La. unveils plan to combat childhood trauma and adversity
18th December 2023 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) recently announced the release of the Whole Health Louisiana State Plan. It will be the first statewide plan to systematically address the issue of childhood adversity and trauma and their impacts on both children and the greater population.
“The Louisiana Department of Health is extremely proud to have partnered on this effort to develop a comprehensive approach to preventing and addressing trauma across child-serving systems. We remain committed to working with our partners from across the state to support the implementation of the Whole Health Louisiana State Plan. Building on the community input we have gathered, we will continue to integrate the healing-centered and trauma-informed objectives outlined in this plan within our agency and provide support to other state agencies, organizations and communities that are working to do the same,” LDH Deputy Secretary Tonya Joiner said in a press release.
The plan has been two years in the making. The LDH, the Louisiana First Foundation, and leaders across the state united to create the plan to address a number of troubling statistics regarding Louisiana’s children.
According to 2022’s America’s Health Rankings, Louisiana ranks 49th out of 50 states in overall child well-being. The state ranks 43rd in diabetes, obesity and mortality; 49th in infant mortality and low birth weight; 48th in premature death; and ranks 44th in mental distress.
These low rankings are believed to impact the health of Louisiana’s general population, too. Louisiana ranked 47th in the number of adults who have completed a high school education; it is 43rd in unemployment; 45th in access to licensed mental health professionals; and 46th in exposure to violent crime. The state came in at 50th for poverty.
Louisiana is also one of the ten worst states for children (under 18 years of age) who have experienced two or more adverse childhood experiences. The national per capita average for this category is 14 percent. Louisiana ranks at 18.6 percent.
Adverse childhood experiences include abuse (emotional, sexual, or physical), substance abuse, domestic violence, neglect (physical or emotional), parental separation, mental illness and incarceration.
Kevin Wilkins, CEO and founder of Trepwise, a consulting company that focuses on human-centered strategic solutions, participated in the development of the plan.
Wilkins said it is not an “ivory tower” plan concocted by academics without input from the general public or front-line workers. Over 700 people participated in surveys on the subject of childhood trauma and adversity. Schools, parents, experts and nonprofit organizations have contributed input.
Some of the plan’s goals include increasing the number of service providers offering trauma-informed or trauma-focused services and treatments, increasing access to childhood adversity or trauma-informed training for all family and child-serving pro-viders, and a campaign to increase messaging and education about childhood trauma. There is also an emphasis on collaboration between services for more holistic care.
A trauma-informed approach centers on the realization of the impacts of trauma, recognition of the signs and symptoms of trauma, and responding to that trauma in a way that resists re-traumatization.
Another important point in the plan is decreasing stigma around mental health and trauma. Resources are available to help people in crisis and the plan’s creators want people to feel comfortable and safe in utilizing those resources. The plan also aims to make it easier for people to find and access these resources.
“There is no shame in having experienced trauma,” Wilkins said. “You can find help.”
The plan takes inspiration from similar successful efforts in other states. A juvenile diversion program in Philadelphia reduced arrests from 1,600 to 500 in three years. A batterer intervention program in Bakersfield, Calif., reduced recidivism rates from 60 percent to six percent. In San Diego, a trauma-informed juvenile facility reported no violent incidents during its inaugural year. In Cowlitz County, Washington, youth suicide and suicide attempts fell by 98 percent.
A similar effort also had success in Louisiana.
Trauma-informed approaches implemented in Shreveport saw a reduction of out-of-school suspensions at an elementary school from 78 to eight within two years. Another Shreveport elementary school saw a 93.5-percent decrease in overall behavioral incident reports within two years. Another Shreveport elementary school saw court-involved truancy cases go from 35 to one in a single year.
In a case study of the Shreveport effort included in the plan, the authors identified key factors contributing to Shreveport’s success, among them were community collaboration, public awareness and early intervention.
The plan hopes to build on the success of Shreveport’s efforts and see similar improvements on a statewide level.
“Louisiana can be better and Louisiana wants to be better,” Wilkins said.
Implementation of the plan’s objectives will take place from January 2024 to December 2028. For more information about the plan, visit ldh.la.gov/WholeHealthLouisiana.
This article originally published in the December 18, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
