By Alice Yoder, Lancaster Online, September 22, 2019
Even though you cannot always see it on the outside, we are all more likely to have some kind of trauma or adverse childhood experience than to have none. With awareness, knowledge and the right tools, we can reduce stigma and create a supportive and safe community for everyone.
We can make simple yet important changes that recognize daily challenges and fight the mental and physical health effects of trauma or ACEs. A restorative, recovery-oriented, trauma-informed approach encourages policies that translate into actions, including low- and no-cost ways to give all individuals safety and control in their environment.
To increase awareness and knowledge, local trauma experts developed a training program available to the public. To date, about 2,700 people have completed this four-hour training. With grants from the Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Behavioral Health Impact Fund and Pennsylvania Counterdrug Joint Task Force, this training is now free. In return, we hope that participating organizations and businesses assess and adapt their policies, practices, systems and environments to reflect what they learn. This is one way of hard-wiring trauma-informed practices in our community.
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