How On Earth Can This Child Be Dealing With So Much?

According to: The United Stated Department of Health & Human Services: "Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. SDOH can be grouped into 5 domains: (1) Economic Stability, (2) Education Access and Quality, (3) Health Care Access and Quality, (4) Neighborhood and Built Environment, and (5) Social and Community Context. According to: The National Child Traumatic Stress Network: "Complex trauma describes both children's exposure to multiple traumatic events—often of an invasive, interpersonal nature—and the wide-ranging, long-term effects of this exposure. These events are severe and pervasive, such as abuse or profound neglect." According to: The Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)  "Child trauma occurs more than we think. More than two thirds of children reported at least 1 traumatic event by age 16. Potentially traumatic events include:

• Psychological, physical, or sexual abuse
• Community or school violence
• Witnessing or experiencing domestic violence
• National disasters or terrorism
• Commercial sexual exploitation
• Sudden or violent loss of a loved one
• Refugee or war experiences
• Military family-related stressors (e.g., deployment, parental loss or injury)
• Physical or sexual assault
• Neglect
• Serious accidents or life-threatening illness

According to 50 years of data from globally respected health & educational institutions: "People of color have better healthcare outcomes when paired with providers of color." According to: Kai Smith, CEO of: Better Urban Health "Children are hurting and the behaviors that they exhibit today are tell-tale reflections of what they've experienced, but lack the appropriate skills for self-care. Anytime you deal with children of color and mental health, you’re not simply dealing with one thing. The mental health of black and brown children is a buffet of consistently growing trauma that is both concurrent and has yet to be adequately addressed. Due to rightfully earned distrust in the American healthcare system, residents of communities of color have normalized mental imbalance. I know, I was one of those kids. That's why I created Better Urban Health, to change that narrative."