Trauma-Informed Community Building (TICB) is a process that can prevent domestic abuse and intimate partner violence. Let’s take a closer look at what that meant to real people in a real community: Walla Walla, Washington.
A group of business, government and community partners calling itself the Children’s Resilience Initiative, created by Community Network Coordinator Teri Barila and a colleague, Dr. Mark Brown, set out to educate Walla Walla about the city’s needs related to Adverse Childhood Experiences (commonly known as ACEs) and to increase residents’ ability to adjust to challenges.
[To learn about ACES, read “What if we could wave a magic wand and keep kids from growing into violent adults?”]
At the time, ‘one out of four children lived in poverty, 65% of residents had no more than a high school degree, and gangs and drugs were common,’ as reported in the SAMHSA Spotlight, published by Health & Human Services (2017).
One of the initiative’s most startling successes occurred at Lincoln High School – a transformation so amazing it’s been made into a documentary. According to ACES Too High News:
“Lincoln was the first high school in the country to integrate trauma-informed and resilience-building practices, which resulted in an 85% decline in suspensions and a 40% decline in expulsions after the first year. After four years, suspensions had dropped 90%, expulsions dropped to zero and graduation rates increased five-fold.”
What drove such dramatic change?
Rather than focus on stopping and punishing challenging behaviors, teachers and administrators began helping students identify and control their own emotions and motivations.
The community also established a health center next to the school to ensure students were getting the physical and mental health care they needed.
Elsewhere in the community, many agencies changed their practices based on what they learned about ACEs and becoming trauma-informed, and a workshop developed for the business community helped employers calculate the cost of ignoring ACEs.
Are you trauma-informed?
Sheltering Wings is committed to helping communities, schools, groups and agencies learn about ACEs and how they can prevent violence. We have a number of training options available to fit your specific needs. For a one-on-one discussion, contact Melissa Echerd, Prevention and Education Officer, at (317) 386-5061.
Related posts: Fighting domestic violence isn’t enough, A step beyond values: Developing assets
