National Prevention Science Coalition

Jun 27, 2023

FRONTIER's 2023 statewide summit, "Leveraging North Carolina's Assets to Prevent Child Trauma"

Organized by the FRONTIER Program at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute

April 26-28, 2023

Raleigh, NC

INTRODUCTION

“Leveraging North Carolina’s Assets to Prevent Child Trauma” (the summit) convened 150 in-person attendees and approximately 230 virtual attendees representing academia, community and state organizations, lived experience, philanthropy, legislative and agency officials, scientific research, educational systems, clinical practice, and others. The overarching goal of the summit was to

identify common threads across constituent groups in North Carolina, each working to address child trauma, and determine how, together, we can co-create a statewide effort in community and policy spaces to tackle its sources and reduce its incidence. Organizers and participants agree this can be achieved by:

• sharing knowledge and experience about child trauma, its causes, and its prevention;

• bolstering community efforts through a shared understanding of trauma science;

• creating new relationships between individuals and organizations and strengthening existing relationships;

• illuminating the current landscape of child trauma prevention across North Carolina communities to help assess strengths and gaps; and

• beginning a process of generating policy recommendations to prevent child trauma.

THEMES IDENTIFIED AT THE SUMMIT

Child trauma has myriad effects and solutions. Not every important idea could be shared at a two-day summit or in this executive summary, but below are a few of the themes that came up repeatedly.

Preventing child trauma and addressing child trauma to prevent long-term harm require:

• supporting parents to reduce economic stress with access to affordable housing, food, childcare, and dependable employment or income;

• addressing systemic root causes, including structural racism, health inequities, and economic stress;

• transitioning to trauma-informed practices in many settings, including families, schools, communities, child welfare system, healthcare, legislative, and criminal justice;

• interrupting the cycle by addressing trauma in children, adolescents, and young adults before they become parents;

• expanding access to mental health assessment and access for children and parents, including addiction prevention and treatment;

• educating people and organizations to change violent social norms and improve interpersonal relationships; and

• providing universal high-quality early childhood education.

Effective approaches for moving forward include:

• People with lived experience of child trauma must be part of developing policies and programs regarding child trauma.

• There is no silver bullet; preventing child trauma as a society requires a lot of pieces.

• Strategic alignment and collective action are critical; no one person, community organization, agency, foundation, nonprofit, or legislative body can do it alone.

• Prevention and early intervention are better than later intervention.

• Sustainable funding is needed to ramp up evidence-based prevention programs; these programs save society money in the long run.

• Local organizations and philanthropy can make a difference in communities and demonstrate effective strategies.

• Advocacy is an effective tool to institute trauma-informed policies at national, state, or local levels.

SUMMIT SPEAKERS & PRESENTATION SLIDES

NEXT STEPS

The summit themes were explored in greater detail, producing a series of articles on key topics raised during the summit, including:

  1. Preventing Child Trauma in North Carolina

  2. Supporting and Connecting Organizations Addressing Child Trauma

  3. Addressing Root Causes of Child Trauma

  4. Addressing Child Trauma in North Carolina: What State Agencies are Doing

  5. Advocacy: Turning Science into Policy

  6. Addressing Child Trauma in North Carolina: What Organizations are Doing

To access all of these articles, visit the FPG website.

If you would like to view video presentations from the two-day event, check out this YouTube video playlist.

If you are interested in obtaining 4 APA Continuing Education Credits for the morning session on Day 1, visit the NPSC page to purchase the course.

In addition, FPG will work on a set of specific policy recommendations to share with the General Assembly, state agencies, and local officials. There will be webinars, meetings, and other follow-on activities. They also plan to create a task force comprised of a wide range of constituent groups and individuals to co-develop a

statewide action plan for North Carolina for maximal impact. If you’re interested in

participating in upcoming webinars, meetings, or the task force, please contact Dr. Fishbein.

Contributors to this summit include: UNC Carolina Seminar Series; NCDHHS; SAMHSA; Smart Start; HopeStar; Child Trust Foundation; Duke Endowment; PCANC; KB Reynolds Trust; CTIPP; National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives; and the coordinators, Wake AHEC.

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