Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma

Thriving Minds has partnered with the Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma to offer a year-long coaching cohort for districts to support the use of trauma-responsive practices for school mental health. As a part of the Trauma-Responsive Coaching Cohort, districts will be paired with experienced coaches who will work alongside teams to develop a trauma-responsive action plan that includes specific benchmarks and milestones for implementation. Districts will receive guidance from coaches on the use of the Trauma Responsive Schools Implementation Assessment (TRS-IA), School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation System (SHAPE) system, and universal screening. Coaches will meet regularly with staff during the year to offer support, monitor progress, and provide tailored recommendations as teams carry out action plans. This Coaching Cohort is best suited for districts or schools with strong leadership buy-in for this work and a dedicated team able to apply what they learn.
Applications are due Wednesday, November 15th at 5 pm. Apply here: https://bit.ly/49rq6nw

The Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma is launching three new toolkits designed for healthcare providers, educators, and community-based organizations to use for professional development.
These toolkits were developed in partnership with an advisory group of Le***an, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Q***r, Two Spirit, Intersex, Asexual, and Other Identities (LGBTQ2IA+) youth from across the country.
Check out toolkits for:
* Community-based organizations: https://bit.ly/3CQo9C1
* Educators: https://bit.ly/3NOTjQA
* Healthcare providers: https://bit.ly/3rcPKuo

Join us for our June CCWT Speaker Series event! Live Zoom Webinar + Discussion
Monday, June 26th, 2023 from 1-2 PM ET
Register here: tinyurl.com/2w568996
Join us for a discussion with the contributors to the newly published book, Deconstructing the Fitness-Industrial Complex: How to Resist, Disrupt, and Reclaim What it Means to Be Fit in American Culture. The authors explore their diverse experiences as trainers, educators, and movement instructors who hold BIPOC, trans, q***r, fat, neurodiverse, and other identities within wellness.

Join us for our next CCWT Speaker Series event! Live Zoom Webinar + Discussion
Tuesday, May 2nd , 2023 from 12-1 PM ET
Register here: bit.ly/3FKk2JA
Join us to learn how Emily helps educators promote trauma-informed and responsive practices in their classrooms through her program, The Regulated Classroom, a framework that promotes felt safety and co-regulation for students, teachers, and staff. It was recently adopted by The New Hampshire Department of Education, providing 2,500 toolkits across the state. These tools can be applied across sectors and are useful to humans of any age.

Join us on April 10 at 2:00pm ET to hear from CCWT’s Executive Director Audrey Smolkin and others talk about actionable steps you can take to make your organization more trauma-responsive. http://bit.ly/3M1EcTt
Building a trauma-responsive organization can serve as the backbone to providing compassionate, collaborative programming for clients, and supporting a happy, healthy, and resilient workforce, and the journey to becoming trauma-responsive starts with all of us: direct care providers, support staff, program and executive leadership, program designers, and policymakers.

Join us for our March CCWT Speaker Series Event!
Tuesday, March 21st, 2023
12:00-1:00 PM ET
Register Here: bit.ly/3ZsqAnJ
Registrants will receive online access to view this film at the time of their choice during the window of March 18-20.

Join us to feel inspired about trauma-informed transformations in schools and the positive impact these changes make on the lives of students and communities. Learn about Jim Sporleder’s journey putting this into practice and help us dream up what’s possible in for future of our schools and students.

Placing a high priority on supportive and mentoring relationships and helping children build healthy connections with peers is a constant endeavor for child-serving organizations and professionals, but winter and the effects of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in some children and teens can make this priority even more important. The “winter blues” can impact children and adolescents who have or are experiencing trauma, so introducing engaging and meaningful activities can bring huge benefits – and not only for them. Child-serving professionals can also banish the winter blues through ideas offered in the latest blog from The Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma: http://bit.ly/3kCuZWm

While seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can affect all children, studies have found it disproportionately impacts adolescent girls. This time of year, children and teens who have or are experiencing trauma may find it harder to focus and function during the day, as SAD’s “winter blues” can intensify symptoms of depression and anxiety. In our latest blog, The Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma offers guidance to child-serving organizations and professionals about fostering positive experiences that infuse fun, release stress, spread compassion and build resilience during the darker winter months: http://bit.ly/3kCuZWm

