PEORIA (25News Now) -Traumatic events such as witnessing or being involved in violence in the community can have long-lasting effects, and the Center for Prevention of Abuse (CFPA) is bringing to light how that translates in kids’ everyday lives.
“The more adverse childhood experiences that a child has, the more likely they are to have their whole physiology change,” said Carol Merna, CEO of the CFPA.
According to the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality, nearly half of American children are exposed to childhood adverse experiences or ACEs.
ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood. The CDC gives examples such as witnessing violence in the home or community, experiencing violence, abuse or neglect, and more.
The CDC also reports exposure to six or more ACEs can lower an individual’s life expectancy by nearly 20 years.
One of CFPA’s Light 2024 Conference keynote speakers, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, noted in her presentation that ACEs are strongly linked to nine of the ten leading causes of death in the United States.
Serving the Tri-County, Merna said the CFPA sees well over 100 kids in a three-month period who utilize their therapy services.
“Those children are coming to us because of sexual abuse or sexual assault, because of domestic violence, because they’ve witnessed an unfortunate event in the community like a shooting or a fight,” said Merna.
In 2023, of the 3,600 arrests made in Peoria, 13% were juveniles.
“Trauma probably won’t go away; there will always be community violence, there will always be incarcerated parents, there will always be parents at home who may be alcoholics, or participate in drugs, those types of things that will always be there,” said Anni Reinking, V.P. of Prevention Services at the Children’s Home Association of Illinois.
While the main focus of the CFPA’s conference is childhood trauma, Reinking and her team at the Children’s Home Association of Illinois take preventative measures beginning with the parents, offering postpartum resources to caregivers and families that qualify.
Foster parent and co-founder of Foster Village Peoria, Cheriz Kunkel, has seen what having readily available resources to address childhood trauma has done for kids in the foster system but says there’s still lots of work to be done.
“I’ve seen it firsthand as a foster parent for seven years. We’ve had multiple placements in our home. I’ve also seen it through the work I do with Foster Village Peoria. There are resources in the community, but some of them are limited when it comes to [supplying] the need for therapies and counseling. When kids can get those types of services and supports, you can really see them flourish,” said Kunkel.
The CFPA offers a crisis hotline and a list of local resources, which can be found on its website.
You can watch 25News – any newscast, anywhere – streaming LIVE on 25NewsNow.com, our 25News mobile app, and on our WEEK 25News SmartTV streaming app. Learn more about how you can get connected to 25News streaming live news here.
Copyright 2024 WEEK. All rights reserved.