Policy and Practice October 2011 : Page 31
locally speaking the data trends from the Walla Walla Community Network in southwest Washington show multiple impressive improvements: Walla Walla Community Network Coordinator Theresa Barila provides perspective on the process that drives down the numbers: “Twelve years of work in this social experiment called Networks reflect a flow and rhythm in learning, listen-ing, watching and walking the places I love. The gift of the Network ‘work’ is the luxury of feeling responsible only to the community’s residents; being able to see beyond any one discipline or track, to look at the threads woven through the system and work to reach awareness of pat-terns, stories and themes. Human dignity and human develop-ment, and the right to have a place to call your own, to understand your history and to hope for your future, and to be treated with respect regardless of any measure, those are also themes reflected in the collec-tive work of programs and processes in which the Network has moved and pushed and maybe even shoved because 22 percent of our children shouldn’t experience poverty. Fifty-five teens, on their own, shouldn’t have to find a safe place to sleep at night. Adverse childhood experiences shouldn’t destroy lives when that pervasive sense of shame and blame could be lifted. Walking neighbor-hoods teaches more than connecting, it shows what resilience looks like in real lives and real people, and per-haps at a higher level than I could ever hope to muster. The insights of courage, tenacity and hope fuel the work and the passion of the Network. Reflected from our hills, echoing in the voices of our people, our favorite question is: ‘And how are the chil-dren?’ ” The success of Walla Walla County and communities across the state stems in part from the Family Policy Council’s long-standing support for and review of research about brain development, adverse childhood experiences, resil-ience and systems theory. In particular, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study has brought further cohe-sion and synergy to work throughout the state with its finding that the cumu-lative stress of ACEs are the most pow-erful determinant of the public’s health and the strongest common driver of mental, physical and behavioral health costs. According to www.acestudy. org, “the ACE Study is an ongoing col-laboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente. The ACE Study is perhaps the largest scientific research study of its kind, analyzing the rela-tionship between multiple categories of childhood trauma and health and behavioral outcomes later in life.” The Family Policy Council is particularly interested in the cumulative risk (sever-ity) of many problems at very high rates in a single community. By developing a severity index, council discussions consider the question: Does the state need to be a different kind of partner in places with high severity? For example, to address the disproportionate health and safety concerns in tribal commu-nities a dedicated staff member has initiated groundbreaking partnerships examining the relationship between ACEs and historical trauma, and sup-ports new practices to address both. These research-fueled discus-sions combined with the Family Policy Council’s Community Capacity Development Model, a four-phased pro-cess to produce healthy and productive adults regardless of the circumstances into which they are born, have led to innovations in the way children and families are served across the state. For example, many communities are now employing a two-generation approach to their strategies for combating pov-erty, creating healthy foundations for development and expanding educa-tional opportunity. More than 10 years of data have been collected tracking community capacity development. The measurement is based on reading the community’s ability to come together around a shared focus, generate learn-ing and opportunity, set high standards and measure results, and expand lead-ership. As evident in the Walla Walla County data there appears to be a tip-ping point—when community capacity development reaches a high level, the rates of multiple problems drop. In 2009, Washington became one of the first states to add ACE questions to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey—a random statewide telephone survey of adults. In 2010, the co-principal investigator of the original ACE Study led data analysis with results from this survey and deter-mined that ACEs are common in the lives of Washingtonians: 62 percent have one or more ACE. The good news is that the state has seen the average ACE score reduced in youth transition-ing into adulthood. In counties with Community Networks where high community capacity development has been measured, fewer young adults (ages 18–34) have three or more ACEs, which reliably predicts prevention of many mental, physical and behavioral health problems throughout their life-times. In 2009, 37.9 percent of 35–44 year olds reported three or more ACEs and only 29.6 percent of 18–34 year olds reported three or more ACEs, a significant decrease in ACEs among a population that was the first recipient of community capacity-building initia-tives spearheaded by the Family Policy Council and affiliated Community Networks. This positive ACE trend means reduced cases of asthma, can-cer, heart disease, mental illness and reduced work due to mental illness, HIV, binge drinking and smoking. October 2011 Policy & Practice 31
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