The Building Trauma-Informed Systems of Care for Children in Ohio article published in January of 2014 describes the effects of childhood trauma. It begins by telling the story of 10 year old, Ray, a responsible young boy who takes care of his younger siblings. One day, police show up at his door to inform him that his mother was shot and killed. The next few days Ray is acting out in school and getting into fights. The school's response- suspension. With the extra free time, Ray joins a gang and as the story normally goes, he gets into trouble and ends up in the juvenile detention facility and later reoffends as an adult and never finishes high school.
The article discusses adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as the trauma Ray experienced, and demonstrates how these experiences influence health and well-being. ACEs lead to disrupted neurodevelopment, to social, emotional, and cognitive impairments, to adoption of health-risk behaviors, causing disease, disability, and social problems, which can lead to early death (Pyramid on Page 3). The article also shows a picture of a healthy child's brain compared to a child's brain on trauma and there are very noticeable differences. Not only do ACEs like trauma affect the individual, they also create economic costs. An estimated $80 billion is spent on direct costs of hospitalization, law enforcement, and child welfare, with indirect costs on special education, juvenile and adult criminal justice, homelessness, and lost work productivity.
Trauma-informed care can help identify these problems before they get worse. For example, in Cleveland Metropolitan School District, they have created the Humanware Program in which in-school suspensions are replaced by instructional planning centers where the children are helped "cool down" and think of positive responses to problems. In 6 years, the number of out-of-school suspensions has decreased by 58.8%!
The steps of trauma-informed care are identifying and screening, assessment, and treatment. Once a child is identified as having trauma, they can then be referred to a trained clinician for assessment and treatment. Some initiatives have already begun in Ohio to start this process. ODYS received a grant from the Ohio Attorney General for the use of a trauma screening tool and training for all detention staff. As mentioned before, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has created the Humanware Program, and Cincinnati Public Schools have created the Community Learning Center that links them with outside agencies including counseling and after-school programs that provide trauma-informed care.
Without taking trauma into account, we are not only re-traumatizing the children, but we are also limiting their achievement levels and increasing the burden on the economy/society. I think it is great that there is now evidence to show that trauma-informed care is more beneficial when it comes to children, as well as some adults. Of course, the earlier the treatment, the better the outcomes!
I am so excited about the program in Cleveland. I think too often systems involving children, like education, take the position that trauma is not relevant to the child's experience in their system or that it is not their job to address trauma. However, as you mentioned, this just re-traumatizes our kids and stunts their growth - physically, personally, and academically.
ReplyDeleteIt is encouraging to see how this mindset is changing, especially in public schools. I am interested to see if this begins to impact their State School Report Cards as students are better able to engage in learning.
I agree with the idea that trauma needs to be considered and taken into account earlier. So many people believe that young kids won't remember or it won't affect them to see or experience traumatic events, which we know to be false. I think that instituting these programs within school districts is a great idea. I have always wondered what good suspending someone actually does to help prevent them from repeating these behaviors again. Instructional planning centers to help the children think of alternative solutions that are positive is a way to not only help make schools safer but also prevent further issues such as involvement with the juvenile justice system.
ReplyDelete