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Restorative Justice Coordinator on every campus

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Restorative Justice Coordinator on every campus

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Use story bird to help student verbalized their feelings

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Use story bird to help student verbalized their feelings

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School Flip Grid of positive RP stories told by students for students

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School Flip Grid of positive RP stories told by students for students

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Send home a RP glossary so parents can have common vocab as student

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Send home a RP glossary so parents can have common vocab as student

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Have most troubled students lead circles in other grades, classes

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Have most troubled students lead circles in other grades, classes

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a different grade level team takes the lead

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have students who have had a disagreement create a project for the school together

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have students who have had a disagreement create a project for the school together

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Having a Trauma room on campus where students can calm down

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Having a Trauma room on campus where students can calm down

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Teaming up older and younger student for check in check out

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Teaming up older and younger student for check in check out

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  Using Design Thinking to Apply Trauma Principles to New Realms of Public Policy - Philadelphia

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  Using Design Thinking to Apply Trauma Principles to New Realms of Public Policy - Philadelphia

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Posted 31 March 2015 in StressPoints by Shoshana Akins, BS and Caitlin O'Brien, BA

Both poverty and trauma are highly prevalent in Philadelphia; approximately 25 percent of citizens live in poverty and 40 percent have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).1,2 Although the City of Philadelphia has developed a number of public assistance programs to alleviate the stresses of poverty (e.g., housing and utility assistance programs), the design of these initiatives do not take into account the high prevalence of trauma among the populations they serve. Modifying these programs to consider the linkages between poverty and trauma could allow them to function more effectively and cultivate protective factors for continued trauma exposure, toxic stress, and negative health outcomes.

In order to more effectively address the linkages between poverty and trauma, the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation-a philanthropic organization focused on innovation in behavioral health-has proposed that the City of Philadelphia employ trauma-informed principles to redesign its public assistance programs. The City of Philadelphia's initiative to reform six public assistance programs through a recently awarded City Accelerator Grant3 presents an opportunity to make these programs trauma-informed.

We applied the principles of design thinking, which look to include new stakeholders to bring a fresh perspective to solving longstanding problems, to create a tool to discuss trauma-informed public policy at the Scattergood Foundation's Annual Innovation Conference. This led to the development of a Policy Hack-a crowdsourcing event that gathers individuals from a number of fields to generate relevant and revolutionary policy.

To begin the conference's Policy Hack, we gave a 20-minute presentation about the principles of design thinking and trauma-informed care. We then described the six public assistance programs that are targeted for reform as a part of City of Philadelphia's City Accelerator Grant, which include the Homestead Real Estate Tax Exemption, Senior Real Estate Tax Freeze, Longtime Owner Occupant Program (LOOP), Owner-Occupied Payment Agreement, Senior Water Bill Discount and the Water Revenue Assistance Program (WRAP). The group of over 180 conference attendees were then split into teams of 10-12 individuals and facilitated by Drexel University public health students and Scattergood Foundation Board Members to generate recommendations. Following this activity, participants had the opportunity to report back to the larger group.

We then developed recommendations for reform, drawing from the Policy Hack responses as well as our research on trauma-informed policy. These recommendations fell into two categories: 1) specific ways to apply trauma-informed principles to these programs, and 2) solutions that support a trauma-informed environment and system. We found this to be an important distinction for conceptualizing trauma-informed public policy. Understanding the concrete actions that embody trauma-informed principles and the environment needed to fortify these actions can anchor these concepts more explicitly and ultimately create a sustainable structure for these changes within the City government.

The specific trauma-informed recommendations were structured by the four areas of building a trauma-informed organization that were identified Harris and Fallot.4 These consist of:

Administrative Commitment: Leadership from all involved agencies should be trained in trauma-informed care and be involved in the development of new policies and practices so they can best fit the needs of that department. Managerial support systems with seminars and trainings should be developed so this leadership outlook trickles down through entire departments.

Training: All staff members who interact with consumers should be trained in trauma-informed care and Mental Health First Aid. This will create a positive environment between customer service staff and leadership as they are all operating under the same goals.

