CPCM Designates Codington County as a Resilient Community
The ceremony included remarks from Haifa AbouSamra, Ph.D., dean of USD’s School of Health Sciences, and Darla Biel, assistant director for the CPCM, recognizing the community’s efforts in bridging gaps for area youth since late 2021. City of Watertown Mayor Ried Holien, Codington County Commissioner Lee Gabel, EC-CASA Program Director and Facilitating Team Member Terri Mielitz, and Circuit Third Court Judge Carmen Means spoke on the importance of the designation to the safety of children and families. Codington County is the second community in South Dakota to receive this designation.
“Resilient Communities allowed Codington County advocates to work together to overcome gaps in services to provide informed primary prevention strategies to our service leaders,” said Biel. “Your community is stronger because of the work you’ve done to create unity.”
Codington County becomes a Resilient Community because of a coalition of local stakeholders from health care, behavioral health, government, non-profits and education that analyzed current strengths of Codington County that help children and families deal with and recover from traumatic experiences, thereby aiming to mitigate long-lasting effects, referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). They also identified gaps that could be filled through a multidisciplinary approach to resource delivery.
South Dakota children are facing child abuse and maltreatment at an alarming rate. Research shows that ACEs have a direct impact on an individual’s nervous system and brain development, which creates long-term mental and physical health issues as well as an increase in at-risk behavior. Understanding the impact of ACEs and factors that mitigate those effects can lessen the long-term harm the abuse causes. ACEs include 10 different forms of childhood maltreatment (household dysfunction, abuse and neglect) that have been researched since 1992.
“This designation is an important recognition of the work our community has done to raise awareness of the impact of ACEs,” said Sara Foust, facilitating team member. “Codington County is committed to building resiliency for our youth. The Social Services Advisory Council will continue to collaboratively work together to address needs in our community and we also have several learning opportunities and activities planned for the coming year.”
Resilient Communities, South Dakota, was created by the CPCM and its partner organizations to help address factors in communities that put children at risk for abuse and neglect. It also creates an environment that is trauma-informed, so community members understand the effects of experiencing abuse. The process also identifies existing resources in the community that can be used to strengthen prevention efforts.
