Along with our 8 partners, WIN is committed to building a trauma-resilient community in Los Angeles with the Innovation 2 initiative. We are dedicated to shifting the mindset of the greater community, helping them see the world through a trauma-resilient lens, and identifying more families in need.
*These preventative services are funded through the Innovation 2 contract with the LA County Department of Mental Health.
Innovation 2 Partner Report
How do we help community members recognize the effects of trauma? How can child care centers and schools create trauma-informed spaces that promote healing? How do we mitigate the impacts of a once in a century pandemic in communities that are already underserved? How can we create new pathways that address inequities in health and mental health care?
This document represents four years of our collaborative effort to answer those questions. Building and strengthening community partnerships that expand our communities’ capacity to identify members at risk of or currently experiencing trauma in order to reduce the likelihood of their developing mental illness – and so they may thrive.
Our goal is to build a trauma-informed and trauma-resilient community that understands the impact of trauma and supports healing to prevent harm.
We are partnering in the following ways to achieve this:
ACEs are stressful or traumatic events, including abuse and neglect. They may also include household dysfunction, such as witnessing domestic violence or growing up with family members who have substance abuse disorders. ACEs include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect, mother treated violently, substance abuse within the household, household mental illness, parental separation or divorce, incarcerated family members, etc.
Science shows homelessness, substance abuse, chronic adult mental illness, and suicide are strongly correlated with early childhood trauma.
Only targeting adults struggling with these issues has proved ineffective and very expensive. Therapy and support for parents and children during early childhood (when brain architectures are forming) can prevent later addiction, school failure, violence, and mental health issues that arise as traumatized children become adults.
Those who have adverse childhood experiences are…
2X
more likely to experience physical health issues
3X
more likely to experience mental health issues
1000X
more likely to suffer their own adverse experiences
Trauma tends to pass from one generation to the next. Early childhood trauma changes the structure of children’s brains, making them more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, PTSD, and a host of negative health and mental health outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. When adults dealing with the daily life functioning impacts of untreated trauma grow to have families of their own, and they have a harder time protecting their children from the adversity they themselves faced as kids.
Given the intergenerational cycle of trauma, WIN is dedicated to using our resources and network to support the community to become trauma-resilient. We are transforming our own agencies to better meet the needs of the community and the people who seek our care.