Substance Use Disorder prevention providers serve individuals, families, and communities experiencing uncertainty, increased stress, and trauma. Under the current social distancing environment, individuals and families suffer from an increase of isolation, stress, and anxiety, as many families are unable to meet their basic needs due to unemployment. The American Psychological Association reports, “the average reported stress level over the past month related to the coronavirus pandemic for parents of children under 18 is 6.7 compared to adults without children is 5.5. Nearly half of parents (46%) say their stress level is high (between 8 and 10 on a 10-point scale) compared with 28% of adults without children who say the same.” (Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/report).
These challenges often lead to substance use and mental health issues. Understanding how to incorporate trauma informed approaches into prevention services is necessary to address community needs. During the fall and winter of 2020, the Community Prevention Initiative (CPI) hosted three virtual, one-day Regional Trainings. These trainings examined complex topics related to “Trauma-Informed Care: Research to Practice” and provided participants with 1) an analysis of different types of trauma individuals and communities experience, 2) strategies to implement a trauma-informed care approach, and 3) examples of what trauma-informed prevention services look like in practice. The trainings used a scaffolded approach to learning, beginning with concept and moving toward application.
Learning Goals:
- Understand trauma and how it impacts youth, adults, groups, and communities.
- Explore the interconnectedness of substance use and trauma.
- Identify opportunities to integrate trauma-informed approaches into prevention services.
Key Information:
Regional Training Resources: The resources listed in this sheet have been selected to help participants ground themselves in the essential frameworks that structure and inform the conference. These resources explore trauma-informed care and social determinants of health.
Feedback from the 2020 CPI Virtual Regional Training was resoundingly positive!
Here’s What Participants Had to Say:
- The guest speakers were SPOT ON! They were very relatable and very good at making connections between trauma and its relation to care.
- All the information was helpful and could be applied to my work.
- I think it was really helpful and beneficial. I can’t think of anything that needs to change.
- I loved the combination of personal stories and information.
- Dr. Wanda Boone’s presentation was very powerful and healing. I learned a lot from her example and will follow it when needed.
- Really good information to help me to work better with community residents.
- Great methods used to make the training engaging!
- I was soaking it all in. More, more, more!
Thank you to everyone who attended and engaged in the 2020 CPI Virtual Regional Training! Resources and information from the training event are listed on this page.
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Meet the Presenters:
Wanda Boone is the Executive Director of Together for Resilient Youth (TRY) and is a Champion of Change Facilitator. Wanda is a member of influential national, statewide and local committees that advance the goals of TRY comprehensive prevention action plan to reduce the outcomes of drug use and misuse that can be linked to crime, school suspensions, health, mental health, addiction, suicide attempts, and accidental overdoses. She is a Co-founder of the East Durham Children’s Initiative, Member of the Governor’s Task Force on Substance Use and Gangs, a Co-Chair on the Mayor’s Poverty Reduction Initiative Public Safety and Health Subcommittees, Member of the Durham Crime Cabinet, Agency member of the Misdemeanor Diversion Program, Chair of the Health Committee of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, Member of the City-Wide PAC, Vice Chair, Northeast Central Durham Leadership Council, Member of the Duke Population Health Improvement Leadership Advisory Board; Member School Advisory Group for the Duke Integrated Pediatric Mental Health Collaborative; Member Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America and NC Health Disparities Workgroup.
Elizabeth Waetzig, JD coordinates and provides support to organizations as part of the California Reducing Disparities Program. She focuses on trauma informed organizations and communities, organizational development, community awareness, and the integration of stakeholders and partners in their areas of focus. She also coaches participants in the Addressing Health Disparities Leadership program through the National Council for Behavioral Health. Ms. Waetzig served as a cultural competence and collaboration coach; providing training and technical assistance to 11 state grantees as part of the Now is the Time Technical Assistance (TA) Center. In that role, she facilitated strategic planning sessions, engagement processes, and collaboration trainings. She was the Field Director for the Project LAUNCH TA Center. In both of those roles, Ms. Waetzig supported all of her grantees and TA providers to identify and support CLC and addressing disparities.
Kristin Thorp, Youth Program Director, Youth MOVE National, is the Youth Program Director at Youth MOVE National. She supports the implementation of national evaluation of Children’s Mental Health Initiatives, provides technical assistance to the behavioral health field, facilitates engaging youth in research and evaluation projects, and works with the National Leadership Team to develop technical assistance products. In her previous role as the Continuous Quality Improvement Coordinator at THRIVE, Maine’s Trauma-informed System of Care, Kristin offered technical assistance, training, and consultation to government agencies, providers, and communities on incorporating and embedding trauma-informed principles and practices. Capitalizing on prior experience working for Youth MOVE Maine, she advocated for and incorporated youth voice into all elements of system change, understanding that the well-being of young people hinges on their participation across all levels of program development and enhancement. She is a strong believer in working with youth as equal partners and pushing for policies and services that will improve the lives of young people.
