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The Education Committee of the District of Columbia City Council will have a hearing on June 23 on trauma-informed schools (for the roundtable notice and witness list, see “Related Materials&rdquo. While there has probably been testimony about the need for trauma-informed schools, we are not aware of other city councils taking such a specific initiative to address the need for schools in their community to become trauma-informed. If your city council or county government has held a specific hearing or considered legislation on trauma-informed schools, please add a comment to this post. 

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Hey Elizabeth - I know it is too late to meet your deadline but thought I would respond for future reference anyway.First let me say I am excited to hear that you are starting discussions at the city level. 

 

We are just starting conversations here in Orange County and San Diego Counties in California. We are using my new book 8 Ways to Create their Fate: Protecting the Sexual Innocence of Children in Youth-Serving Organizations as the basis of discussion. The book is designed to help organizations who serve youth (i.e. schools, faith, sports, etc.) understand the impact of child sexual abuse and their role in preventing abuse within and through their programs. It might be valuable for you to read and share as it provides a step-by-step action plan for schools to address the issue of abuse including awareness, abuse by staff, abuse by other students, how to recognize the signs of abuse, and how to respond appropriately. 

 

Best of luck on your initiative and I look forward to hearing more about your success!

 

Diane

Yes, Whatcom County government (in Washington State) has codified a "one-tenth of one percent" of all sales tax for the county to go toward mental/behavioral health efforts specifically in county public school systems. This effort has resulted in a tremendous (and stable) funding source for districts throughout the Whatcom County region to apply the funds in accordance with best-practices and under the approval of the Whatcom County Health Department. An example of these efforts can be found in the Board agenda a few years back, located here: http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/Ag...292013-648?html=true

 

I have personally shared/testified at the Whatcom County Board meeting in the past as a district representative re: our outcomes/data that we track. We focused on a number of items pertaining to implementation of Washington's "Creating Compassionate Schools Initiative." It is referenced in the Board agenda (at the link above).

 

On the basis of my work as a district-level administrator in WA and connected to this work with multiple agencies in a systems of care model, I developed an online college accredited course called "Creating Compassionate Schools" which is available nationally through a number of universities (Humboldt State (CA), Seattle Pacific University (WA), Aurora University (IL), etc). It is also available in large districts such as New York City and LAUSD. It's also available just about everywhere in between!  

 

If you have any interest in connecting further on my own work, or those here in Whatcom County - feel free to say so here, reach out via dialogue box, or contact me directly (stevendahl641@gmail.com). 

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Elizabeth, you may find that school districts in northern New England are by town/city, rather than county or city-in "urban" areas. Some New York state school districts may serve all or part of multiple townships. I'm not certain how all charter schools are governed/accountable. The National Association of Counties may have a guide to the larger portion of the nation where school districts coincide with county boundaries.

Elizabeth,

As you may know, the Montgomery County Public School system (serving over 150,000 children and one of the largest systems in the US) does NOT recognize the need for trauma-informed schools!  Despite the widening achievement gap, despite the increase in FARMS students, despite the increase for ELL students, despite the increase in children from a wide variety of ethnicities and cultures, there is no awareness of what children here really need:  take the focus off of gifted and talented, and preparing kinders to be college-ready and focus on the emotional needs of every student in such a way that creates a nurturing environment.  Nope.  We have a very highly educated population, but apparently not many emotionally intelligent leaders to make certain what children really need gets addressed.

 

Brenda Gregory Yuen

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