Service Group and Faith Alliance – Prevent Child Abuse NC 4/20/2021
Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Councilwoman Cheryl Stallings, Niki Miller, Brittany William,s Nicole Bernard, Kris Demers, Toria, Nancy Hagan, Chris, Officer Kenneth Ragland, Officer Victoria Carter, Mindy Varkevisser, Ashlin Moore, Tracey O’Neal, Thomas Klatt, Sonya Edwards, Deb Vinci, Kim Adcock, Karen Morant
Announcements:
● Thank you from Nicole Bernard for assistance from Esther International and Brittany Williams for coordination with foster children.
● Shield NC is fundraising to hire consultants to prepare handouts for trafficking.
● Introduction of Child Abuse Prevention presenters and program for today: Tracey O’Neal and Kris Demers.
● Brittany Williams provided Esther International House update for a restoration home to serve 1-4 women now. They expect to be working with and walking alongside case managers and current clients to provide housing. They are looking for something smaller house wise and for churches and groups to help with rent for these places for the next year as they get started. Please reach out to her if you can help in any way. Also looking for board members ideally with fundraising experience. https://est-her.org/
Notes:
Tracey O’Neal, Faith-Based Partnership Engagement Manager at Prevent Child Abuse NC began 1 1/2 years ago and found faith communities have been very helpful in helping with child abuse. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) presentation to be shared highlighted that Prevent Child Abuse NC and Shield NC share goals particularly around community involvement to protect the vulnerable. “Possibilities are endless when communities unite to protect the vulnerable”
● Faith communities have a special role in health and well being of communities. 1 in 4 individuals in need will go to the Faith Based community first. Those who participate in religious services are happier, less likely to have substance abuse issues and most likely to volunteer. Faith Communities provided 40% of social net services.
● We then watched a TED Talk by Dr. Nadine Burk, “How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime.” ○ Childhood trauma takes many forms. Dr Burk was trained to refer victims to agencies but determined a causal issue after she opened CA Pacific medical center. ○ Exposure to trauma affects physical health. Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) was a common denominator and 67% of individuals with illnesses had one Adverse Childhood Experience while 12% had 4 or more Adverse Childhood
Experiences. Health outcomes were worse for individuals with higher ACE scores. ○ Impacts of ACEs were noted on brain structure and development,as well as on the developing immune system ○ Professionals are beginning to learn how to disrupt the negative impacts and physical outcomes. It is treatable and beatable. Need courage to look at this and recognize it is all of us.
● Faith communities naturally provide protective factors. Prevent Child Abuse NC has identified 5 protective factors: ○ parental resilience ○ social mental competence of children ○ concrete supports ○ knowledge of parenting and child development ○ social connections. https://www.preventchildabusenc.org/resource-hub/protective-factors/
● (Strengthen families and communities…. To be sent to Niki)
● Connections Matter Congregation: https://www.preventchildabusenc.org/resource-hub/protective-factors/
Next, Kris Demers, Communications Manager of Prevent Child Abuse NC provided a wealth of information and resources. https://www.preventchildabusenc.org/our-work/policy/
● April is Child Abuse Prevention Month
● Be a connection for children in your community
● Connections Matter NC identifies ways to be a positive connection and strengthen families (link?} Questions and Ideas for Helping: ○ Pinwheels for Prevention ○ #Be a connection campaign – post ideas for support ○ Digital advocacy day April 21 ○ Online store ○ Request a speaker ○ Toolkit ○ Recognize and Responding What is Children Sabbath – highlighting in your service raising awareness of child abuse including human trafficking What is Community Café – asking hosts (church) and agencies/communities what they want to improve; harvest repetitive relevant topics and how to address issues and highlight great things. Screen TED Talk as a great way to shift perspective. All
North Carolinians are mandatory reporters of abuse in NC. DHHS and Child Abuse NC combine to help if a child is identified as a victim of abuse. Online checklists for policies and tools in dealing with children.