents fully understand the program and its goals prior to participation and throughout the duration of the program. Families will receive a point of contact for their child’s classroom and the task force in case questions or concerns arise. Results from the program will be made into a publicly available final report. Finally, peer support and mutual self-help will be one of the primary foci behind the use of the parent resource room where parents will participate in educational workshops, resilience building activities, and other trauma-informed practices with other parents in the program.
This primary prevention strategy aims to focus on the intra- and interpersonal levels of McLeroy’s ecological model[ix]. While the primary target of the intervention is the participating child, family-based interventions and trainings are provided as a supplementary focus. Furthermore, if this pilot program is successful, funders, policymakers, and practitioners can work to scale it up to more expansive levels of the model. Finally, the proposed project seeks to utilize this multi-level, multi-disciplinary approach to primary prevention suggested by the public health framework. The project includes primary child and family-targeted services informed by childcare, child welfare, and healthcare practitioners that involve socio-emotional learning curriculum, gross and fine motor skills training; secondary prevention strategies, such as screening; and tertiary strategies, including trauma-informed and preventative therapeutic practices.
References
[i] Merrick, M. T., Ford, D. C., Ports, K. A., & Guinn, A. S. (2018). Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences from the 2011-2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 23 States. JAMA Pediatrics, 172(11): 1038-1044.
[ii] Public Health Management Corporation (2013). Findings from the Philadelphia urban ACE study.
[iii] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: Leveraging the Best Available Evidence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[iv] Sacks V, Murphey D, Moore K. Adverse Childhood Experiences: National and State-Level Prevalence.; 2014. https://childtrends-ciw49tixgw...xperiences_FINAL.pdf.
[v] UF Shands Community Health Dashboard. https://ufhealth.org/community-health
[vi] ALACHUA COUNTY COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 2016 ALACHUA COUNTY COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT (CHA). http://alachua.floridahealth.g...cuments/2016-cha.pdf.
[vii] Deming, D. (2009). Early childhood intervention and life-cycle skill development: Evidence from Head Start. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(3): 111-134.
[viii] 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.
[ix] McLeroy, K. R., Bibeau, D., Steckler, A., & Glanz, K. (1988). An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health Education Quarterly, 15(4): 351-377.
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