Hiring and Human Resource Practices: Experiential diversity is necessary in these departments to create an empathetic, mindful, and active staff that can thrive in a trauma-informed environment. Human Resources Departments should seek to hire individuals who have had their own experiences interacting with these programs.

Policies and Service Delivery Practices: Standard operating procedures should be revised to reflect trauma-informed principles and to ensure institutional memory. For instance, the greeting for Revenue Department's call center is, "What property are you calling about?" This should be revised to make the caller feel more comfortable when inquiring about tax issues.

The second category of recommendations included a number of environment and system techniques to support the application of trauma-informed principles in the City's assistance programs. These included, but were not limited to:

Involve consumers in the process of reforming these enrollment processes through town hall meetings, focus groups, and online forums.

Develop a streamlined, online application for all of these programs to reduce the burden on the applicant.

For programs with fewer eligibility requirements, institute automatic enrollment.

Remove language that emphasizes "low-income," "poverty," and "assistance program" as these words are often associated with negative stigma of handouts and charity.

Change the language on the applications to reflect a 5th grade reading level. The literacy level of applicants should be considered when designing applications.

Trauma-informed practice has been embraced in Philadelphia in the worlds of behavioral health, school systems, fire service, and police. In applying a trauma-informed lens to the development of public policy, Philadelphia will be utilizing a Health in All Policies approach, which can enhance health in all communities. For more information on trauma-informed public policy and this project, please see our report of the same name, Using Design Thinking to Apply Trauma Informed Principles to New Realms of Public Policy.

About the Authors

Shoshana Akins, BS and Caitlin O'Brien, BA, are both MPH candidates in the Health Management and Policy Department at the Drexel University School of Public Health and current project managers at the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation.

References

Pew Charitable Trusts. (2014). Philadelphia: The State of the City. Retrieved from http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/Assets/2014/04/05/PhiladelphiaStateofCityreport2014.pdf
Institute for Safe Families. (2013). Findings from the Philadelphia Urban ACE Study. Philadelphia, PA: Public Health Management Corporation.
The City of Philadelphia. (2014). Harnessing Innovation fro Low-Income Communities in Philadelphia. City Accelerator. Retrieved from http://www.governing.com/cityaccelerator/videos/Harnessing-innovation-for-low-income-communities-in-Philadelphia.html
Harris, M. and Fallot, R. (Eds,). (2001). Using trauma theory to design service systems. New Directions for Mental Health Services, 89.
Pew Charitable Trusts. (2014). Philadelphia: The State of the City. Retrieved from http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/Assets/2014/04/05/PhiladelphiaStateofCityreport2014.pdf
Institute for Safe Families. (2013). Findings from the Philadelphia Urban ACE Study. Philadelphia, PA: Public Health Management Corporation.
The City of Philadelphia. (2014). Harnessing Innovation fro Low-Income Communities in Philadelphia. City Accelerator. Retrieved from http://www.governing.com/cityaccelerator/videos/Harnessing-innovation-for-low-income-communities-in-Philadelphia.html
Harris, M. and Fallot, R. (Eds,). (2001). Using trauma theory to design service systems. New Directions for Mental Health Services, 89.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Design Thinking to Apply Trauma Principles to New Realms of Public Policy

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Posted 31 March 2015 in StressPoints by Shoshana Akins, BS and Caitlin O'Brien, BA Both poverty and trauma are highly prevalent in Philadelphia; approximately 25 percent of citizens live in poverty and 40 percent have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).1,2 Although the City of Philadelphia has developed a number of public assistance programs to alleviate the stresses of poverty (e.g., housing and utility assistance programs), the design of these initiatives do not take into account the high prevalence of trauma among the populations they serve.

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Offer meals, group therapy sessions, yoga, meditation, restorative circles for the parents?

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Cherokee Point Elementary School Principal Godwin Higa explains the effects of childhood trauma on students and the compassion-based philosophy the San Diego school has embraced to help build resilience in the face of adversity.

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Empathic Power Randomization - Powerful Empaths can gain random powers based on their mood and emotions (gaining Regenerative Healing Factor or Invulnerability when scared, or Enhanced Strength when angry). Empathic Projection - Some Empaths can develop the ability to project their own emotions onto others.

