Becky Haas firmly believes the majority of poor decisions that lead to jail time derive from a traumatic life event.

While certainly not an excuse to commit a crime or become a drug addict, the Targeted Community Crime Reduction Project director knows every situation is unique.

Haas is an advocate for trauma-informed care services, which includes understanding and supporting certain people who’ve dealt with traumatic situations in their life, and sometimes making an assumption that something traumatic has happened to someone.

“According to the National Center for Trauma Informed Care, one of the most important messages is to remind them that whatever it was that happened to them wasn’t their fault,” Haas said. “We don’t get to pick where we start in life, but we can do something about how we finish it.”

To continue reading this article by Zach Vance, please go to Groups build coalition to help people impacted by trauma in Johnson City area [JohnsonCityPress.com - June 29, 2016]