Trauma Sensitive Schools Why We Need Them and Where We Start

1. Trauma Sensitive SchoolsWhy We Need Them and Where We Start Presented by Shannon Werfelmann

2. What is Trauma? • TRAUMATIC EVENT: • A sudden and unexpected occurrence that causes intense fear and may involve threat of physical harm or actual physical harm. • an experience that is emotionally painful, distressful, or shocking, which can result in lasting emotional and physical effects. • EXAMPLES: • Child abuse and neglect • Serious accidental injury • Disasters/terrorism • Witnessing or experiencing violence (home, school or community) • Medical trauma (life-threatening illness)

3. Your school can have youth that… • have witnessed domestic violence • have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse • have been or are currently neglected • are homeless • have been physically or sexually assaulted • live in homes with family members with untreated mental illness or substance abuse • have been in a serious accident • have experienced disasters (e.g., tornado, house fire) • have parents or other family members serving overseas in the military • have parents in jail • have experienced the sudden death of a parent or sibling • have a life-threatening medical diagnosis

4. Adverse Childhood Experiences • ACE’s http://acestoohigh.com • Started as a look at connection between childhood experience and adult health • Collected between 1995 and 1997 • Survey sample =17,337 • Demographic Categories • Gender: • Female 54%  Male 46% • Race: • White 74.8%  Hispanic/Latino 11.2%  Asian/Pacific Islander 7.2%  African-American 4.6%  Other1.9% • Age (years): • 19-29 5.3%  30-39 9.8%  40-49 18.6%  50-59 19.9%  60 and over 46.4% • Education: • Not High School Graduate 7.2%  High School Graduate 17.6%  Some College 35.9%  College Graduate or Higher 39.3%

5. ACE’s Study looked at: • Abuse • Emotional Abuse Often or very often a parent or other adult in the household swore at you, insulted you, or put you down and sometimes, often or very often acted in a way that made you think that you might be physically hurt. • Physical Abuse Sometimes, often, or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at you or ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured. • Sexual Abuse An adult or person at least 5 years older ever touched or fondled you in a sexual way, or had you touch their body in a sexual way, or attempted or actually had intercourse with you. • Neglect • Emotional NeglectRespondents were asked whether their family made them feel special, loved, and if their family was a source of strength, support, and protection. Emotional neglect was defined using scale scores that represent moderate to extreme exposure on the Emotional Neglect subscale of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) short form. • Physical NeglectRespondents were asked whether there was enough to eat, if their parents drinking interfered with their care, if they ever wore dirty clothes, and if there was someone to take them to the doctor. Physical neglect was defined using scale scores that represent moderate to extreme exposure on the Physical Neglect subscale of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) short form constituted physical neglect. • Household Dysfunction • Mother Treated ViolentlyYour mother or stepmother was sometimes, often, or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her and/or sometimes often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard, or ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes or ever threatened or hurt by a knife or gun. • Household Substance AbuseLived with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic or lived with anyone who used street drugs. • Household Mental IllnessA household member was depressed or mentally ill or a household member attempted suicide. • Parental Separation or DivorceParents were ever separated or divorced. • Incarcerated Household MemberA household member went to prison.

6. What ACE Study found • ACE’s are COMMON. • Almost two-thirds of our study participants reported at least one ACE, and more than one of five reported three or more ACE. • The ACE Study uses the ACE Score, which is a count of the total number of ACE respondents reported. The ACE Score is used to assess the total amount of stress during childhood. As the number of ACE increase, the risk for the following health problems increases in a strong and graded fashion: • Alcoholism and alcohol abuse • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) • Depression • Fetal death • Health-related quality of life • Illicit drug use • Ischemic heart disease (IHD) • Liver disease • Risk for intimate partner violence • Multiple sexual partners • Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) • Smoking • Suicide attempts • Unintended pregnancies • Early initiation of smoking • Early initiation of sexual activity • Adolescent pregnancy

7. What we’ve learned so far… • What TRAUMA is • What TRAUMA RESPONSES we might see (And we know from other presentations that Trauma Responses come from real changes in the brain) • The prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences • How ACE’s can affect a person

8. What do we do NOW? We identify evidence-based programs and service for children that address or prevent trauma. We create environments that teach and HEAL. We invest in children. We work to help them repair the damage adverse childhood experiences cause. Together we build healthy children. We get to work… TOGETHER to heal.

