Notes from January 14, 2015 Trauma Informed Congregations Community of Practice conference call

Kimberly Konkel put together the notes from the call and asked me to post:

22 people participated: 

·       Doug Ronshiem  -- American Pastoral Counselors
·       Roberta Waite – Drexel Univeristy
·       Rachel Bauman – ELCA
·       Emily Lindsay – US Breastfeeding Committee
·       Michael M – Salvation Army
·       Cherri Pruitt – HHS Region VIII
·       Elizabeth Power – Risking Connections
·       Farha Abbasi – MSU and Muslim Mental Health
·       Tina Hahn – pediatrician
·       Nicole Wood – Blue Campaign
·       Oliver Williams – IDVAAC
·       Tom Pruski – Wesley Theological Seminary
·       Keela Seals– DC Dept of Health
·       Dan Dodgen – Assistant Secretary for Emergency Response and Preparedness
·       Ben Sanders – AZ Counsel of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
·       Kate Vander Tuig – Futures Without Violence
·       Karen McLean Hessel – Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence
·       Brenda McNeely – National Children’s Medical Center
·       Dottie Mathews – NAMI and Goodwill
·       Jane Stevens – ACES Connection and ACESTooHigh
·       Veda Kowloski – Tucson Interfaith Community Services
·       Anne Marie Hunter -- Safe Havens Interfaith Partnership Against Domestic Violence

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month – This month is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Nicole Wood gave an update on the Blue Campaigns efforts. The US Dept of Education has produced a very helpful guide for schools, daycares and educational organizations. If you would like a copy, please email Nicole at Nicole.Wood@fema.dhs.gov

Muslim Mental Health 7^th Annual Conference – March 26^th, 2015 Dearborn, MI  The conference is shaping up nicely. Dr. Farha Abassi will be posting the tentative agenda on the ACESConnection site this week.  To register click on the "read more" link, which will take you to the registration site.  http://www.psychiatry.msu.edu/events/ IF we get a group of members from the Community of Practice we’d like to spend the 27^th of March together planning for the June/July meeting.  Please let Kimberly know if you are planning to attend. Kimberly.Konkel@hhs.gov

Futures Without Violence  Annual Meeting – Kate Vander Tuig provided us with a briefing of Futures Without Violence and invited us to join their annual conference in Washington, DC, on March 19-21.  They anticipate a gathering of 1,000 people who are committed to preventing and addressing domestic violence and sexual abuse, and their impact on health and well-being. The conference features over 300 speakers, more than 250 reports in 75 breakout workshops, 70 posters in an exhibit hall, resource tables from local and national organizations, as well as one of our four plenaries focused on child trauma. Also, on March 19^th there will be intensive ½ day courses on:

·       Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Trauma Informed Care: New Developments and Approaches
·       Thinking about Trauma in the Context of DV: Complex Trauma, Collective Trauma, Ongoing Risk
·       Sexual Exploitation & Sex Trafficking of Adolescents & Young Adults: A Health Care & Human Rights Challenge
·       Our Futures Without Violence: Abuse Later in Life

To register visit : www.futureswithoutviolence.org/nchdv

If you have questions pelasecall or email Kate Vander Tuig at kvandertuig@futureswithoutviolence.org 415-678-5512.

Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence www.SAIV.org -- The Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV) offers a platform for strategic collaboration to end intimate violence that will contribute to the necessary cultural shift from the dominator to partnership model for family and social orientations.

Intimate violence is a major global problem that engages faith communities for good or ill. Religious institutions have been both a problem and an important place for leadership toward ending intimate violence in the US and globally.

Expanding leadership capacity in faith communities: During a trauma, victims from rural, immigrant, and communities of color are five times more likely to seek the aid of clergy than any other professional.

Through SAIV, spiritual leaders and faith communities have an enhanced capacity, building on decades of faith-based expertise in training for the prevention and healthy response to violence.

We explored building/expanding curricula and exploring formal partnerships. If you are interested in reaching out, please contact Karen McLean Hessel, at 207-939-2242 or Karen4SAIV@aol.com.  We will continue to explore how to partner as a whole.  

From Salvation Army:  A Competency Guideline for Sheltering & Mass Care for Muslims for the upcoming meeting (relating to Muslim mental health)  http://www.n-din.org/ndin_reso...re_Muslims_v1114.pdf

Wesley Theological Seminary Heal the Sick Program —Through this community-based ministry collaboration, Wesley Theological Seminary equips ministry leaders who will support congregations’ development of health ministries and link such ministries with hospitals, community organizations, public health institutions, and health care providers. 

Subgroup on Training -- We have formed a community engagement and training sub-group.  This group will build a webinar series on trauma informed congregations and resilient communities. If you would like to participate we will have a meeting on Feb 4^th from 3:30-5:00pm ET.  Please send Kimberly an email to be added to this conversation: Kimberly.Konkel@hhs.gov

Subgroup on Health Ministers Guides (HMGs) – The Partnership Center is developing a series of Health Ministers Guides that provide a basic primer to a issue or topic.  You may have see our draft on human trafficking?  We have also drafted HMGs on breastfeeding; bladder health; viral hepatitis; domestic violence; refugee and asylee health; immunization; flu; and Ebola.  As these are drafted, we would like to have them reviewed by a group of stakeholders who can provide meaningful feedback.  Each guide is approximately four pages long and written to be a short introduction to a topic. We imagine the review will take 30-45 minutes. If you are interested in being part of the team that provides this feedback, please send Kimberly an email indicating as much.  You will be added to a list and will be invited to review conversations periodically.

Next Steps

Our next meeting will be held Wednesday Feb 11 at 11 am ET. Please send agenda items or items you’d like to go out in the pre-notes by Feb 4^{th to Kimberly. Kimberly.Konkel@hhs.gov.} We hope that you will bring one of your colleagues to our next meeting.  As our community grows, so does the trauma-informed nation.

The beginning of next meeting we will discuss the linear plan and explore how we might grow the community and expand our reach via social media.  

FYI

A study finds that both deployed and non-deployed Veterans who served during the Iraq or Afghanistan wars had a significantly higher risk of suicide compared to the U.S. general population.  Are you a Veteran or concerned about one? The Veterans Crisis Line offers 24/7, confidential support: 1-800-273-8255, press 1.  Visit www.publichealth.va.gov to learn about other public health topics. 
 
VetoViolence – is CDC’s violence prevention technical assistance tool. If you are committed to stopping violence before it happens? VetoViolence offers training, tips and tools designed specifically for prevention practitioners. Use VetoViolence to help launch or enhance your local prevention efforts today.