Blog

La Maida Project is thrilled to share videos from our recent webinar series “Exploring the Role of Culture in Healing”. We had an great audience turn out and robust dialogue with our panel of guest speakers including Ken Epstein, PhD LCSW , leader in trauma-informed systems transformation, Anil Vadaparty , CEO of child-welfare agency McKinley, and Omid Naim, MD , integrative psychiatrist and founder of La Maida Project. In these webinars we discuss the role of leadership in trauma-informed...

Restorative Justice in Schools: Trauma-Informed Approaches to Increasing Protective Health Factors for Girls of Color Thursday July 1st 12 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. EST Empowering girls of color and supporting their educational success is not simply an issue of educational equity. It is a matter of health justice. Join us for a conversation about the possibilities for and potential uses of restorative justice practices in schools with Thalia González, a nationally renowned scholar in the field of...

(UPDATE: We moved this webinar to July 7th 11-12 PST) In this webinar, we’ll discuss the unique importance of school mental health at this time, what schools can do to support it, and how these efforts can be funded (including accessing ARPA funds). Join experts in school mental health/trauma-informed program design, implementation, and funding streams to explore how schools committed to supporting student wellbeing can find a path that considers both your school capacity and the needs of...

Originally published on Rise to Resilience on June 6th. Last week in one of the preschool-related Facebook groups I was in (and subsequently was kicked out of for challenging homophobia and transphobia), there was a post asking if people celebrate Pride Month in their classrooms, and if so, what they do. Cue a flood of teachers expressing their significant opposition for such inclusion, including ones who claimed to be allies. Motivated by this, I decided I would start...

As we look towards the reopening of in-person instruction in the fall, planning and reimagining for a restorative restart to our school systems that emphasizes student and educator mental health is a priority. In addition, there is a windfall of one-time funding coming to districts from federal and local funds for just this purpose. Recently a wise educator said to me, ‘you know, if you want to get to the hearts and minds of school leaders to make changes for the fall you need to do so by...

By Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times, June 4, 2021 At a time when many school officials thought the best way to deal with problematic students was to suspend or expel them, Susan F. Cole realized what may seem obvious now: Sometimes, trouble at school meant trauma at home. Beginning in the 1990s, she became a leading voice in the movement to create “trauma-sensitive schools” in her own state, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, ones where the staff understands that abuse, neglect, hunger and...

How to reopen schools in Fall 2021 optimally

This latest issue brief from Penn State’s Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center looks at how schoolwide social and emotional learning (SEL) and trauma-sensitive schools (TSS) can support a holistic approach to meeting student needs, particularly when focused on enhancing individual skill-building and environmental conditions that support student well-being and advance educational equity. The co-authors examine the ways in which TSS and SEL can be integrated and expanded— through...

16 Strong Project is excited to be recruiting for our second Youth Advocacy Board! Our goal is to involve youth in our program and resource development as well as provide guidance to this group to be leaders and advocates around ACEs in their own schools and communities. We are looking for a group of creative, resourceful, hard-working high school (grades 9-12) students to join our Youth Advocacy Board who are: Interested in mental health education and awareness-building Dedicated to making...

Now is the time to submit proposals for the workshops at the 5th annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference hosted by the Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN)! This year's conference will be an asynchronous hybrid - with an in-person conference Feb 20-22, 2022 in Houston, TX and a virtual component on Feb 24 & 25. We're expecting 2000 educators from across the country and around the world to attend this conference, which will include 4 exciting keynotes, pre-conference "deep...

Please find Linda K. Williams website, Caring and Capable Kids, with many resources for you and your families. Please click HERE: https://caringandcapablekids.com/caring-and-capable-kids/

Registration is now open for two summer sessions of this professional development course for educators! Designed to bridge the gap from knowing about trauma to being able to fully implement a trauma-informed approach in the classroom, this course will explore the key principles of a trauma-informed approach, and how they can be applied in an school setting to achieve equitable and just outcomes.