9. Trauma adversely affects a student’s ability to … • Organize narrative material • Understand cause & effect • Take another person’s perspective • Attend to classroom instruction • Regulate emotions • Engage the curriculum • Utilize executive functions • Make plans • Organize work • Follow classroom rules • The Heart of Learning & Teaching Compassion, Resiliency & Academic Success (Wolpow et al, 2009)

10. What does this look like in the classroom? • Reactivity • Impulsivity • Aggression • Defiance • Withdrawal • Perfectionism • The Heart of Learning & Teaching Compassion, Resiliency & Academic Success (Wolpow et al, 2009)

11. Information on the effects of toxic stress/neglect on a development. http://developingchild.harvard.edu Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development Child Trauma AcademyBruce Perry

12. What is a Trauma Sensitive School? Creating a trauma-sensitive school is not about educators doing therapy. • Create a school culture/school climate • Safety • Trust • Choice • Collaboration • Educate all school staff (teachers, admin, pupil services professionals, cafeteria staff, bus drivers, etc.) about the prevalence and impact of trauma in the lives of children and families. • Bring an AWARENESS to the school. This can transform the school environment, influence school policy and change educational strategies.

13. What is WRONG with this child? What is HAPPENING with this child? • Disrespectful • Manipulative • Anger management problems • May have ADHD • Uncontrollable, destructive • Non-responsive • Attention Seeking • Uninformed response: Student needs consequences or medication • Child has maladaptive responses (in school setting) • Child has difficulty regulating emotions • Child is lacking necessary skills • Child has a negative view of world/adults (lacks trust) • Child has negative SELF VIEW • Child displayed a trauma response was triggered by something in our environment just now • Child is seeking to get needs met • Trauma-informed response: • Student needs to learn skills to regulate emotions & we need to provide education and support as they practice those skills Trauma Sensitive

14. CHANGE PERSPECTIVE Milwaukee Public School District

15. Trauma Sensitive Schools and RTI

16. Find great resources The Heart of Learning (Video) KEY POINTS Academic success is dependent on many factors both INSIDE and OUTSIDE the classroom “It’s hard to play chess in a hurricane” To ask kids to calculate math when they are trying to figure out where they will sleep tonight… To ask for perfect penmanship with a child’s life is a mess… Positive interactions Relationship and compassion in these relationships is KEY Compassionate strategies help students but also can be taught to the adults in their life as well • Compassionate Schools • The Heart of Learning: Compassion, Resiliency, and Academic Success is a handbook for teachers written and compiled by OSPI and Western Washington University staff. It contains valuable information that will be helpful to you on a daily basis as you work with students whose learning has been adversely impacted by trauma in their lives.

17. Best Advice: PRESENT MOMENT • Be PRESENT • Ask yourself what is going on? • Rule out allergies, sensory issues, giftedness • Observe (Be a detective or scientist) • Look for patterns (days of the week, times of the day, situations) that connect to behavior • Stay in the MOMENT • Observe the behavior and ask what is going on. • Instead of “WHY CAN’T YOU EVER SIT STILL” try “You seem restless today. What’s up?”

18. Trauma Sensitive Schools and Trauma Informed RESOURCES • Massachusetts Advocates for Children http://www.massadvocates.org • Washington State Compassionate Schools http://www.k12.wa.us/CompassionateSchools • National Child Traumatic Stress Network http://www.nctsnet.org • (TIC) Trauma-informed care is an approach to engaging people with histories of trauma that recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms & acknowledges the role that trauma has played in their lives. **School counselors should identify resources in their community that take a TIC approach to working with youth and families when referrals for services are made. • SAMHSA - http://www.samhsa.gov/nctic • http://www.darlahenry.org 3-5-7 Model • http://acesconnection.com Trauma-Informed Care Toolkits • How Schools Can Help Students Recover from Traumatic Experiences -- A Tool Kit for Supporting Long-Term Recovery http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/technical_reports/2006/RAND_TR413.pdf

19. Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI) • A collaboration of Massachusetts Advocates for Children and Harvard Law School • http://traumasensitiveschools.org/trauma-and-learning/

20. Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools to Improve Learning • http://sspw.dpi.wi.gov/sspw_mhtrauma • Strategies and Resources to Create a Trauma-Sensitive School • traumastrategies.pdf

21. Resources for Educators • Calmer Classrooms http://www.ccyp.vic.gov.au/childsafetycommissioner/downloads/calmer_classrooms.pdf • Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators http://www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/Child_Trauma_Toolkit_Final.pdf • Creating Sanctuary in the School http://www.sanctuaryweb.com/Documents/Sanctuary%20in%20the%20School.pdf • Helping Traumatized Children Learn http://www.massadvocates.org/download-book.php • The Heart of Learning & Teaching Compassion, Resiliency & Academic Success http://k12.wa.us/CompassionateSchools/HeartofLearning.aspx