Creating%20Trauma%20Sensitive%20Schools

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Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools

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Acknowledgements

• These materials have been gathered created by a
  work group organized by the Wisconsin Department
  of Public Instruction. This group came together
  around a shared passion for helping to heal
  children who have been victims of trauma. These
  people shared their time expertise to
• support schools in their journey to become more
  aware of the impact that trauma has on learning,
  behavior development and
• foster school environments where all students can
  grow learn.
• Pamela Black, Kenosha Unified School District
• Paula Buege, Wisconsin Family Ties
• Sara Daniel, School Based Services - St.
  Aemilian-Lakeside, Inc.
• Nic Dibble, Wisconsin Department of Pubic
  Instruction
• Christine Dunning, University of
  Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Elizabeth Hudson, Wisconsin Department of Health
  Services
• Supported in part by a grant from
• the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

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Sources of Information

• Helping Traumatized Children Learn
• Massachusetts Advocates for Children 2005
  http//www.massadvocates.org/helping_traumatized_c
  hildren_learn
• The Heart of Learning Teaching Compassion,
  Resiliency Academic Success
• Wolpow, Ray Johnson, Mona M. Hertel, Ron
  Kincaid, Susan O. 2009 http//k12.wa.us/Compassio
  nateSchools/HeartofLearning.aspx
• Creating Sanctuary in Schools 1995
• Bloom, Sandra http//www.sanctuaryweb.com/Documen
  ts/Sanctuary20in20the20School.pdf
• Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network
  http//www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/Child_Tra
  uma_Toolkit_Final.pdf

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Overview

• Trauma defined
• Prevalence of trauma
• Impact of trauma
• Steps to creating trauma-sensitive schools
• Self care
• Next steps

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Trauma-Specific Therapy vs. Trauma-Sensitive
School

• Therapy

• School

• Licensed clinical mental health professionals
• Intervention occurs in therapists office in 11
  or group sessions
• Focus is on addressing trauma reactions
  reducing symptoms

• Licensed educators student services
  professionals with varied mental health training
• Sensitivity accommodations occur throughout the
  school
• Focus is on students educational success through
  emotional physical safety, empowerment, trust,
  choice, collaboration

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Trauma Defined

• Trauma exposure vs. trauma reaction
• Acute trauma - PTSD
• Complex/developmental trauma

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What about our school/district?

• Do we have students who .
• witness domestic violence?
• are physically, emotionally or sexually abused?
• are neglected?
• are homeless?
• have family members who are fighting overseas in
  Iraq or Afghanistan?
• have experienced a natural disaster (e.g.,
  tornado, house fire)?

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What about our school/district?

• Do we have students who .
• have been in a serious accident (e.g., car
  accident)?
• have been a victim of physical or sexual assault?
• have lost a loved one?
• live in homes with family members who abuse
  alcohol or other drugs?
• live in homes with family members with untreated
  mental illness?

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Prevalence Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
StudyCenters for Disease Control Prevention

• Household dysfunction
• Substance abuse 27
• Parental separation/divorce 23
• Mental illness 19
• Battered mother 13
• Incarcerated household member 5
• Abuse
• Psychological 11
• Physical 28
• Sexual 21
• Neglect
• Emotional 15
• Physical 10

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Health risks associated with ACEs

• Outcomes
• Autoimmune disorders
• Obesity eating disorders
• Substance use disorders
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Depression
• Fetal death
• Health-related quality of life
• Ischemic heart disease (IHD)
• Liver disease
• Risk for intimate partner violence
• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
• Unintended pregnancies

• Behaviors
• School Absenteeism tardies truancy
• Dysregulated eating (under overeating)
• Smoking
• Suicide attempts
• Illicit drug use substance abuse
• Multiple sexual partners
• Self-injurious behaviors (e.g., cutting)

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Impact of Trauma over the Life Span

• Effects of
• childhood
• adverse experiences
• neurological
• biological
• psychological
• social

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• Adverse Childhood Experiences
• (ACE) Study
• Summary of Findings
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are very
  common
• ACEs are strong predictors of health risks
  disease from adolescence to adulthood
• This combination of findings makes ACEs one of
  the leading, if not the leading determinant of
  the health social well-being of our nation

