Join Feb. 17 peer learning forum on trauma-informed approaches during catastrophic events  

What does it mean for a city or other local government to be trauma-informed and what might this look like during the COVID-19 pandemic? Agencies and organizations are changing the ways they operate by integrating public- and internal-facing trauma-informed practices into their COVID-response efforts, including addressing racial injustice, to support residents and their workforce. Essential workers, including city and local government workers, are deployed at the frontlines of this crisis, serving our communities during the pandemic. A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows essential workers report experiencing disproportionately worse mental health outcomes and increased suicidal ideation and substance use.

Trauma- and healing-informed systems help address stressors exacerbated by the pandemic, prevent re-traumatization, and build community resilience. This free web session will include opportunities to learn from speakers implementing these approaches and time for peer-to-peer discussion and strategizing. Come prepared to unmute your microphone and interact with the speakers and other participants!

February 17, 2021: 11am to 12:30pm Pacific Time / 2 to 3:30pm Eastern Time

Panelists include:

• Dr. Howard Pinderhughes, Director of the Sociology Doctoral Program at the University of California, San Francisco
• Zeke Cohen, Baltimore City Councilmember, 1st District
• Robin Saenger, artist; Founding Director, Peace4Tarpon; Former Vice-Mayor, Tarpon Springs
• Dr. Ken Epstein, PREP For Change Consulting
• Luis M. Aroche, MPA, Project Manager, Heal San Francisco, Our Children Our Families Council

Objectives:

• Describe key features of a trauma-informed system and its importance for preventing trauma and suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Use the Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience (ACE|R) framework to think about community-level recovery and systems change that supports wellbeing in the long term.
• Explore how agencies and organizations are integrating internal- and external-facing trauma-informed practices.
• Discuss opportunities to overcome challenges and apply this information in your own community.

This webinar is part of PI’s Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide Prevention Rapid Response Training & Tools. Through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prevention Institute has partnered with the National League of Cities and Dr. Howard Pinderhughes, Director of the Sociology Doctoral Program at the University of California, San Francisco, to offer training and tools to local government and their partners in supporting their communities.

This project is supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 6 NU38OT000305-02-03 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the CDC.

*Photo credit: Bill Dickinson CC BY-NC 2.0