According to a 2022 community health needs assessment, Sacramento County had worse outcomes with ACEs indicators when compared to California averages (UC Davis Health, 2022). Additionally, youth who resided within “Communities of Concern” were shown to have higher ACE risk factors along with poorer mental and physical health when compared to state averages (California Department of Education, 2022). The implementation of targeted interventions to high-risk neighborhoods that increase resilience across multiple-levels is essential in the prevention and mitigation of the impact of ACEs (Bruner, 2017).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is shown to be an effective treatment for mental health conditions and substance use disorders (APA, 2017). CBT is often used to help create positive methods of coping, enhance problem-solving abilities, and build resilience (APA, 2017; Padesky & Mooney, 2012). Community Based Organizations (CBOs) serve as a unique opportunity to provide youth with a CBT-based curriculum in an after school setting to help build resilience among the participating youth, while promoting healthy relationships with the adults running the program and providing opportunities for peer connection.
This proposed intervention will establish a cohort of CBOs serving high-risk communities that will be trained by a staff of professionals on the facilitation of a CBT-based curriculum as well as strategies for parent and community engagement. CBOs will be provided with stipends for the implementation of the curriculum and additional outreach to adults in the community. Ultimately, the goal of this program is to promote a culture of healing through the trauma-informed engagement of multiple audiences within the community.
This multi-level approach addresses the individual, interpersonal, and community levels of the Social Ecological Model (McLeroy et al., 1988) through the implementation of activities focused directly on youth, activities targeting the adult caregivers in their lives, and community engagement to increase the overall capacity of the neighborhood to utilize their strengths to prevent ACEs. This approach serves as a primary prevention strategy through the promotion of positive and stable relationships with adults within the community, a protective factor against the negative consequences of ACEs (CDC, n.d.). Further, the program is a secondary prevention strategy as enrollment will target youth who live in areas with high occurrence of ACEs to increase resilience and healthy coping skills, another protective factor against the negative outcomes associated with ACEs (CDC, n.d.).
The utilization of a trauma-informed approach is essential. As such, this program infuses the principles of trauma-informed programming by ensuring the safety of young people by understanding their individual needs, creating trustworthiness and collaboration through the cohort of CBOs serving as program partners, empowering CBOs to adapt the curriculum in a way that best serves their community, and providing ongoing training for cultural awareness (SAMHSA, 2014) .
References
APA (2017). What is cognitive behavioral therapy? American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guide...cognitive-behavioral
Bruner, C. (2017). Ace, place, race, and poverty: Building hope for children. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7S), S123–S129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2017.05.009
California Department of Education (2022). California healthy kids survey, 2019-21 [Student - Secondary]. https://calschls.org/reports-d...8-b90b-f49cef6e6d3f/
CDC (n.d.). Fast facts: Preventing adverse childhood experiences. Center for Disease Control. https://www.cdc.gov/violencepr...n/aces/fastfact.html
McLeroy, K.R., Bibeu, D., Steckler, A., & Glanz (1988). An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health Education Quarterly, 15, 4, 351-377.
Padesky, C. A., & Mooney, K. A. (2012). Strengths-based cognitive-behavioural therapy: a four-step model to build resilience. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 19(4), 283–290. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.1795
SAMHSA (2014). SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach. https://store.samhsa.gov/sites...files/sma14-4884.pdf
UC Davis Health. (2022). 2022 community health needs assessment. https://health.ucdavis.edu/med...-assessment-2022.pdf
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