Collaborative Featured by Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) 

The Collaborative was honored to featured by MARC and the Health Federation of Philadelphia in its latest article, What's Next? Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative Deepens Efforts as Momentum Grows Across the State. Director Lara Altman was interviewed by Andee Hochman on the evolution of the Collaborative and how our efforts and connections have grown. Highlighting cross-sector collaboration and our commitment to leading a connected network of advocates, practitioners, and policymakers, this article was an exciting opportunity for the Collaborative to showcase how we are all working together across the state to promote a trauma-informed Illinois.

Trauma-Informed Awareness Day

May 15th is Illinois’ second annual Trauma-Informed Awareness Day. Established by Illinois House and Senate resolutions in 2019, Trauma-Informed Awareness Day recognizes the impact of childhood adversity and highlights the importance of prevention, community resilience, and trauma-informed care. In addition to establishing Trauma-Informed Awareness Day, the resolutions promote two other important strategies: 1) that policy decisions enacted by the state legislature should take into account early childhood brain development and the concepts of toxic stress, early adversity, and buffering relationships, and 2) that officers, agencies, and employees of the State of Illinois whose responsibilities impact children and adults should learn about ACEs, toxic stress, and structural violence, as well as about trauma-informed care practices that promote healing and resiliency.

Trauma-Informed Awareness Day comes at a critical time for us as we experience the collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this uncertain time, it is more important than ever to support each other and work together for a trauma-informed future. We hope you will join us in recognizing the day in the following ways:

• Connect with practitioners, advocates, and community members across the state via Twitter with the hashtag #TraumaInformedIL. We will be updating our Social Media Toolkit from 2019, so stay tuned for more information!
• Participate in our virtual, two-part training series on May 13th and May 15th. More details below!
• Join the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice’s National Trauma Campaign.
• Visit our website and see the many resources available. Our Trauma-Informed Policymaking Tool and Five How-Tos of Trauma-Informed Practice provide strategies you can use today to make policies and direct services more trauma-informed. We’ve also completed environmental scans and deep dives into policy. Our webinar archive hosts presentations from experts across the country on topics as wide ranging as trauma-informed policymaking with partners from Cabrini Green Legal Aid and VOYCE, to historical trauma and segregation stress syndrome with sociologist Ruth Thompson Miller.
• Share our resources with your communities. Feel free to forward this email and all of our resources on to others!
• Not in Illinois? Contact your state legislators and tell them you want them to work towards a Trauma-Informed Awareness Day in your state. Use the language in our resolution as an example.
• Let us know about your plans! Tell us how you are marking the day here.

Trauma-Informed Awareness Day Trainings

As part of Trauma-Informed Awareness Day on May 15th, the Collaborative is offering a two-part webinar series featuring our original trainings.

On Wednesday, May 13th at 11:00 AM CDT we will lead our Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care 101 presentation. This training includes an introduction to adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and trauma-informed practices, and it details how organizations in multiple sectors can integrate this knowledge for both staff and the communities they serve.

On Friday, May 15th at 11:00 AM CDT we will host our brand new Historical and Community Trauma: Connections to Current Outcomes training. This presentation provides an in-depth background on historical and collective trauma and how they impact health and social outcomes today.

Register here for Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care 101

Register here for Historical and Community Trauma: Connections to Current Outcomes

A Second Look: Policy Approaches to Creating Trauma-Informed Change: CTIPP's National Campaign and Other Opportunities for Advocacy in Illinois

On Tuesday, April 28th, the Collaborative was excited to feature a panel from the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP), a national multi-sector organization that informs and advocates for trauma-informed public and tribal policies and programs at the federal, state, and local levels. Speakers Jeff Hild, Jesse Kohler, Marlo Nash, and Dan Press discussed CTIPP’s efforts to recruit liaisons from all 435 national legislative districts to advocate with their Congressperson on trauma-informed policies and legislation—all part of their strategy to relay coordinated messaging and advocacy on a national stage. The audience also heard about opportunities to leverage federal funds to promote a trauma-informed response to the pandemic.

You can learn more and view this as well as other webinars on our webinar archive.

A Second Look: The Illinois ACEs Response
Collaborative Virtual Burnout Series

April also featured the third part in the Collaborative’s webinar series on preventing and treating burnout in healthcare professionals. This series has been a highlight of the first quarter of 2020, drawing together hundreds of learners to hear from local and national experts on how they can incorporate trauma-informed practices and policies to promote wellbeing among helping professions.

In January, Collaborative Director Lara Altman and Dr. Audrey Stillerman of the University of Illinois at Chicago provided an overview of the history and current definitions surrounding clinician burnout, as well as an introduction to multi-level strategies for prevention and intervention.

We then welcomed Dr. Linda Grabbe of Emory University and Elaine Miller-Karas of the Trauma Resource Institute to discuss their Community Resilience Model (CRM). The two discussed CRM’s practical application in a variety of settings, including a recently published study on the model’s efficacy in reducing burnout among hospital-based nurses.

In April, we were joined by certified yoga therapist and teacher Aggie Stuart to discuss how yoga and mindful meditation practices can be implemented throughout an organization to promote employee wellness and prevent burnout. In addition to discussing the potential benefits of yoga in the workplace, Ms. Stuart also provided the audience with practical examples of yoga and mindful meditation for an interactive experience.

View all three parts of our series on burnout on our webinar archive.

Policy Update

The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice is seeking dedicated advocates to join its National Trauma Campaign—a grassroots effort to educate and engage Congress to ultimately pass comprehensive federal trauma-informed legislation to create a trauma-informed nation. The National Trauma Campaign is designed to support local and state leaders in opening a line of regular communication with congressional offices to:

• Provide evidence on the science and research on childhood trauma
• Share information about trauma initiatives already taking place within congressional districts and states, and
• Partner to create policies and passable legislation that promote healthy and resilient communities.

Ways you can be involved:

• Sign up to be a member of the Campaign. It is open to any individual and any organization. Members of the Campaign receive tools and support and participate in the Campaign’s calls to action. The first call to action will be to urge U.S. Representatives to join the House Trauma-Informed Caucus. There will be a toolkit, talking points and instructions coming from the Campaign to support this ask.
• Check out the Campaign Background and Overview to learn why CTIPP is launching this Campaign.
• Take a leadership role by becoming a Local Liaison and taking a volunteer role with the Campaign. A Local Liaison is needed for each U.S. House and Senate office. You can apply today to become a Local Liaison.
• Join on social media @CTIPPorg

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