During the shorter, drearier days of winter, seasonal affective disorder – SAD, or the “winter blues” – can affect children and teens who have or are experiencing trauma. They may feel heightened symptoms of depression and anxiety, impacts on sleep habits, and decreased energy levels and focus. Child-serving organizations and professionals can ensure that their trauma-informed and responsive approach to supporting children will stand up to winter’s tests by offering activities that strengthen relationships and engagement, described in the latest blog from The Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma: http://bit.ly/3kCuZWm

The Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma (CCWT) is a partnership between Massachusetts’ Office of the Child Advocate and ForHealth Consulting™ at UMass Chan Medical School. CCWT supports child-serving organizations and systems in becoming trauma-informed and responsive through trainings, technical assistance, communities of practice, and coaching. Audrey Smolkin, MPP, Executive Director, and Alison Cebulla, MPH, Associate Director of Curriculum Development and Training, will describe their innovative organization and services that were launched in 2021.
http://bit.ly/3IQZkKb

Join our General Info Session on March 1, 2023, at 10:00 AM. This meeting is designed to provide an overview of CCWT workstreams (Information & Resources, Professional Learning Communities and Trauma-Information Organizational Assessment & Coaching). http://bit.ly/3S2ClOX

Join us for our February CCWT Speaker Series event - "Historical Trauma in America with Ingrid Cockhren, CEO, PACEs Connection "

Thursday, February 16th, 2023, from 12-1 PM ET rb.gy/kpsvgy

Join us to hear how historical trauma impacts American society, including the socio-political landscape of today as well as the health of Americans. Ingrid will show us the links between historical trauma and the current mental health crisis, social determinants of health, and the disparities and inequities present in our communities today.
Ingrid Cockhren, CEO of PACEs Connection , has dedicated her professional life to investigating and educating the public about the link between early trauma, early adversity, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), positive childhood experiences and the consequences that across the lifespan. Specializing in creating equitable and inclusive environments within organizations, collective impacts and grassroot movements, Cockhren uses her knowledge of stress, trauma, historical trauma, human development, and psychology to translate research concerning diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) and trauma-informed practices into community, workplace, and organizational solutions. Cockhren’s experience includes juvenile justice, family counseling, early childhood education, professional development, consulting, and community education. She is currently an adjunct professor specializing in Black psychology, developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, and personality theory at Tennessee State University.

Join us for our inaugural Speaker Series event with the Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma!

Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 from 12-1pm ET https://bit.ly/3CEMvPq

Learn about Elaine’s Community Resiliency Model to prevent and heal trauma, supporting our mission to build safe, trusting, engaged, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and healthy communities where children and families thrive.

Elaine Miller-Karas is the Co-Founder and Director of Innovation of the Trauma Resource Institute and author of the book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models (2015). She has worked internationally to bring healing to the world’s community. Her models to date have been brought to 75 countries in Asia, Africa, North America, Australia, the Mid-East, South America, and Europe. Ms. Miller-Karas is a recognized international speaker and author and has presented the Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® at the Skoll World Forum and the United Nations. Her book was selected by the United Nations curated online library as one of the innovations that can help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She also launched her successful radio show, Resiliency Within, on VoiceAmerica in 2021.

Join our Congregate Care Info Session on Feb 22, 2023, at 10:00 AM. This meeting is designed to provide an overview on how the Center can partner with your congregate care site to implement a free trauma-informed organizational assessment and framework.

The Center will use the Trauma-Informed Organizational Assessment (TIOA) tool from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Depending on individual congregate care site needs, after the initial assessment is completed, the training and coaching process can involve about 15-20 hours spread over several months to best accommodate the organization’s needs. Recommendations and guidance from the process will help your site identify, implement, and sustain trauma-informed practices.
Learn more: http://bit.ly/3XZcOIz

Join us for our inaugural Speaker Series event with the Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma!

Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 from 12-1pm ET https://bit.ly/3CEMvPq

Learn about Elaine’s Community Resiliency Model to prevent and heal trauma, supporting our mission to build safe, trusting, engaged, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and healthy communities where children and families thrive.
Elaine Miller-Karas is the Co-Founder and Director of Innovation of the Trauma Resource Institute and author of the book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models (2015). She has worked internationally to bring healing to the world’s community. Her models to date have been brought to 75 countries in Asia, Africa, North America, Australia, the Mid-East, South America, and Europe. Ms. Miller-Karas is a recognized international speaker and author and has presented the Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® at the Skoll World Forum and the United Nations. Her book was selected by the United Nations curated online library as one of the innovations that can help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She also launched her successful radio show, Resiliency Within, on VoiceAmerica in 2021.

Are you an educator in Massachusetts? Join the second session in series of learning sessions on trauma-responsive practices on January 18th at 2:30 pm. Register here: https://bit.ly/3VMWTvg

The holidays can be a stressful time for anyone, but for children who have or are experiencing trauma, this time of year can be especially challenging. Anxiety, fear, and grief can be heightened, causing children to undergo behavioral changes, including isolation, loss of appetite, and irritability. Toddlers may regress. Teenagers may use more alcohol and other substances. In the latest blog from The Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma, we examine the holiday triggers of traumas and offer helpful actions child-serving organizations and professionals can take to lessen the emotional distress associated with the season: https://bit.ly/3WpwG6y

Join our General Info Session on Jan 4, 2023, at 10:00 AM. This meeting is designed to provide an overview of CCWT workstreams (Information & Resources, Professional Learning Communities and Trauma-Information Organizational Assessment & Coaching). https://bit.ly/3evVw3W

While the end of the year can be a joyous season of celebration for some, it can be a particularly difficult time for children who have or are experiencing trauma. The holiday sights and sounds, as well as the social pressure and messaging focused on happy family time can be a source of distress for children who have lost loved ones or have family members that have caused them trauma. The Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma offers guidance to child-serving organizations and professionals on how to recognize signs of trauma and support children through trauma-informed and responsive practices this holiday season. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3WpwG6y

The holidays are here. For some it’s a season synonymous with joy and celebration, but for children who have or are experiencing trauma, it can be a particularly challenging time. While the flurry of festivities offers opportunities to connect with loved ones, hectic schedules, shifting routines, and family interactions can also stir up painful memories and feelings of anxiety, depression, and grief in children. Being able to identify and address holiday stressors through trauma-informed and responsive practices can allow for more enjoyable season. Child-serving organizations and professionals can learn about signs of trauma and effective coping techniques in our latest blog: https://bit.ly/3WpwG6y

Are you an educator in Massachusetts? Join the first session in series of learning sessions on trauma-responsive practices on December 14th at 2:30 pm. Register here: https://bit.ly/3VPeFic

The Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma is excited to announce we will be partnering with Thriving Minds to provide professional development opportunities for educators within Massachusetts on Trauma Responsive Practices for School Mental Health. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3UG0URW

Interested in becoming skilled in creating collaborative, community-based initiatives to respond to the impacts of trauma and promote resilience? Applications to participate in our Coaching Academy on Resilience & Trauma are due November 18th. https://bit.ly/3UzLcIH

Join our General Info Session on Nov 2, 2022 at 10:00 AM. This meeting is designed to provide an overview of CCWT workstreams (Information & Resources, Professional Learning Communities and Trauma-Information Organizational Assessment & Coaching). https://bit.ly/3evVw3W

Learn about long-term consequences for a child witnessing domestic violence in our most recent blog.
Many who witness domestic violence continue to experience it in some form as adults – either as victims or perpetrators. These children also tend to experience physical and behavioral health problems as adults, such as depression, anxiety, diabetes, and heart disease.
The Center on Child Wellbeing & Trauma offers guidance to adults working with children and youth on how to offer and responsive care in all aspects of their day-to-day practices, including helping professionals address the effects of domestic violence on children and families. https://bit.ly/3yQBWH1

Join us Oct 26 at 1:30pm to learn about our Coaching Academy on Resilience & Trauma! This academy will equip community teams with tools, , and technical assistance to respond to the impacts of and promote for and . https://bit.ly/3CKl5XI