Chapter 6: Stress, Resilience, and Empowerment: A Trauma-Informed Peer Mentoring Model for Youth of Color

Youth of color in high-poverty, high-crime communities are at high risk for various types of traumatic experiences, and their communities generally lack sufficient, accessible social and mental health services to help youth cope adaptively with that trauma and pursue positive life trajectories. Estimates suggest that by the time children in high-crime, high-poverty U.S. urban communities of color are 18, most of them have been exposed to community violence as witnesses, perpetrators, or victims (Fowler et al., 2009). In addition, these youth are disproportionately exposed to traumas compared to their peers in higher-income communities, including a higher risk of untreated serious illness, child abuse and neglect, chronic hunger, polyvictimization, and, as they become teenagers, higher risks of dating violence. (Allard, 2009; Copeland et al., 2007).