Poverty, trauma, resilience

Before COVID, even with the local unemployment rate lower than 4%, about 30% of children in Gettysburg lived in poverty. With the arrival of the virus, local unemployment shot up and has only partly recovered; we can assume that percentage has increased. Gettysburg has a strong foundation of not-for-profit organizations as well as individuals working to prevent and help those living in poverty. The “How do we solve poverty?” question is addressed, but what about the collateral damage? Even if a family breaks the cycle of poverty, the children – and adults – are left with an embedded lifetime trauma.

Harvard University did a study comparing Jordanian children exposed to war to those exposed to poverty. The study tested the children’s working memory, the ability to keep goals in mind, and inhibition control, the ability to resist doing things you haven’t planned to do. The study showed working memory and inhibition control were significantly impaired in those in poverty but not in those exposed to war. Think about that…the effects of poverty are more traumatic to a child, than a child surviving war!

When the ability to make effective decisions, or cognitive function, is impaired, children’s futures become unstable. A person who grew up in poverty tends to make decisions that affect the present, instead of thinking of future goals. For example, while Teen A is planning for college to prepare for a better future, Teen B is planning to work to make ends meet in the moment. The Harvard study above shows, even if Teen B is out of poverty when faced with the decision, they will make the decision for the moment, not the long-term goals.

Trauma from poverty is scored by the number of toxic stressors (Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)) a child experienced. Toxic stressors are events that threaten the life, or physical or emotional wellness of the child, or of someone critically important to the child. Toxic stressors such as poverty, neglect, housing instability, violence, food insecurity, and separation from parents all affect childhood development. It becomes a lifelong mental/emotional fight to even the playing field. As a society, we should be aware of the problem caused by living in poverty and what we can do to limit the lifelong effect of these problems

1. Educate ourselves and the community – Learn about ACEs. Realize the poverty cycle is not a choice or representation of lazy people. Research Cognitive Function, working memory, inhibition control. Research generational poverty, toxic stress, and how racism increases the intensity of all of the above.

2. Advocate for more professionals and specific Trauma Informed Care (TIC) professionals – We need more local and state resources. In general, Adams County lacks child social workers, therapist, and child psychiatrists, especially ones that take medical assistance. But more specifically, we need professionals trained for TIC and understanding the ACEs score.

3. Advocate for trauma informed training in schools/police departments — School administrators, teachers, counselors, and police officers need training on toxic stress, understanding ACE scores, and understanding how race increases the effects. We can’t help the kids if the adults around them don’t understand their needs.

4. Dismantle Systemic Racism — Children of color are 21% more likely to be exposed to 3+ traumatic events causing a higher ACEs score. On average, they are less likely to have access to protection and resources to recover from these experiences. Racism intensifies the toxic stress of poverty. Children of color are punished harsher than white students. Racial profiling by police is another toxic stressor that intensifies the toxic stress of poverty.

5. Change the discussion – Stop asking “what’s wrong?” and ask, “what happened?”. We need to find the source and teach children how to respond to stressors. Resilience is a skill that is taught and with practice, children can learn to make better decisions.

Most fundamentally, we need to recognize the impacts of poverty and, finally, develop measures to reduce it. The classic nostrum, “hey, get a job!” doesn’t work when the majority of people living in poverty are already employed.

Teaching resilience to children is the key to lowering the trauma of toxic stress. It improves their cognitive function, working memory, and inhibitory control. These tools help our children break the cycle of poverty.

The most effective factor to teach resilience is the consistent presence of one or more caring adults in the child’s life. Parents, teachers, coaches, guardians, and other care providers have a powerful ability to buffer traumas negative effects on our children.

We need to give them love, hope, and compassion. Children did not ask to live in poverty. While ACEs aren’t an excuse for adults’ poor life decisions, it does explain why it happens. We as a community have the ability to change the future for these children. Find references and resources here: www.voicesuniteingac.com

Jenine Weaver is a community activist. She is a member of the Government Accountability Task Force of Gettysburg DFA.