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PEDIATRICS

Child Health Coalition Forming in

Bexar County to Optimize Health

and Reduce Toxic Stress

By Anais Biera Miracle

dverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have long been The first priority of the consortium will be identifying community
A understood to markedly increase the risk of chronic dis- partners who would be instrumental in the development and imple-
eases such as myocardial infarction and behavioral
mentation of the trauma consortium. The second priority will be
health problems such as substance use disorders and sui- building community awareness on the importance of Trauma-In-
cide independent of and often beyond other traditional medical risk formed Care by moving from trauma awareness to trauma active.
factors. Persons with an ACE score of 6 or higher have a life ex- The third priority is to provide a robust training calendar and op-
pectancy that is 20 years less than their low ACE counterparts. portunities centered on best practices for Trauma-Informed Care
The Children’s Shelter’s inaugural South Texas Trauma-Informed across a diverse array of community partners which would include
Care Conference was held on May 10th and 11th to build a multi- but would not be limited to education, healthcare, law enforcement,
disciplinary network of Trauma-Informed Care in South Texas. Fea- and health and human service organizations. The final priority is the
turing internationally-renowned trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry and development of sound legislative priorities to inform policymakers
other distinguished trauma experts, the conference provided an op- on the nature of Trauma-Informed Care and to implement effective
portunity for the establishment of the South Texas Trauma-In- advocacy initiatives. Advocacy work will include publication of white
formed Care Consortium. papers to explain and document the work of the South Texas
The Children’s Shelter in partnership with VOICES for Children Trauma-Informed Care Consortium.
hosted the initial framework meeting on Friday, May 11, to develop
the South Texas Trauma-Informed Care Consortium. Participants Interested parties who would like to connect and actively partici-
were asked to identify a common working definition of trauma-in- pate in the consortium please contact Anais Biera Miracle, Chief
formed care, to answer four priorities in addressing it, and to identify Public Relations Officer at The Children’s Shelter at
which parties need to participate to ensure a successful coalition. abiera@chshel.org or 210-212-2598.

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