Elon faculty Carmen Monico trains with Connections Matter with Prevent Child Abuse in North Carolina
Carmen Monico, assistant professor of human service studies,聽is bringing a program to Elon and surrounding communities with the goal of preventing child abuse in North Carolina.听
Monico and Julie Budd聽of Crossroads Sexual Assault Response & Resource Center聽recently completed training with Prevent Child Abuse in North Carolina and the聽Train a Trainer聽Connections Matter聽initiative.听The 聽framework provides a strengths-based approach to understanding adverse childhood experiences and the vital role caring relationships play in buffering the long-term negative outcomes of those experiences.听
Monico and Budd’s training focused on a study that showed more than half of adults in Iowa experienced at least one type of abuse or household dysfunction as children.听The team plans to bring the program to the Burlington and Elon communities by offering聽Connections Matter聽training to community leaders and students.听The program will also be folded into the service-learning activities of the Monico’s human service studies courses聽in the coming year.听
Child abuse and neglect can cause toxic levels of stress that, over time, change聽the structure of the developing brain and lead聽to poor health, learning聽and overall well-being.听Significant levels of toxic stress in childhood increases the likelihood of depression, diabetes and heart disease in a child’s lifetime.听
However, social supports and caring connections strengthen families, mitigating聽the negative outcomes of childhood trauma and reducing聽the risk of child abuse or neglect. Connected communities have lower crime rates, better physical and mental health, and spend less money on treating social problems.听鈥
Information on Connections Matter is available through or by visiting聽.听