Christopher Jensen currently serves the communities within Merced County as an Alcohol and Drug Prevention Specialist. In this role he assesses, plans, implements and evaluates prevention services for the county. Christopher has worked in the field of prevention since 2002 implementing prevention efforts such as Friday Night Live programs, Youth to Youth Conferences, and several traditional prevention campaigns such as social host campaigns, Red Ribbon Week celebrations, and responsible beverage service trainings. He developed the Community Alcohol Policy workgroup with community leaders to ensure healthy zoning practices were adopted locally to discouraged saturation of retail alcohol establishments with the development of UC Merced. Christopher created the Meth Use, Settings and Circumstances study, which investigated the gaps in prevention, treatment and enforcement of methamphetamine use and suggested policy revisions to address them. Because of his history as a foster youth, he regularly trains Court Appointed Special Advocates on the effects of trauma to prepare them in their roles with local foster youth. Recently he worked along stakeholders to implement a health impact assessment (HIA) of UC Merced’s long-range development plan to minimize gentrification in the community at the expense of the UC’s development. Over the past three years, Christopher has worked to shift local prevention structure and efforts from focusing on policies that directly address substance use to policies that address the socioecological circumstances that those substances are used within. This includes using a trauma informed approach while addressing deeply rooted causes. This effort was mobilized through the formation of the All in for Health Coalition that focuses on equitable policies and practices that reduce barriers to health for the most marginalized and often most traumatized members of the community. He is currently finishing a degree in public administration to prepare for a run to become a County Board of Supervisor.
Don Carney has been an advocate for social and juvenile justice his entire career. In the 60’s, he was an activist in the civil rights and anti-war movements. In the 70’s and 80’s, Mr. Carney directed residential group homes and educational services for wards of the court, and he was a founding member of the Social Justice Center of Marin. Don has been on the forefront of mitigating the school-to-prison pipeline by deploying restorative practices to keep kids in school and out of the juvenile justice system. As Director of Youth and Family Services for the YMCA, he supervised Youth Development Services at Marin County’s Community School and directed a residential camp for traumatized at-promise youth. In 2004, Don founded the Marin County Youth Court, where he developed the YMCA’s Alcohol and Drug Prevention and Safety Skills Training. Don was a leader on Marin County’s Race and Class Education Equity Initiative and he served on the County’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention five-Year Strategic Planning Committee. He currently serves on the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission, Mental Health Services Act Advisory Committee, Marin Healthy Youth Partnerships, San Rafael Alcohol and Drug Coalition, West Marin Coalition for Healthy Youth, Rx Safe Marin, and the Marin Prevention Network. Don is also a California Association of Youth Courts board member and program trainer.
Matt Reddam, MS, MFT is a licensed therapist and current School and Community Wellness Advisor for the Butte County Office of Education in California. As the former Policy and Practice Coordinator for Trauma Transformed Bay Area, Matt is a regional expert in traumatic stress and an advocate for marginalized and historically subjugated populations. Beginning his career as a therapist, Matt quickly found that systems and communities often pathologize children’s attempts to survive, leading to misdiagnosis, marginalization, and the robbery of resilience. This led him to shift his work from individual treatment to the consultation and training of large systems. As a survivor of complex trauma, a student of racial justice, and a father, Matt continues to walk the line of learner, expert, and fierce advocate. After the Camp Fire in 2018, Matt began working primarily in Butte County and continues to support the health and wellness of the community of Paradise. Matt believes that true systemic and community change comes from discomfort, relationship, and unflinching self-reflection.
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Agenda:
Session 1: Trauma: Concepts, Principles, and Paradigms
View Session 1 Recommended Resources >
October 27, 2020
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Welcome & Introduction
Katrina Cox, Section Chief, DHCS
Welcome and drum session led by Maggie Escobedo-Steele
Erika Green, CPI Project Director, CARS
9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Individual and Collective Trauma
Presenter: Elizabeth Waetzig, JD, Change Matrix
11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | Wellness Break
Take a break and network
11:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. | Making the Connection Between Trauma and Substance Use
Presenter: Dr. Wanda Boone, Together for Resilient Youth
12:45 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch Lounge
Take a break and network
1:30 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. | Coffee Hour
Debrief the principles learned in Session 1 through facilitated conversations.
2:20 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Wrap Up and Closing
Session 2: Trauma-Informed Strategies and Approaches
View Session 2 Recommended Resources >
November 17, 2020
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Welcome
9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Delivering Trauma-Informed Services Through a Culturally Responsive Lens
Presenter: Elizabeth Waetzig, JD, Change Matrix
10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wellness Break
Take a break and network
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Trauma-Informed Care: An Essential Tool for Engaging Youth
Presenter: Kristin Thorp, Youth MOVE National
12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch Lounge
Take a break and network
1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. | Coffee Hour
Debrief the principles learned in Session 2 through facilitated conversations.
1:50 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Wrap Up and Closing
Session 3: Trauma-Informed Prevention in Action: Integrating Trauma-Informed Care Approaches in Prevention
December 7, 2020
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Welcome
9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Transformative Prevention
Presenter: Dr. Wanda Boone, Together for Resilient Youth
10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Wellness Break
Take a break and network
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Panel Discussion
Featured Topics:
- County Prevention Planning for a Social Determinants of Health Approach to Prevention
Session Slides - Integrating Trauma-Informed Approaches and Transformative Justice into Prevention
Session Slides - Addressing Trauma: Youth Prevention Services During Community Crisis
Panel Members:
- Christopher Jensen, Merced County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
- Don Carney, Executive Director, Youth Transforming Justice
- Matt Reddam, Butte County Office of Education
12:30 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. | Coffee Session: Next Steps Forward Debrief the lessons learned throughout the CPI conference and brainstorm next steps forward. Participants will discuss how to put trauma-informed principles and strategies into action within their own contexts.
12:50 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Wrap Up and Closing