NJTV's Michael Hill Discussing His Reporting on ACES

As part of our Right from the Start NJ series, Steve Adubato and Michael Hill, Correspondent at NJTV News, discuss“Trauma’s Tragedy and Treatment,” a 5-part NJTV special series focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and how to overcome them.

3/30/19 #303

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"There he is. Michael Hill, Correspondent, NJTV News. You recognize him from the studio of this set. Good to see you my friend. How are you doing buddy? I'm doing alright. It is an honor to have you. Every night on NJTV News important things happen. But one night I told you, I actually texted you while I was watching it. Yes. You did a report. It's called Trauma's Tragedy and Treatment, a five-part series. Set it up. It was part of a fellowship project for USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. They contacted me last March asking me to participate in the fellowship. I did. They answered, "What did I want to focus on?" I said, "Trauma. Trauma informed care." So I went out there for fellowship training in July, I came back, I started working on this series. I didn't know it was gonna be five parts, I didn't know if it was gonna be three parts. And it was really to focus on underserved communities. Places like Newark. Places like Camden. I decided to focus on Newark, because so much is taking place right here. South Ward Children's Alliance, Greater New York Healthcare Coalition, you know, Keri Logosso-Misurell, and others like that, Cecilia Zalkind, who are all on the ground doing a lot of work. So I decided to focus on Newark itself and just came away with just incredible stuff. So we, in fact, are part of... our production team is part of an operation called Right From the Start NJ, looking at infants and toddlers and those who care for them. And Michael's series... and by the way, you'll see the website for NJTV, check out the series. But Michael is about to set up this clip that features a young lady by the name of Ashanti Jones, who not just had a big impact on you as a journalist, but on a lot of people who saw her. Set it up. It changed my direction for this project, Steve. I didn't know what her story was. I asked the South Ward Children's Alliance to help me find someone who could help me tell this story. This is someone who, at the age of seven, her father was convicted of drug trafficking. He was in prison, so the father wasn't around. Mother addicted to drugs. Wasn't exactly a protective parent. No supportive parent in the household. Ashanti was seven years old, two brothers in the household. One day, cops, social workers knock on the door, take the kids away. They all wind up in foster care. Ashanti hadn't seen some of them since. And she spent the next ten years after..."