While scores of public agencies are working to develop resources and programs to address childhood trauma and toxic stress in their communities, San Joaquin County has been turning itself into a model for how to address the issue.
“This is not a new concept for us,” said Barbara Alberson, senior deputy director of policy and planning at the San Joaquin County Public Health Services Department. “It’s in our DNA.”
The county performed a Community Health Needs Assessment in 2016 that identified trauma and prevention as key health issues, particularly in south Stockton, a neglected area that a San Joaquin County grand jury report described as blighted, impoverished and dotted with “deteriorating housing, slumlord residential ownership … a lack of neighborhood services, and widespread drug dealing and crime.”
Since then, the community has been taking extensive efforts to address adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs.
“We’re finding opportunities wherever we can to connect the dots between chronic disease and ACEs, because the evidence is quite strong,” Alberson said.
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