By: Kelly Bondurant, Freelance Writer/Editor for Hire

In observance of April’s designation as Prevent Child Abuse month in North Carolina, the District Nine Guardian ad Litem program is sponsoring a free screening of the movie “Resilience-The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope” on Friday, April 6, 2018.

The one-hour documentary begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Farm Bureau Room of the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library in downtown Henderson. Popcorn will be provided to viewers.

The movie outlines the link between childhood trauma and a lifetime of health risks for chronic diseases and poor health behaviors. Information regarding public health resources and volunteer opportunities will also be available at the film screening.

Those interested in attending may contact Melanie Griggs, supervisor of the Guardian ad Litem program for District Nine, at (252) 430-5121 for more details; however, the event does not require an RSVP.

The District Nine Guardian ad Litem program currently serves children who are in the custody of the Department of Social Services in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren County.

According to Griggs, the program has three paid professional staff and approximately 75 volunteers who offer support and comfort as children move through the court system.

“We get referrals for a child weekly,” Griggs said. “There has been a small uptick in court cases involving Social Services due to the recent opioid crisis.”

Weekly referrals of children under the custody of Social Services means the program is constantly in need of volunteers. “We are always looking for volunteers who are ready to go through the required training and work with these children,” said Griggs.

All interested volunteers are required to complete an application, provide three references, pass a background check and complete 30 hours of training. Those interested in volunteering or learning more about the program may visit the Guardian ad Litem website at www.volunteerforgal.org.

“We would like volunteers to become involved in these children’s lives by attending meetings with that child and really learning the child’s story,” Griggs said.

Working in conjunction with the Guardian ad Litem program and Prevent Child Abuse month, the Granville-Vance Public Health Department is spreading the word that the first week of April is National Public Health Week.

According to Lindsey Bickers Bock, health education supervisor with Granville-Vance Public Health, the focus of this week is creating a healthier nation through the course of one generation.

This directly ties into the focus of the effects of childhood trauma as multiple studies have found a link between childhood adversity and adult health issues.

“A lot of research shows that what’s been labeled Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, really have an impact on health outcomes and health behaviors such as smoking, overeating and chronic conditions throughout life,” said Bickers Bock.

ACE’s include physical, sexual and emotional abuse and major life events such as divorce or incarceration of a parent. As Bickers Bock explained on Tuesday’s edition of Town Talk, it is universal that most children from birth to 18 years old have experienced one or two ACE’s.

Research shows that there is a jump in the number of health issues for adults who experience three or four ACE’s, with the risk of chronic illness skyrocketing for adults who experienced six or more traumatic events in childhood.

According to Bickers Bock, this decline in health is caused by a myriad of factors including the way the body processes chronic stress hormones and the impact that has on the development of the immune system.

To help combat this problem, Bickers Bock said Granville-Vance Public Health is working with coalitions on child health to brainstorm ways representatives from schools, the legal system, after-school programs and public health can work together.

Granville-Vance Public Health currently offers trauma-informed primary care, group pregnancy care, parenting education and a wellness coalition for children ages 10 and under.

In addition to these efforts, Bickers Bock believes a change in the way we think of children suffering from trauma needs to change, “We need to flip our mindset from what is wrong with this child to what has happened to this child.”

For more information on the services provided by Granville-Vance Home health visit their website at www.gvph.org.