CDC
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ACE School Performance

• Traumatized children are
• 2.5x more likely to fail a grade in school
• score lower on standardized achievement tests
• have more struggles in receptive expressive
  language
• are suspended expelled more often
• more frequently placed in special education

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Impact of Trauma on the Child

• Cognitive/academic
• Physical
• Emotional
• Spiritual
• Developmental

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Impact on Relationships

• Relationships are developed through the emotional
  bond between the child primary caregiver. It is
  through this relationship we learn to
• Regulate emotions/self soothe
• Develop trust in others
• Freely explore our environment
• Understand ourselves others
• Understand that we can impact the world around us

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Impact on WorldviewTypical Development vs.
Developmental Trauma

• Basic mistrust of adults/inability to depend on
  others
• Belief that the world is an unsafe place/bad
  things will happen they are usually my fault
• Assumption that others will not like me
• Fear pessimism about future
• Feelings of hopelessness lack of control

• Nurturing stable attachments with adults
• Belief in a predictable benevolent world/
  generally good things will happen to me
• Feeling of positive self-worth /others will see
  my strengths
• Optimism about the future
• Feeling that I can have a positive impact on the
  world

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Impact on Learning

• Organizing narrative material
• Cause effect
• Taking another's perspective
• Attentiveness
• Regulating emotions
• Executive functioning
• Engaging in curriculum

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Impact on Classroom Behavior

• Reactivity impulsivity
• Aggression
• Defiance
• Withdrawal
• Perfectionism

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Impact on the Brain

• If there is danger, the thinking brain shuts
  down, allowing the doing brain to act
• Traumatized children experience changes in brain
  structures, neuro-chemistry genetic expression

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Trauma-Sensitive Schools

• Trauma-sensitive schools acknowledge the
  prevalence of traumatic occurrence in students
  lives create a flexible framework that provides
  universal supports, is sensitive to unique needs
  of students, is mindful of avoiding
• re-traumatization.

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Steps to Create a Trauma- Sensitive School

1. Engage leadership
2. Perform assessment
3. Review literature
4. Provide training
5. Implement classroom strategies

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Step 1 Engage Leadership

• Administrative direction commitment
• Priority for school improvement
• Necessary resources allocated
• Tie into existing related initiatives (e.g.,
  RtI/PBIS)

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Using Trauma-Sensitive Strategies to Improve
Learning A Response to Intervention (RtI) Model

• Tier 3/Targeted Strategies 1-5
• Intensive FBA BIP
• Wrap-around services
• Intensive case management
• IEPs/504 plans
• Parent caregiver training support

• 1-5 Tier 3/Targeted Descriptors
• Individual students
• Assessment-based
• Intense, durable procedures

• Tier 2/Selective Strategies 5-15
• BCT process
• Screening
• Monitoring, e.g., Check Connect
• Community referrals
• Parent caregiver education
• Classroom supports
• 504 plans/IEPs
• Brief FBA BIP
• Small group interventions
• Some individualizing

• 5-15 Tier 2/Selective Descriptors
• Some students (higher-risk)
• High efficiency
• Early detection
• Rapid response

• 80-90 Tier 1/Universal Descriptors
• All settings, all students, all staff
• Preventive, proactive
• Trauma-sensitive

• Tier 1/Universal Strategies 80-90
• School policies, culture climate
• Behavior management
• Instructional practices approaches
• Modeling
• Classroom consultation
• Comprehensive School Counseling Model

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Step 2 Assessment

• School culture
• School climate
• Strengths/needs
• Current programs strategies
• Gaps in services
• Policy procedures
• Resources

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Step 3 Review Literature Explore Model
Implementation

• Massachusetts Advocates of Children
  http//www.massadvocates.org/helping_traumatized_c
  hildren_learn
• Washington State The Heart of Learning and
  Teaching http//k12.wa.us/CompassionateSchools/Hea
  rtofLearning.aspx
• Creating Sanctuary in Schools by Sandra Bloom
  http//www.sanctuaryweb.com/Documents/Sanctuary20
  in20the20School.pdf
• Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
• http//www.nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/Child_Tr
  auma_Toolkit_Final.pdf
• Visit or consult with schools that are
  trauma-sensitive

