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Children & Families First trains Cape district staff on childhood trauma

March 30, 2018

The Cape Henlopen School District presented A Day of Hope March 9, a professional training on childhood trauma. The program helps middle school and high school employees learn how childhood trauma affects students, and how a trauma-informed approach helps adolescents build resilience and move toward thriving, self-sufficient adulthoods.

Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Julius Mullen and Development Officer Laura Rimmer of Children & Families First shared expertise on the brain science around adverse childhood experiences. They showed the documentary, “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope,” and discussed methods of in-school, trauma-informed care practices. “When we understand the lifelong impacts of childhood trauma, we can implement high-quality interventions that support the needs of all students,” said Rimmer.

Defined in the late 1990s by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ACES Study, adverse childhood experiences are abuse, neglect and household dysfunction which directly correlate to negative life outcomes such as diabetes, depression, asthma, heart disease, lowered educational achievement, unemployment and lower income potentials.

Current data from the National Centers on Child Health report 1 in 10 adolescents has an ACE score of 4 or higher, with the stress in home environments echoing in classrooms through disruptive behavior, social isolation, difficulty in focusing, poor decision-making skills and medical problems interfering with attendance. “Our goal is to empower you with an understanding of how negatively impacted brain architecture affects your classrooms, because aside from their parents, the next best asset our youth have is you, the educators,” said Mullen.

Recognizing it will take patience, practice and additional training to reframe traditional responses to student behaviors. Mullen assured attendees that even a foundational understanding of brain science holds the promise of far-reaching and long-lasting positive change. “The biggest gap is getting past an us-versus-them mentality; recognizing empathy does not excuse maladaptive behaviors,” he said. “Asking what happened to you, instead of what’s wrong with you, creates tremendous opportunity to change a child’s life and future potentials.”

“My hope is the staff not only better understand the problem our community is facing, but how working together strengthens us all,” said Rimmer.

Event organizer and school psychologist Dr. Eileen Baker shared feedback from a staff member who said, “This is exactly what teachers feel they needed right now.”

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