SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – In its second meeting today, the Minnesota House Select Committee on Racial Justice discussed Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and how trauma and adversity intersect with racism and inequities. The committee learned about how parents, families, and communities often encounter adverse experiences and environments, which affect child development and often present other negative lifelong impacts.
“Every child deserves a healthy, prosperous future, but many of the adverse experiences they face are directly due to inequitable environments that have flourished for generations,” said Rep. Rena Moran (DFL – Saint Paul), co-chair of the committee. “We must all work together to invest in community resiliency as part of our broader goals to break down racist structures and eliminate inequities.”
Adverse childhood experiences – which lead to poor health and economic outcomes – can be traced to institutional racism. For example, childhood trauma such as abuse and neglect or parental substance abuse often occur within inequitable community environments such as those with high concentrations of poverty, violence, or poor housing conditions. The result of long-standing public policies, including inequitable education funding, criminal justice enforcement and incarceration, and discriminatory lending practices can explain the racial and economic disparities we still see today.
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