Articles written by Richard H. Opper--public Health & Human Services

Richard H. Opper--Public Health and Human Services, Guest Column|Apr 29, 2015

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. It’s safe to assume that every Montanan is against child abuse. But tragically, it happens all the time, the incidents of child abuse are actually increasing, and the impacts of abuse on the most vulnerable of Montana’s citizens – our children – often last a lifetime. Twenty years ago, the Center for Disease Control studied the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), or childhood trauma, and the physical and behavioral health problems of children as they reach adolescence and adulthood. The stu...