CHILDREN OF VIOLENCE
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At the Covina Development Center (a program of the Assn. for Retarded Citizens-San Gabriel Valley), we have been working with handicapped young children for nearly 15 years. We have experienced an enormous increase in the number of children who were born addicted. Two years ago, we rarely saw these young victims; today 75% of the children we serve are struggling to overcome the long-term effects of their parents’ drug use.
After the initial trauma of withdrawal, many of these children face a lifetime of physical changes in their bodies and brains. Since these children are so difficult to handle, due to their hyperactivity, jitteriness, distractibility and chaotic families, most will experience numerous caretakers, and their problems will make them targets for additional physical abuse during their childhood. Unfortunately, many will grow up to provide social problems to society if they do not receive help in their formative years.
PAULA JEPPSON
DIRECTOR, COVINA DEVELOPMENT CENTER
El Monte
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