Hopeworks Youth Healing Team

When working with individuals from neighborhoods with high levels of violence or chronic stress, it is often easy for educators and professionals to compile a list of what is wrong with youth. Whether it is family disorganization, unstable housing, drug use, a criminal history, or a myriad of other problems, students who walk through the doors of our schools and organizations often have multiple obstacles to their success.

The Hopeworks Youth Healing Team workshop will discuss ACEs and how adverse childhood experiences can affect one's life trajectory. It also covers how to use a trauma-informed framework to change the question from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” and uses that perspective change to review different ways to engage students with significant trauma histories that have proven to be much more effective than the traditional interventions that may currently be in use.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Describe the impact of ACEs on a person's life trajectory
• Use tools to successful work with individuals who have experienced trauma, including safety plans, self care plans, and "huddle" (Community meeting)