Trauma and Poverty Informed Services

Trauma & Poverty Informed Leading and Learning

Neuroscience teaches us that the brain is plastic – that it can and does change for the better, or for worse. The specialists at Thriving Leaders Collaborative, LLC bring DEFINITE HOPE to educators, their students, and their school communities. Regardless of past social and emotional challenges, toxic stressors, cognitive developmental lags and other adversities, children suffering from the effects of trauma and/or poverty CAN LEARN. Informed and equipped with the latest understanding of how the brain learns best, our specialists will redirect deficit patchwork approaches and deliberately support our students’ education by teaching educators and caregivers how to apply a Strengths-Based Mindset that will change their brains for the better. No matter where we start with them, educators can learn how to build on the resiliency of their students and that of their families resulting in changed life outcomes.

In A Nationally Representative Survey, 12-17 year olds…
Reported a lifetime prevalence of sexual assault
8%
Reported physical assault
17%
Reported witnessing violence
39%
In one survey among 536 elementary and middle school children in an inner city community…
Had witnessed a stabbing
30%
Had witness a shooting
26%
In a survey of urban middle and junior high school students…
Reported witnessing a stabbing or shooting
41%
According to the Children’s Defense Fund: The State of America’s Children 2014 Report, EACH DAY in America…
4
Children are killed by abuse or neglect
5
Children are killed by abuse or neglect
187
Children are arrested for violent crimes
408
Children are arrested for drug crimes
1,837
Children are confirmed abused or neglected
4,028
Children are arrested
Based on 180 school days a year, EACH DAY in America
Public school students are corporally punished
838
High school students drop out
2,857
Public school students are suspended
16,244
Homicide is the Leading Cause of Death for
Black Males Ages 15-34
Homicide is the 2nd Leading Cause of
Death for Black Males Ages 1-4 and 10-14
Homicide is the 2nd Leading Cause of
Death for Hispanic Males ages 15-34

In the United States, poverty is defined as an annual income below $24,257 for an average family of four and extreme poverty is defined as an annual income below $12,129 again for a family of four (Children’s Defense Fund. 2015). In 2015…

Number of children living in poverty in America
+14,500,000
Number of children living in extreme poverty in America
+6,500,000
According to the Children’s Defense Fund: The State of America’s Children 2014 Report, EACH DAY in America…
1,241
babies are born without health insurance
1, 392
babies are born into extreme poverty
2,723
babies are born in poverty
According to the Housing and Urban Development’s
Point-in-Time Count, 2016:
65%
of homeless persons are individuals
35%
of homeless persons are in family households
31%
of all homeless persons are youths under the age of 24

According to the Non-Profit Thorn, “The commercial sexual exploitation of children is another term for what we often call child sex trafficking. While anyone can be a victim, we know that kids who are homeless or runaways, LGBTQ, African-American or Latino, and youth interacting with the child welfare system are more vulnerable to this type of exploitation….”

50-90% of child sex trafficking victims have
been involved in the child welfare system
40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ,
although they are 7% of the population

According to Traffick911, “Human trafficking is slavery, it’s the commodification and objectification of human beings. At it’s essence, it is the exploitation of vulnerability. The Global Slavery Index estimates 45.8 million slaves are in the world today. The two most common forms of human trafficking are commercial sex trade and forced labor. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 98% of sex trafficking victims across the globe are women and children…with traffickers making $150 billion a year (globally) buying and selling people for their profit and pleasure; about $99 billion of that is from the forced commercial sex trade.”

In 2008, The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published the World Report on Child Injury and Prevention. The report identifies childhood injuries and deaths (violence against children) as the prominent killers of children throughout the world. It estimates approximately 1 million deaths of children and adolescents under the age of 18 years annually are the result of crimes against children.

According to UNICEF’s State of The World’s Children 2005
1 in 5 children in the developing world do not have access to safe water
1 in 7 children have no access whatsoever to essential health services
Hundreds of thousands
of children are forced to serve as child soldiers in armed conflict
More than 121 million
primary school-aged children are out of school – the majority of them are girls

ACE Study

Significant data informs us traumatic life experiences in childhood and adolescence are far more common than expected. Between 1995-1997 the CDC and Kaiser Permanente conducted the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. But there is hope! For more information on the ACE Study see Center
for Disease Control and Prevention on ACE Study
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/index.html

or Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on ACE Study
https://www.samhsa.gov/capt/practicing-effective-prevention/prevention-behavioral-health/adverse-childhood-experiences

BE THE CHANGE: Combating the Effects of Trauma, Poverty and/or Chronic Stress in our Schools and Classrooms

Full-Day Training

Did you know solid research confirms...?

  • Every classroom has at least one student affected by trauma, poverty and/or chronic stress.
  • 68% of children and adolescents have experienced at least one potentially traumatic event by the age of 16.

This one-day professional development is imperative for school personnel seeking to help struggling students THRIVE in school and the classroom. Compounded by matters of race and equity, traumatic experiences have become almost standard in classrooms and schools today. However, the fact remains - teachers are not therapists and that is actually okay! The key is to equip personnel with powerful knowledge and skills that will enhance their teaching, learning and day-to-day interactions with students. Participants, YOU can be the change!

 

Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Classrooms of Students from Poverty and Trauma

TRAINING OFFERINGS:

3 Hr. Workshop

1 Day PD (Recommended)

The deficit model for addressing the needs of student from poverty and those who have experienced adverse childhood events fails to build on the existing resiliency in even the most harmed student.  A Strengths-Based Mindset is an asset approach to professional development that uses the latest insights and skills in brain-based learning and strategies for trauma informed learning with students who have lived in the effects of poverty and those who have been abused and neglected.  This session will guide educational leaders and their teachers to build upon the resiliency of their students through proven methods of toxic stress reduction, a return of control to students, and strengthening working memory.

Learner Objectives
  • Identify three ways the brain can and does change
  • Practice effective skills that demonstrate neuroplasticity of the brain
  • Understand the role of a Strengths-Based Mindset in teaching and learning
  • Recognize the impact of trauma on learning
  • Practice skills for teaching students self-regulation
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