Hi Lee, Thanks for replying.
I work in a school that has implemented trauma-informed practices. But it has been a real struggle. Trauma-informed practices when delivered to one student at a time, via the school counselors, dean of students, social workers, etc., seem to be working for us fairly well. However, at the school wide level, we have not been as successful. We aren't giving up - ever - but I am hoping to hear some ideas how other schools are doing this. The biggest challenge, based on conversations with the teachers, is simply the scale of numbers. 100% of our students have experienced significant trauma and most are still living in highly stressful (chronic stress) situations.
We have a ratio of about 1 staff for each 12 or 13 students. But once you subtract the one to one support staff (counselors, social workers, homeless support staff, etc.) the reality is that we have about 1 staff for every 22 students. When all 22 (or the majority) of those students are "struggling" it can be overwhelming. By the end of this past school year, the staff were exhausted. Our staff attrition levels hit an all time high, over 15% at the end of the 2013-2014 school year. We are usually at about 5% per year. In addition, the staff who chose to leave were the staff who were not providing one to one services, but rather the staff who were teaching, advising, etc - the ones who were in the trenches, as they say, working with the larger student body.
So,while I feel like we made a lot of progress, we did so at a cost - not financial, but in staff retention - which obviously impacts our ability to create a safe and supportive environment with our students. With such a larger turn over, the new staff joining us are going to have start back at square one, building relationships with our students.
Any thoughts, ideas, recommendations, etc., on implementation techniques that reduce the burn out level for the team, would be greatly appreciated.
Leisa