Initiative to Address Trauma in South Stockton Receives $850K

The Healthier Community Coalition, a coalition of health care, government, and community groups, recently received a grant for $850,000 for Healing South Stockton, an initiative aimed at identifying residents suffering from trauma and linking them with clinical services and community support.

“There is a tremendous need to address healing from emotional trauma in our community,” said Petra Stanton, Director of Community Health for Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center. “Youth exposed to abuse or violence in the home, or violence in their community, are at greater risk of poor mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood, including increased risk of heart disease, depression, suicide attempts, and alcoholism.”

The grant, funded by the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI), will be awarded to the Coalition over a three year period to expand and develop successful trauma prevention and recovery programs in the South Stockton Promise Zone coverage area, through the Healing South Stockton Initiative. Trauma prevention and recovery was identified as a key community health issue after an analysis of the 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment, which outlines the health priorities identified in San Joaquin County.

“This grant is greatly needed in South Stockton given the decades that our residents have been exposed to trauma. Creating a system of trauma informed care providers and patients will go a long way to ensure that anyone needing support receives it. This is a key step in our community’s revitalization,” said Hector Lara, coordinator for the Reinvent South Stockton Coalition.

Healing South Stockton will aim to identify victims of trauma as early as possible and engage them in immediate and accessible behavioral health and social support services. Also, the initiative will help provide a full range of recovery services to victims, develop trauma-informed care practices at all agencies working in South Stockton, promote trauma prevention by creating safer neighborhoods and healthy families, and establish policies to ensure ongoing trauma prevention and treatment.

The initiative will also help to expand and support trauma recovery and prevention programs already in place.  This may include successful programs such as trauma and emotional health screening at Community Medical Centers, a mentorship program for high need foster kids through the Child Abuse Prevention Council, Fathers & Families of San Joaquin’s Trauma Recovery Center, and training for schools on utilizing a trauma-informed approach through Valley Community Counseling as well as new programs.

“This grant is the first major funding received by the different partners that have stepped up to build our South Stockton Promise Zone.  We’re thankful to the Healthier Community Coalition, St. Joseph’s, and all of their partners for working collaboratively to begin prioritizing and investing in the residents living in the South Stockton Promise Zone,” said Councilmember Michael Tubbs, District 6.

This collaborative effort represents a broad array of groups that have worked in strong partnership over many years, including St. Joseph’s Medical Center, which will serve as the facilitator and fiscal agent for the initiative, Kaiser Permanente, Reinvent South Stockton Coalition, Community Medical Centers, Health Plan of San Joaquin, Stockton Unified School District, San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency, and California Public Health Advocates and others.

About the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative

CACHI was established by The California Endowment, Blue Shield of California Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, and Sierra Health Foundation to advance innovative health models to improve population health and reduce health disparities. CACHI is being supported by Community Partners, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that helps foster, launch, and grow creative solutions to community challenges.