Violence, Injury, and Trauma Action Team
The Violence, Injury, and Trauma Action Team of the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership is dedicated to addressing community violence, domestic violence, unintentional and intentional injuries, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and the trauma associated with these factors which can affect a person’s health and well-being.
Get involved – New members are always welcome to join the Violence, Injury, and Trauma action team! To be notified of upcoming events and meetings, please sign up for membership in the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership and indicate “Violence, Injury, and Trauma” as your interest!
Example Objectives and Indicators
While numerous violence, injury, and trauma issues are being addressed in the Healthy St. Mary’s 2026 Plan, three objectives with associated indicators are presented here:
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as experiencing abuse, neglect and witnessing household dysfunction, violence, and substance use can lead to long-term effects such as the adult onset of chronic diseases, depression and other mental illness, violence and being a victim of violence, as well as financial and social problems (Figure 1). Many of the team’s evidence-based strategies address preventing ACEs from happening in the first place as well as strategies to mitigate the long-term health effects of ACEs.
- In Maryland, suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens ages 15–19. Reducing the percentage of high school students who seriously considered attempting suicide and middle school students who ever seriously thought about killing themselves of several objectives addressing the needs of adolescents in St. Mary’s County (Figure 2).
Figure 1. Percentage of Adults Reporting 3 or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Maryland BRFSS
Figure 2. Percentage of Students Who Ever Seriously Thought About Killing Themselves (Middle School) and Seriously Considered Attempting Suicide During the Past 12 Months (High School)
Domestic and Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention
The VIT Action Team is working on projects related to domestic violence and teen dating violence awareness and prevention during our typical meetings. You can sign up to be a member at healthystmarys.com/membership.
HSMP’s VIT Action Team prepared care bags for survivors at the domestic violence hotline at the 4th Annual “Why Don’t They Just Leave?” panel on October 20, 2025. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please reach out to Southern Maryland Center for Family Advocacy to access free resources at smcfa.net. The crisis hotline is operated 24/7; you can reach them at 240-925-0084.
