The following article was published in the NCCS newsletter in December 2019:
In October 2018 I had the honor of representing NCCS at the International Youth Protection Symposium, hosted by the Boy Scouts of America and held at the Atlanta Area Council headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The symposium was organized by Michael Johnson, Director of Youth Protection for the BSA. Prominent experts in the areas of Child Abuse and Neglect and Youth Violence shared their expertise with representatives of a variety of youth-serving organizations (YSOs) from within the United States and Canada. The goals of the symposium were to learn about and discuss practices, training programs, policies and initiatives that affect youth programs; to learn about the latest research on preventing and addressing child abuse, including the topics of bullying and online predators; to discuss prevention programs of YSOs that are based on experience, research and evidence; to develop strong relationships with other YSOs facing these difficult issues, all with a deep desire to keep the young people entrusted to them safe and healthy.
A particularly interesting panel discussion took place that involved Michael Johnson (BSA), Deacon Bernard Nojadera (Director of the USCCB Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection), Janet Shealy (Director of Campus Advocacy Response and Education at the Citadel in SC) and Dr. Thomas Kelly (Head of School at the Horace Mann School in NY). These panelists represented organizations that have been at the center of child abuse scandals in recent years and have responded by developing policies, procedures, and training with the aim of keeping youth in their programs safe. All BSA volunteers should be aware that BSA has developed a new Youth Protection training program which was to have been completed by September 30, 2018. If any volunteers have not yet completed the new YPT training, I urge them to do so. This new training is excellent and incorporates much of what has been learned about childhood abuse/neglect and other adversity in recent years.
Of greatest interest to me, and the primary reason I was excited to attend this symposium, was a panel discussion involving representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta who spoke about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Opioid Abuse, and Suicide. Twenty years ago, a landmark article was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine which connected adverse childhood experiences (abuse, neglect, household dysfunction) to an increased risk of adult physical and mental illness and risk-taking behaviors. The findings of that study have been reproduced in hundreds of thousands of additional adults. Children, too, have been shown to have an increased risk of physical and mental illness, as well as behavior disorders, if they are exposed to ACEs and other types of community, historical, and multigenerational adversity. The underlying mechanism is related to “toxic stress.” ACEs are not rare; they affect at least two thirds of the population. The CDC has identified toxic stress and the related physical/mental/behavioral health issues that result from it as the greatest public health crisis of our time.
The response to this public health crisis must be an all-out effort for communities to become “trauma-informed,” to understand the role of childhood adversity and toxic stress on the physical and mental health and behavior of children and adults, and to develop strategies that will decrease the incidence of adversity while increasing resilience factors which have been shown to overcome the deleterious effects of toxic stress. It will require the cooperation of diverse community groups…health care providers, mental health professionals, behavioral specialists, educators, justice and law-enforcement, social services, faith-based organizations, and youth-serving organizations such as ours.
Last April, I attended the American Academy of Pediatrics course “The Trauma-Informed Pediatric Provider,” then traveled to Minneapolis for the NCCS Biennial Meeting. Following the keynote address by Fr. Chad VanHoose on “Effective Youth Ministry in the New Evangelization,” we were asked in a breakout session to name one thing we were going to do differently in our Catholic Scouting Ministry. My response was “ACEs”…which required a bit of explanation since no one knew what I was talking about! It is my hope that the NCCS will move toward becoming a “trauma-informed organization” to better serve our Catholic Scouts and their families, as well as to better support our adult volunteers. Catholic Scouting can be a powerful way to build resiliency in young people who are facing unprecedented challenges in today’s world. More information on ACEs is available at www.acesconnection.com. In the meantime, let me leave you with a final thought…the next time you are faced with someone whose behavior is annoying, frustrating, or perplexing, instead of thinking “What is wrong with you?” think “What happened to you?” I promise that small shift in thinking will change your perspective and make you more effective in your Catholic Scouting ministry!
In October 2018 I had the honor of representing NCCS at the International Youth Protection Symposium, hosted by the Boy Scouts of America and held at the Atlanta Area Council headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The symposium was organized by Michael Johnson, Director of Youth Protection for the BSA. Prominent experts in the areas of Child Abuse and Neglect and Youth Violence shared their expertise with representatives of a variety of youth-serving organizations (YSOs) from within the United States and Canada. The goals of the symposium were to learn about and discuss practices, training programs, policies and initiatives that affect youth programs; to learn about the latest research on preventing and addressing child abuse, including the topics of bullying and online predators; to discuss prevention programs of YSOs that are based on experience, research and evidence; to develop strong relationships with other YSOs facing these difficult issues, all with a deep desire to keep the young people entrusted to them safe and healthy.
A particularly interesting panel discussion took place that involved Michael Johnson (BSA), Deacon Bernard Nojadera (Director of the USCCB Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection), Janet Shealy (Director of Campus Advocacy Response and Education at the Citadel in SC) and Dr. Thomas Kelly (Head of School at the Horace Mann School in NY). These panelists represented organizations that have been at the center of child abuse scandals in recent years and have responded by developing policies, procedures, and training with the aim of keeping youth in their programs safe. All BSA volunteers should be aware that BSA has developed a new Youth Protection training program which was to have been completed by September 30, 2018. If any volunteers have not yet completed the new YPT training, I urge them to do so. This new training is excellent and incorporates much of what has been learned about childhood abuse/neglect and other adversity in recent years.
Of greatest interest to me, and the primary reason I was excited to attend this symposium, was a panel discussion involving representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta who spoke about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Opioid Abuse, and Suicide. Twenty years ago, a landmark article was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine which connected adverse childhood experiences (abuse, neglect, household dysfunction) to an increased risk of adult physical and mental illness and risk-taking behaviors. The findings of that study have been reproduced in hundreds of thousands of additional adults. Children, too, have been shown to have an increased risk of physical and mental illness, as well as behavior disorders, if they are exposed to ACEs and other types of community, historical, and multigenerational adversity. The underlying mechanism is related to “toxic stress.” ACEs are not rare; they affect at least two thirds of the population. The CDC has identified toxic stress and the related physical/mental/behavioral health issues that result from it as the greatest public health crisis of our time.
The response to this public health crisis must be an all-out effort for communities to become “trauma-informed,” to understand the role of childhood adversity and toxic stress on the physical and mental health and behavior of children and adults, and to develop strategies that will decrease the incidence of adversity while increasing resilience factors which have been shown to overcome the deleterious effects of toxic stress. It will require the cooperation of diverse community groups…health care providers, mental health professionals, behavioral specialists, educators, justice and law-enforcement, social services, faith-based organizations, and youth-serving organizations such as ours.
Last April, I attended the American Academy of Pediatrics course “The Trauma-Informed Pediatric Provider,” then traveled to Minneapolis for the NCCS Biennial Meeting. Following the keynote address by Fr. Chad VanHoose on “Effective Youth Ministry in the New Evangelization,” we were asked in a breakout session to name one thing we were going to do differently in our Catholic Scouting Ministry. My response was “ACEs”…which required a bit of explanation since no one knew what I was talking about! It is my hope that the NCCS will move toward becoming a “trauma-informed organization” to better serve our Catholic Scouts and their families, as well as to better support our adult volunteers. Catholic Scouting can be a powerful way to build resiliency in young people who are facing unprecedented challenges in today’s world. More information on ACEs is available at www.acesconnection.com. In the meantime, let me leave you with a final thought…the next time you are faced with someone whose behavior is annoying, frustrating, or perplexing, instead of thinking “What is wrong with you?” think “What happened to you?” I promise that small shift in thinking will change your perspective and make you more effective in your Catholic Scouting ministry!