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Step 4 Provide Staff Training

• Todays In-service
• Additional training to encourage
• Relationships that enhance learning
• Attention
• Affection
• Attunement
• Classroom strategies to establish
• Safety
• Empowerment
• Collaboration
• Choice
• Trust
• Understanding the dynamics of interpersonal,
  community historical violence

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Step 5 Classroom Strategies to establish SAFETY

• Clear consistent rules
• for managing behavior
• setting limits
• Accommodations to meet
• individual strengths needs
• Predictable structure, relationships,
  environment
• Reduce bullying harassment
• Use seclusion/restraint only as a last resort

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Step 5 Classroom Strategies to establish
EMPOWERMENT

• Embed mental health instruction into curriculum
  by teaching
• Coping skills
• Self-regulation skills
• Provide guided opportunities for meaningful
  participation
• Maintaining high behavioral academic
  expectations
• Build on strengths
• Build competency

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Step 5 Classroom Strategies to establish
COLLABORATION

• School Staff
• Building Consultation Team (BCT)
• Identify triggers (FBA)
• Classroom consultation
• Students
• Family
• Family education
• Family training support
• Community
• Community referrals
• Wrap around services
• Community partnerships

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Step 5 Classroom Strategies to establish CHOICE

• Adult works with student to create self-care plan
  to address triggers
• Identify triggers
• Eliminate trigger or create coping strategies to
  deal with triggers
• Collaborative Problem Solving (Lost at School -
  Greene, R.)
• Giving choices alternatives
• Comfort rooms
• Learn about lower brain interventions
• Sensory diets
• Safe acceptable expression of feelings

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Step 5 Classroom Strategies to establish TRUST

• Relationship with the educator based on
• Unconditional positive regard for all students
• Checking assumptions, observing questioning
• Being a relationship coach

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Self Care as an Ethical Obligation

• We cant teach what we dont know.
• We cant lead where we wont go.
• Malcolm X
• You cannot give away that
• which you do not have.
• Juli Alvarado
• Coaching For Life

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Progression of Burnout

• Compassion
• ?
• Empathy
• ?
• Vicarious/Secondary Trauma
• ?
• Compassion Fatigue
• ?
• Burnout

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Cycle of Compassion
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Next Steps

• What would we like to start doing?

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For more information on Creating Trauma-Sensitive
Schools

• Toolkit http//www.dpi.wi.gov/sspw/mhtrauma.html
• Contact
• Nic Dibble, Education Consultant, School Social
  Work Services
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
  nic.dibble_at_dpi.wi.gov
• Sara Daniel, School Based Services Coordinator at
  St. Aemilian-Lakeside, Inc. sdaniel_at_st-al.org
• Sara provides training consultation on
  trauma-sensitive schools direct service to
  children families to support success at school
• Christine Dunning University of
  Wisconsin-Milwaukee cdunning_at_uwm.edu
• Chris provides training, education
  consultation on trauma trauma-sensitive schools

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Credits

• Child Trauma Academy (Dr. Bruce Perry),
  http//childtrauma.org
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network,
  http//www.nctsnet.org
• National Center for Trauma Informed Care,
  http//mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/nctic/
• The Emotional Brain, J LeDoux
• Affective Neuroscience The Foundation of Human
  and Animal Emotions, J.P. Panksepp
• Bessel van der Kolk, http//www.traumacenter.org
• Juli Alvarado, http//www.coaching-forlife.com/
• Dr. Robert Anda, CDC (ACE Study)
• Helping Traumatized Children Learn, Massachusetts
  Advocates for Children 2005
• Understanding Traumatic Stress in Children Bassuk
  M.D., Ellen L. Konnath LICSW, Kristina, Volk
  MA., Katherine T.
• The Heart of Learning and Teaching Compassion,
  Resiliency Academic Success Wolpow, Ray
  Johnson, Mona M. Hertel, Ron Kincaid, Susan O.
  2009