Episode 85 Laura Baxter - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Laura Baxter, Director of the Institute for Childhood Resilience at LSU Health Shreveport, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, and Kristi Gustavson, CEO of the Community Foundation of North Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

 

0:56 1. Define adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and why do they matter?

 

2:41 2. Why do some of us thrive despite adversity while others are overwhelmed by similar experiences?

 

3:44 3. Is our community resilient? Can resilience be built or is it something you’re born with? Explain.

 

5:44 4. What are the services provided by the Institute for Childhood Resilience (or ICR as it is commonly known)? When did it start and what is the genesis behind its formation?

 

9:09 5. I know you were instrumental in ensuring that every Caddo Parish educator receives ACEs training. Why did you do that and how did you do that? Explain how all of that went down.

 

14:31 6. What could cause a kid to carry an "emergency brain" from home to school?

 

15:56 7. Where would you go from there? Do you feel like the whole community needs to understand ACEs? If so, why?

 

17:52 8. What can parents do? What can community members do?

 

19:37 9. You once said, “There’s this great opportunity for learning but there’s also a great possibility of damage.” Why is the first five years of life the sweet spot?

 

22:30 10. You also once said, “Every child in this community deserves a childhood.”

 

I am a parent who has a low ACEs score. Why as a community member should I care about other people in my community who have high ACEs scores?

 

How are we doing a better job in our community recognizing trauma? And how are we doing a better job building resilience?

 

28:34 11. If you're a parent, why is it important to understand your own ACE score? What should you be on the lookout for relative to parenting your child?