Lacey City Council marks Child Abuse Prevention Month

In a reminder that healthy communities start with healthy children, the Lacey City Council proclaimed April as Child Abuse Prevention Month last week.

The proclamation calls on residents to increase participation in family support efforts and to work collectively toward preventing abuse and neglect. 

Community advocates told the council at a work session on April 28 that childhood abuse and neglect are underestimated drivers of homelessness, substance use and other long-term social challenges. The message, they said, is one they have been delivering to jurisdictions throughout the region. 

Jill Severn, a JOLT columnist and Family Education and Support Services (FESS) board member known for her community activism at Quixote Village in Olympia, said the pattern is hard to miss. Every city agenda she has reviewed ahead of related visits features at least one item rooted in the long-term consequences of childhood trauma. 

Lacey's was no exception. The opioid settlement on the work session agenda, she said, reflects what researchers call deaths of despair. Childhood abuse and neglect, Severn said, is among the forces that produce that despair. 

Housing tells the same story. While the shortage of affordable housing remains the primary driver of homelessness, she said, childhood trauma is a contributing factor that rarely gets the attention it deserves. 

"There were very, very few homeless people who had not suffered from severe abuse and neglect as children," Severn said. "When you prevent child abuse and neglect, you prevent so much more." 

FESS Executive Director Shelly Willis made the economic case. Investing in children early, she said, costs far less than addressing the consequences of trauma in adulthood. 

"We know it is far less expensive to raise healthy kids than to go back and try to fix traumatized adults," Willis said. 

Willis also pointed to community programming as a front line of prevention, recognizing YMCA representatives in the room. 

"The more we can intervene and provide pro-social, positive activities in the community, the better off our kids will be," Willis said. "We're glad to see you're supporting their efforts." 

Willis and Severn then left blue pinwheels with the council. The blue pinwheel is the national symbol of Child Abuse Prevention Month, representing the safe and healthy childhood every child deserves. 

The proclamation states that prevention works best through partnerships among agencies, schools, religious organizations, law enforcement, health care providers and the business community.