TRAUMA-INFORMED PRINCIPLES
SAMHSA’s trauma-informed principles will serve as a project guide, as our organization prioritizes the principles of safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support and mutual self-help, and empowerment, voice, and choice (SAMHSA, 2014).
The principle of safety is upheld by ensuring that our staff pass a mandatory background check and are adequately trained in trauma, resilience-building skills, and confidentiality. Programs will take place within local community locations (ie. libraries, schools, town hall, etc.) where most of our participants will be familiar with to ensure that they feel physically and psychologically safe.
The principle of trustworthiness and transparency is implemented by consistently including neighboring organizations, family, caregivers, stakeholders in the conversation whether that be contributing to operations and decision-making. Before the start of the intervention and programs, any minors under the age of 18 will be required to have parental consent which includes a comprehensive pamphlet describing our mission and potential project.
The principle of peer support and mutual self-help will be upheld by fostering community relationships through educational seminars and outreach. Interns will craft engaging and interactive curricula that allow students to interact with one another.
The principle of empowerment, voice, and choice will be incorporated into the program to strengthen the experience of making an autonomous choice, thus empowering the individual to use their voice as they choose which in turn can empower other people. The clients are involved in decision making and goal setting to support their self-advocacy skills (SAMHSA, 2014). This will be executed by actively including the community members in crafting the layout of interventions, interviews, program activities, and participant recruitment. Overall, the community members are encouraged and invited to contribute equal parts of the program with our organization’s support.
PUBLIC HEALTH FRAMEWORK
This project will incorporate a multidisciplinary approach, utilizing a public health framework to have a wild-scale impact on prevention and building resilience within the Alachua county community rather than implementing a disease-centric model. According to volume one of the Trauma-Informed Philanthropy guide, our project will be focusing on primary and secondary levels of prevention (Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, 2016).
This program seeks primary prevention of trauma to try to prevent early on-set PTSD and prevent any detrimental symptoms with a systems-level approach (Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, 2016). For example, parents and caregivers will be given access to pieces of training to give them a better understanding of trauma and to educate them about the impact of ACEs. Our program will also implement a curriculum crafted by our interns on healthy relationships, trauma, mental health, and healthy coping skills. Our project will also aim to implement secondary prevention tactics which would reduce the impact and severity of PTSD once it has already occurred. The Alachua County school board, interns, CHEs, and stakeholders will be able to conduct ACE screenings so they can connect students to any necessary mental health care and social workers.
LEVEL(S) OF SOCIOECOLOGICAL MODEL
For this project, we will utilize the CDC’s Social-Ecological Model as the public health framework (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). On the individual level, students will be participating in weekly lesson plans that build resilience within their classrooms. There are also additional trauma-informed seminars for key stakeholders (caregivers, parents, school board members, etc.). Therefore, the individuals in the community will learn more about PTSD and how to take care of children who have experienced one ACE or more. Ultimately, empowering children to make lifestyle improvements to help mitigate their PTSD symptoms or prevent them altogether.
This empowerment moves beyond the individual and enhances our connections within the relationship level in the social-ecological model. As teachers, parents, and caregivers learn better ways to teach children age-appropriate coping mechanisms and healthy communication skills, it will deepen their relationships with one another. When these stakeholders begin to model the skills taught in the seminars, these children will be able to process their emotions in a healthier manner, succeed in schools, and have rewarding relationships.
When addressing the community component of the program, participants and stakeholders will be given the opportunity to work with other members within the community through local resource centers. These excursions will connect these individuals to the various resources within Alachua county to provide them with free opportunities to build connections with one another. Overall, giving children and stakeholders the potential to develop more social ties, strengthen their connections, and expand upon their social networks.
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