Seanna Crosbie, chair of the Trauma-Informed Care Consortium of Central Texas (TICC), laments that Texas is too often in the national spotlight for less than positive reasons—one example being its ranking next to the bottom among in states in spending on mental health services—and not often enough for its achievements. As she leads the TICC, she envisions a statewide collaboration across diverse sectors—including health, education, law enforcement—that turns around some of the most intractable problems found in Austin and communities across Texas. In her view, Texas has the potential to lead in creating trauma-informed organizations, systems, and communities.
Crosbie had her “light bulb” moment when she watched a presentation by Felitti and Anda in 2006. In a story about her by Andrea Campetella in “Utopian," a UT School of Social Work publication, Crosbie described how she was sleepless for several nights as she absorbed the implications of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study). She took action on several fronts, including working with her agency to become trauma-informed.

On a recent visit to Austin, I met with Crosbie and her colleague Katie Mitten, both on staff of the Austin Child Guidance Center, for a conversation that included my daughter, Liz Castaneda, and Michelle Emery, both with Via Hope (a statewide mental health organization specializing in peer services). We explored how to include TICC in the growing number of community trauma-informed initiatives that are sharing successes and challenges on ACEsConnection.com and its groups (there will be an agency spotlight about the ACEs Connection Network in the August TICC newsletter that has a circulation of 1,300). Crosbie invited Via Hope to join the other 70 agencies that are consortium members, saying that a strong peer voice would strengthen their efforts. The consortium includes mental health agencies, law enforcement officials, school personnel, health professionals, and others.

TICC is supported by St. David’s Foundation and provides trauma resources and training as well as outreach and education. It also has developed and distributed “The Trauma-Informed Organizational Readiness Survey,” to find out what types of trauma-informed practices are being used by agencies (Click here for a report on the results by Katie Mitten in the February 2016 TICC Newsletter). The next bi-annual trauma conference will be held May 11-12 and is titled  “Cross-Discipline Trauma Conference."  Dr. Dan Siegel will deliver the keynote address. The call for presenters is open until August 31.

ACEs Connection Network will be reporting on the efforts in Austin and across Texas and exploring with activists whether an ACEs Connection group for the state of Texas, a group for Austin and other Texas communities, would accelerate the movement across the state. Stay tuned for an upcoming story about how the new medical school at the University of Texas, Austin is addressing trauma.