This webinar will showcase innovative best practices to mitigate the negative effects experienced by children exposed to trauma—including an arrest or incident related to opioid use—and will highlight the Handle With Care initiative. This promising initiative partners schools and childcare agencies, law enforcement, and treatment providers to promote safe and supportive homes, schools, and communities with the goals of protecting children and helping traumatized children heal and thrive. When an officer encounters a child during a call, that child’s name and three words, "HANDLE WITH CARE," are forwarded before the school bell rings the next day. Schools respond with interventions to help mitigate the trauma, and mental health providers are co-located at the schools to provide services.
As a result of this workshop, participants will:
- Better understand the impact of trauma on a child's ability to learn.
- Identify crimes impacting local schools and students.
- Describe proven classroom and schoolwide interventions to help students exposed to trauma.
Presenters:
- Andrea Darr, Director, West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice
- Chad Napier, Prevention and Education Coordinator, Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area