An estimated two-thirds of children and teenagers will experience at least one traumatic event. While children are resilient, they are not immune to the effects of seeing violence or drug abuse, being the victim of any type of abuse, or dealing with parents who have mental illnesses, or are divorced, incarcerated or dead.
If they don’t receive the help they need to heal, exposure to trauma can affect their normal development and even their lives as adults.
In 2010 and 2011 the U.S. Department of Justice awarded grants to eight cities and tribal communities as part of an initiative called Defending Childhood, with goals to prevent children’s exposure to violence, address the effect of the violence when it occurs, and spread awareness. Portland was among them.
Portland Defending Childhood — a coalition of organizations led by Portland Public Health and Maine Behavioral Healthcare — identified domestic violence among the most common forms of violence children witness and is working to expand classroom-based curricula addressing violence prevention and healthy relationships in grades pre-kindergarten through 12.
It supports home-visiting services for children at risk of exposure to violence, screening of childhood exposure to violence and referral to trauma treatment. It’s providing training for providers and community members. And it’s deploying a social media campaign.
Above is a video from Portland Defending Childhood about what helps build up children’s resiliency. It’s all about having at least one adult who truly cares.