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Like a metal detector, identifies the trauma a person carried with them

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What role can PTSD veteran's play in supporting students with trauma? With guidance, can they heal each other? Big Brother programs.

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in the quad...
in the classroom...
in the office...

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How do we shift this? Judgement and shaming is everywhere in schools!

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Spoutwood drum circle_Painting QueenBlog 

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no death penalty
no police aggression
no jails
safe spaces
responsive regulation

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in schools?
in the community?
for parents/families?

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on the impact of trauma on children and how to avoid it

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Eliminate trauma and wrong-doing although by removing people before the commit crimes or hurt others.

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Hear the impact I have on the world around me. Understand how I impact others--feel their pain. Allow others to understand how they impact me and how positive/negative interactions impact my perspective on the world around me.

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How am I impacting others? See the chain of events that my actions/words inspire. How are others impacted in the short term/long term? How am I impacted in the short term/long term? What is the ripple effect? What is the butterfly effect?

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Live at school
school is life
parents are part of school
parents are teachers
all participants are family
family meals
family stability

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Parents are left out of the culture--quick to judge, lack of empathy
How can parents be more apart of the fabric of the school?

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How can school resemble a stable family environment?

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How can school resemble a stable family environment?

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sibling rivalry and conflict, parental defiance, short-term breaks to reflect, re-entry, crucial conversations, authentic rewards, guaranteed safety, understanding for mistakes

Why are so many crucial conversations off limits in schools?

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-Center for the Collaborative Classroom

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-Heart-Mind Online
-Peace First
-Intro to the Peaceful Classroom

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-school assembly
-arm children and teens with the knowledge and practical skills
-allow them to keep their power, not give it away
-recognize and respond to bullying in a wise and effective manner
-realistic, practical and personal approach
-Girl Power Vs. Superman Project

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social and emotional development—instilling core life skills such as leadership, tolerance and active listening—via a supportive, play-centered environment.

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Integrating Restorative Practices into a classroom fosters a peaceful, solution-oriented environment in which students are accountable for their actions, are empowered to make positive decisions, and are motivated to excel.

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http://www.lifeplayproductions.com/

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http://www.mandalaforchange.com/resources/articles/theatre-of-the-oppressed-playback-theatre-cousins-with-a-common-cause/
-Theatre of the Oppressed & Playback Theatre – Cousins with a Common Cause

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Theater of the Oppressed provides tools for people to explore collective struggles, analyze their history and present circumstances, and then experiment with inventing a new future together
through theater.http://beautifultrouble.org/theory/theater-of-the-oppressed/

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http://www.playbacktheatre.org/
-improvisational theatre
-audience and group members tell stories from their lives and watch them enacted on the spot
-draws people together
-fresh perspectives
-voices are heard
-different perpectives

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-Circle Guidelines
-Community Agreements
-Check-in Questions/Activities
-"the issues that affect us"
-Basic Connection Circles
-Responsive Circles
-Story of the Day Circles
-Something Special Circles
-The Guest House Circle
-Loving the Questions Circles
-Thanksgiving Circle

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http://coe.ucsf.edu/coe/spotlight/ucsf_hearts.html
-focuses on school based interventions, training and consultations, and school and district-level policies and procedures

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-Cognitive Behavior Intervention for Trauma in Schools
-http://cbitsprogram.org/
-reduce symptoms PTSD, depression, and behavioral problems

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-Change the behavior of adults
-Better ways to help students problem solve
-Changing how they respond to student behavior
-Focus on social and emotional lives of children
-Respect, empathy, coping
-avoiding the power struggle
https://acestoohigh.com/2013/03/20/secret-to-fixing-school-discipline/

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-Weekly Implementation
-Safe space
-Students share
-Discuss individual feelings
-Discuss conflicts with others (students and/or staff)
-Shared understanding
-Seek to understand, not to solve

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-Focus on predictable, reliable environments

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-Professional Development
-How to identify trauma
-How to address and support

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-Focusing on student's whole-selves
-Embracing unique talents, strengths, social and emotional needs
-teaching emotional intellegence

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-A place where everyone cares
-Students are supported