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Dear Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative Members,
We have had an exciting month at the Collaborative with the launch of our statewide Working Group to Address Childhood Adversity in Illinois. Working to prevent childhood adversity has always been critical; in the middle of both the global pandemic and the national movement to address racism and police brutality, now is an even more urgent time to create a plan for Illinois to heal and thrive. We look forward to engaging all of our Collaborative members in this process, and you can find more details below.
This newsletter is my final one in the role of Collaborative Director. I have truly loved this role and this work, and I consider myself lucky to have collaborated with such an incredible and committed network of folks who address individual, community, and structural trauma every day. As I continue to work within the field of childhood adversity, I am confident that our paths will cross again as we all work towards a more trauma-informed and equitable state. Please do stay in touch.
With deep gratitude for your partnership,
Lara Altman, MPH, MSW
Director, Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative
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Statewide Working Group to Address
Childhood Adversity in Illinois
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On July 22nd, the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative launched the Working Group to Address Childhood Adversity in Illinois, a statewide group of leaders committed to preventing and healing from trauma. In 2019, the Illinois House and Senate adopted resolutions that established Trauma-Informed Awareness Day. These resolutions also called for the state to: 1) incorporate the science of early childhood brain development and toxic stress into policymaking and 2) work to make state agencies that interact with children and adults more trauma-informed. The Collaborative will lead the Working Group through a strategic planning process to follow up on these resolutions, with the ultimate goal of creating an Action Plan to Address Childhood Adversity in Illinois that allows communities across the state to heal and thrive.
The launch meeting included presentations from Collaborative Director, Lara Altman, on the origins and context of the Working Group; Equity intern, Mary Cleary, presented an overview of other states’ initiatives working to address trauma; and Senior Policy Analyst, Madison Hammett, presented a recently published policy scan of state-level trauma-informed legislation from across the US. Following the brief presentations, the group divided into discussion sections to begin brainstorming core values and prioritizing approaches for the Action Plan. The Working Group discussed potential solutions including how to frame trauma as a policy priority, how to best address it on a systems level, and how to develop a road map for how Illinois can become a trauma-informed state.
The Working Group will continue to meet in the coming months to develop the Action Plan, and the Collaborative will seek input from our broad network to ensure we develop a representative and holistic approach for our state.
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Supporting Police-Free Schools
As part of our continued commitment to a trauma-informed city and state, the Collaborative is compelled to speak out about the presence of police in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and in all schools across our state through the use of School Resource Officers (SROs). Together with organizations like Assata’s Daughters, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Brave Space Alliance, Community Organizing and Family Issues, Good Kids Mad City, No Cop Academy, SOUL Chicago, and VOYCE, we demand racial justice and safety for all Black and Latino CPS students, and Chicagoans of all ages. This vision can only be achieved through the removal of police from schools, and investment in healing-centered and trauma-informed services.
To learn more about why we support police-free schools, and why we feel that funds should be diverted to trauma-informed, healing centered programming, read our blog post here.
The Collaborative was also excited to host physicians Drs. Meredithe McNamara and Margaret Russell, as well as VOYCE Youth Activists Derrianna Ford and Ruby Ramirez for “Cross-Sector Collaboration for Police-Free Schools” as part of our regular webinar series. Drs. McNamara and Russell included a review of school-based policing in the United States, associated harms on learning and development, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Ford and Ramirez discussed VOYCE’s youth-led, physician, and community-supported efforts to advocate for removal of SROs from CPS, as well as successes like the recently passed SB 100.
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Watch "Cross-Sector Collaboration for Police-Free Schools" here!
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National Trauma Campaign Works to Ensure Trauma-Informed COVID-19 Relief
The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policies and Practices (CTIPP) continues to advocate for trauma-informed policies on the federal level with Congress, including within the second COVID-19 stimulus package titled CARES ACT II. At the time of this newsletter, CARES ACT II has not yet been finalized, but CTIPP remains committed to trauma-informed policies within COVID-19 relief, such as mental healthcare provisions for children unable to attend school, support for frontline workers, and relief for those affected by additional traumatic stressors like eviction and job loss. To find out more about CTIPP’s National Trauma Campaign and how you can become involved in federal trauma-informed policymaking, visit their website.
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“Tools for Transformation: Becoming Accessible, Culturally Responsive, and Trauma-Informed Organizations” by Carole Warshaw, MD, Erin Tinnon, MSW, LSW, and Cathy Cave, National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health
Sunday, July 26th marked the 30th Anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). As more and more organizations move towards becoming trauma-informed and providing their employees with a safer, more supportive working environment, it is also imperative to remember this includes making space for disabled workers. To that end, the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma, and Mental Health has created this toolkit to assist organizations in integrating accessible practices into their trauma-informed transformation. We encourage organizations and individuals alike to advocate and ensure that trauma-informed workplaces are accessible to all.
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“Finally Recognizing Secondary Trauma as a Primary Issue” by Sam Dubberley, Columbia Journalism Review
While much attention has been paid to the secondary and vicarious trauma experienced by first responders and other public-facing professionals in healthcare, social services, and education, there has been less response for those who are covering this trauma for the media. In this article for the Columbia Journalism Review, writer Sam Dubberley highlights the severe traumatic stress experienced by media workers, like those who monitor Facebook for pieces that cover war, crime, and abuse, and how mapping experiences with trauma has revealed a widespread issue across media organizations. The piece notes that while some newsrooms and media companies have taken steps to include training on trauma and promote self-care, there is still much to be done to care for the mental health of those who are responsible for bringing information, particularly hard-hitting and difficult information, to the public at large.
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“Nurses are Struggling with Trauma. But They Were Suffering Long Before Covid-19 Hit” by Karen J. Foil, CNN
In this piece for CNN, author Karen J. Foil discusses her work on studying traumatic stress in nurses and how COVID-19 has exacerbated those symptoms in nurses across the globe. While acknowledging that “some traumas may be unavoidable” due to the nature of nursing and taking care of patients, Foil also argues that a lack of resources—for both patient care and employee wellness—has compounded and even created trauma in nurses. In addition to her call for trauma-informed policies and practices from administrators, Foil also says that nurses’ sovereignty and unique placement in patient care must be addressed and targeted in the wake of trauma. Only then, she argues, will the trauma of COVID-19 and other workplace harms be addressed in nursing.
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Donate to the Collaborative and Health & Medicine to ensure issues of trauma and toxic stress remain central to our response to this pandemic and in the future.
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