Adolescent Health Resiliency
To request a Building Resiliency with Youth training, please contact:
In 2024, the Ross County Health District was awarded $150,000 through the Ohio
Department of Health’s (ODH) Adolescent Health Resiliency grant. The three-year grant funds
trauma-informed care training for adults who work with adolescents and to provide opportunities for
safe and supportive connections to trusted adults within the community. Having a connection to a
supportive and consistent adult is a protective factor that contributes to positive outcomes in
children and adolescents, including the development of resilience.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood such as experiencing
violence, abuse, or neglect, witnessing violence in the home or community, or having a family
member attempt or die by suicide.” Traumatic experiences may also include lacking enough food
to eat, homelessness, or discrimination.
Evidence-based studies suggest that people with four of more ACEs are two to five times as likely
to develop clinical depression, substance use disorder (SUD), suicidality, and many chronic health
conditions including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases compared to people
with no ACEs. In 2019, the CDC reported that five of the ten top causes of death are associated
with ACEs, and that preventing ACEs could reduce depression rates in adults by an approximated
44 percent.
Trauma-informed training facilitated through the Adolescent Health Resiliency grant is meant to help educate our community on the signs of trauma in adolescents and help bring needed healing with compassionate care.
