Crawford and Erie County in Northwest Pennsylvania joined together again this fall to host the 4th Annual Trauma Informed and Resilient Communities Conference at Edinboro University. This entirely free conference was well attended with approximately 355 participants who sold out the venue in less than one day.
Our morning plenary promoted the themes of building community resilience and the Pennsylvania opioid crisis. It began with a brief introduction to ACES through 3 short videos.
We then moved to our first morning keynote by the thought-provoking and inspirational Ms. Wendy Ellis from George Washington University. Ellis, the project director of Building Community Resilience (BCR), offered a holistic view into ACEs which included the Pair of ACEs. Pair of ACEs is a new framework, developed by Ellis, for addressing ACEs at the adverse childhood experiences level as well as the adverse community environments level; hence the “pair.” The BCR model for addressing the Pair of ACEs focuses on coalition building and communications to operate through a shared understanding, in a state of readiness, with cross-sector partners, and in our community. We identified community supports, or “buffers,” that support resilience and can prevent or alleviate the effects of the Pair of ACEs on individuals and the entire community. Much of Ellis’ work is open source and can be found, for free, on the BCR website.
After a brief intermission and coffee break, we moved to our second keynote of the morning presented by Jason Snyder, the special assistant to the Secretary of the PA Department of Human Services. Snyder told a compelling and heartbreaking story about his own personal and familial experiences with the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania. His story helped to illustrate the breadth of this current crisis and eliminate some of the misconceptions behind it. In his role, he oversees implementation and operation of the $20.4 million Centers of Excellence Initiative, Governor Tom Wolfe’s signature response to the opioid addiction and overdose substance use disorder. This response is in the initial phase and is a new approach to help ensure that people with opioid-related substance use disorder stay in treatment to receive follow-up care and are supported within their communities. The centers coordinate care for people with Medicaid, and treatment is team-based and “whole person” focused, with the explicit goal of integrating behavioral health and primary care.
Seventeen 75-minute workshops were offered for service professionals, youth and family partners, and students. Topics included Co-occurring Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment Challenges, Erie County Treatment Court, Keystone Crisis Intervention Team, Recovery to Practice, The View from Inside the Child-Serving System, Yoga and Mindful Meditation, School Wide Positive Behavior Support, Center of Excellence, Drumming and Rhythm Techniques for Coping and Community Building, Grooming Children into Child Sexual Abuse, Facing the Cost of Caring, Overdose Prevention and Awareness, Question, Persuade, and Refer Suicide Prevention Training, The Trauma of Addiction in the Family, Tension/Trauma Releasing Exercises, and Coordinated Substance Abuse Care in the Trauma Setting. These interactive workshops gave conference attendees an opportunity to dig deeper into an aspect of trauma they are already aware of or offer a new perspective on a field they do not directly work in.
The conference lasted a bit over eight hours and provided a holistic look into the efforts of local educators, social workers, first responders, students, etc. in preventing and recognizing ACEs in individuals and their community. Indeed, individuals felt recharged by the passionate and collaborative work happening here in Crawford and Erie County.
For more information about ACEs in Crawford County or to get involved with our local trauma informed community committee, Peace 4 Crawford, please email us at peace4crawford@gmail.com.
Comments (4)