Suzette Fromm-Reed, PhD & Wytress Richardson, EdD Presentation at 2016 Science of HOPE Description: The purpose of this presentation is to explore the implications of research that examined community buffers to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and consider how to build and sustain organizational and community resilience. Specifically, findings will be explored indicating community buffers were at least as important as individual level resilience and are needed to sustain the impact of individual level resilience. The study examined: 1. Adult surveys from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), (N=30,000), 2. Youth surveys examining risk and protective factors (N= 200,000) and 3. Public agency data (from merged social, health and education agency databases) for different communities (N=120) in Washington State (all merged data for 2009-2012 by the Foundation for Healthy Generations in Seattle, funded by the Gates Foundation and presented by external consultants). The intent of this presentation is to engage in a dialogue about the implications of the findings.

1. Moving Beyond the
Individual: The Importance of
Community & Organizational
Resilience as Buffers to ACEs
Presented by
Suzette Fromm Reed, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychology
Director, PhD in Community Psychology
National Louis University
Wytress Richardson EdD
Associate Professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Chair, Applied Behavioral Sciences
National Louis University

2. Overview
Researcher’s Frame
What can be done PLUS
Our Role
Our history with Washington
Background Research
Current Research Findings
What does this mean???...your input

3. Researcher’s Frame for Considering Buffers to ACEs
Suzette Fromm Reed
MA Clinical
PhD Community (Psy in Public
Interest)
Prevent Child Abuse America
Research interests..Child
Maltreatment, Health
Promotion, Girl Empowerment
Personal background--access,
justice, empowerment,
diversity….
Wytress Richardson
Organizational Leadership
Runs community-based non-profit
Clinical work at Salvation
Army, State of Illinois
Girl Empowerment with a focus on
minority, disadvantaged girls and
young women.
Personal background

4. Per CDC, What can Be Done About ACES?

5. Our Current Role..sufficient income support and
more...primary, secondary, tertiary prevention
and intervention
Student body who grew up with multiple ACEs including:
Mostly Chicago public schools
Impoverished Communities
Lack of resources on all levels (mental health, food deserts,
etc.)
Cycle of poverty
Our focus on community engagement within and beyond offers
a somewhat unique intervention point to stop the cycle of
the trauma.

6. The History of Our Relationship with Washington
State
In 2009, Washington State Family Policy Council contacted me
(Laura Porter, Sasha Silveanu).
This research was unique because it didn’t blame the victims.
Since the 1970’s predictors of “evil”
1. Residential stability
2. Adults per child,
3. Concentrated disadvantage,
4. Concentrated affluence,
5. Immigrant concentration, and
6. Population density.

7. What are the buffers?
We knew from prior research that social capital and
collective efficacy were buffers to juvenile delinquency.
Does it work to buffer child maltreatment?
Used PHDCN data

8. Research Questions
Social Capital
1. Does intergenerational closure moderate the
relationship between neighborhood structural factors and
child maltreatment?
2. Does reciprocal exchange moderate the relationship
between neighborhood structural factors and child
maltreatment?
Collective Efficacy
3. Does child-centered social control moderate the
relationship between neighborhood structural factors and
child maltreatment?

9. Sample
It was administered to 8,782 Chicago
residents in their homes, representing all
343 neighborhood clusters, (NC’s).

10. Findings
A multiple regression was conducted indicating
that community stability, the number of adults
per child, concentrated disadvantage and
density predicted child maltreatment rates.
Confirms research since the 1970s….so what?

11. Findings related to practice
Additional regression models indicate that
intergenerational closure and reciprocal
exchange help to buffer the effects of disadvantage
on child maltreatment rates while increasing the
rates in affluent communities.
There was also indication that child-centered
social control buffered the effect of concentrated
disadvantage and density while increasing the effect
of immigrant concentration on child maltreatment.

12. Bringing it back to Washington
In 2009 Community Resilience questions have been added to
the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
survey. We have continued the collection in 2010 and
2011.
We did this...in 2015, Dario Longhi contacted me stating the
regressions are indicating that the community variables
are buffering against ACEs at least as well as individual
resilience and we suspect they are needed to sustain
individual resilience.

13. So what?
How does community resilience develop and
sustain?
What is the process by which individual, organizational, and
community resilience is developed and sustained?
We think the answer lies with you.

14. What’s your Frame/Lense/Bias when
considering?

15. Intergenerational closure is the
extent to which adults and children
are linked in the neighborhood.
1. parents in this neighborhood know
their children’s friends,
2. adults in the neighborhood know
who the local children are,
3. there are adults in the
neighborhood that children can
generally look up to,
4. parents in this neighborhood
generally know each other,
5. you can count on adults in the
neighborhood to watch out that
children are safe and don’t get in
trouble.
What about Collective Efficacy???
Girl Power!!
Reciprocal exchange is the frequency of
social exchange within the neighborhood
on issues of consequence for children.
1. about how often do you and people in
your neighborhood do favors for each
other?
2. how often do you and people in this
neighborhood have parties or other
get-togethers where other people in
the neighborhood are invited?
3. when a neighbor is not at home, how
often do you and other neighbors
watch over their property?
4. how often do you and other people in
this neighborhood visit in each other’s
homes or on the street?
5. how often do you and other people in
this neighborhood ask each other
advice about personal things such as
child rearing or job openings?