Trauma-Informed Care Consortium 
of 
Central Texas
"Building a Community of Care for Children, Families and Providers"
Newsletter
August 2015
Table of Contents
Spotlight on Child & Family Research Institute
Trauma-Informed Classrooms
Trauma Trainings in Manor ISD
VA Support for Veteran Parents
Register for Depelchin Children's Center Trauma-Informed Care Conference
TICC Members
Spotlight on 
UT Child & Family 
Research Institute

The Child and Family Research Institute seeks to enhances the lives of children and families through transformational research, program development and evaluation, curriculum development and policy analyses that foster meaningful solutions for vulnerable populations. Located within the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin, our institute has worked on many projects involving trauma-informed care in the areas of child welfare, teen pregnancy & prevention, immigrant families and school social work.

Utilizing our experiences in both direct social work practice and social welfare policy, our researchers seek to build evidence for social work practitioners and policy makers to improve practices and systems. We value strong academic, practitioner and community relationships.  We view practitioners and program administrators as the experts of their work and strive to create research and program evaluations whose findings can be utilized by those working directly with children and families. 

In addition to participating in TICC, we have established the Pediatric Trauma Informed Research and Care Collaboration (PTIRCC) in partnership with Dell Children's Medical Center Trauma Research Team and DFPS Prevention and Early Intervention Services. The PTIRCC is a community collaboration working with medical providers to address child and parent trauma in direct practice settings. To learn more, please visit us at https://sites.utexas.edu/cfri/

TICC's Trauma-Informed Organization Readiness Survey Results 
Upcoming Trainings
*Please check our website (www.traumatexas.com) for on-going updates and additions to our trainings calendar!

August


September

9/17/15

9/17/15-9/18/15

9/17/15-9/18/15

9/18/15-9/19/15

9/25/15

9/25/15-9/26/15

9/26/15

October

10/7/15-10/9/15

10/19/15

10/29/15
Add TICC to Your 
List Serve
 
Please notify 
of any upcoming trainings 
your agency is holding in 
order to get them added 
to the website and newsletter! 
The Trauma-Informed Care Consortium is funded by:

St. David's Foundation
Featured Articles
Trauma-Informed Classrooms:
What Can Schools Do?

Seanna Crosbie, LCSW
Austin Child Guidance Center

You may have read about the recent landmark lawsuit brought by students and teachers of Compton Unified School District in California.  The heart of this lawsuit is to insure that all public schools address the specific learning needs of children who have experienced trauma. 
 
Some think that trauma is only a mental health issue, and that schools do not need to become involved in a child's recovery from trauma.  However, children spend a significant amount of time, growth and development in schools.
 
According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), one out of every four children attending school has been exposed to a traumatic event that can affect learning and/or behavior.  Research also consistently shows that trauma can impact school performance including lower grades, higher dropout rates, a decrease in ability to focus and integrate academic material, as well as a decrease in reading ability.  The good news is that schools can help children recover by increasing a child's sense of safety, creating policies and procedures to support these students, and actively screening students for trauma symptoms in order to identify those who may need additional support.

To read full article, click here.
Manor ISD Brings 
Trauma-Informed Trainings 
to the District

Seanna Crosbie, LCSW
Austin Child Guidance Center

Manor Independent School District (MISD) has been active in the Trauma-Informed Care Consortium of Central Texas (TICC) through the efforts and leadership of member Julie Ann Herrera. Ms. Herrera has taken advantage of the trauma-related trainings that TICC offers and has championed an initiative to bring trauma-informed care trainings to the Manor district. 

The kickoff for this initiative began this month by bringing together Austin Child Guidance Center, Communities in Schools, and Texas Department of State and Health Services to provide an all-day training to MISD school counselors. The topic of these trainings included identification of trauma symptoms, trauma screeners/assessments, as well as ways to intervene and assist students in the classroom.

Tabita Gutierrez, MISD Director of Counseling and Guidance said, "The summer training for counselors, social workers, and other support personnel in the district was an opportunity for all to focus on trauma-informed care to better serve our students.  Thus, the focus for the first year will be to train teachers in conjunction with our other district initiatives to provide support to students:  SB460, Mental Health Awareness, digital citizenship, and anti-bullying emphasis."   In addition to on-going education and outreach, the district will also identify a trauma screener to utilize with students as well as refine the referral process for counseling and mental health services.

To read full article, click here.


VA Support for Veteran Parents

Pamela Smith, Ph.D.
 
Veteran parents often experience unique challenges in parenting.  For example, separations required during military deployments can disrupt the parent-child relationship and cause changes in established parenting routines. In addition, combat-related mental health problems in parents, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and substance use disorders, have been associated with an increased incidence of mental health problems in children. 
 
In an effort to support Veteran parents and foster improved developmental outcomes for Veterans' children, the Veterans Health Administration initiated efforts nationally to provide parenting education for Veterans and their spouses, co-parenting partners and family members. 
 
Recently, the Austin VA Outpatient Clinic, part of the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS), was selected by VA National Family Services as the Lead Site within our larger VA region (known as VISN 17) to pilot a parenting intervention.  The pilot was developed by Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Previously, MCEC primarily conducted their workshops with active duty personnel, but this new pilot collaboration represents an effort to extend their work to the Veteran population.

To read full article, click here.
Featured Training
Register Now 
DePelchin Children's Center
Trauma-Informed Care Conference
Transforming the Lives of Families


September 17-18, 2015 
The Westin Houston


Featuring Melissa Brymer, Ph.D.
Director of the Terrorism and Disaster Programs at UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress

One Day Tickets: $150
Two Day Tickets (after August 26th): $275

CEUs available for social workers, psychologists, LPCs, LMFTs, and teachers.

For a full list of presenters and to register, click here.
Next TICC Meeting
 
Friday, August 28th - 9:00-10:30 am
Gardner Betts Training Room (2nd Floor) 
Travis County Juvenile Probation Dept.
2515 South Congress Avenue 
Austin, TX 78704
 
Please RSVP to Katie: 
TICC 
Members 

Chair
Seanna Crosbie
Austin Child Guidance Center

Co-Chair
Renee Calder Price
Caring Family Network

Organizational Members
Any Baby Can - Holly Gursslin
Austin Achieve Public School - Kali Fagnant
Austin Child Guidance Center - Seanna Crosbie, Stephen Kolar, Andrea Ciceri, Katie Mitten
Austin ISD - Kathy Palomo, Kate Wegler 
Austin Children's Shelter - Maren Strachan
Austin Oaks Hospital - Angelica Reyes 
Austin PD Victim Services - Robin Foreman
Austin State Hospital - Jennifer Swinton
Austin Travis County Integral Care - Melody Palmer-Arizola, Amanda Davidson
Bell/Lampasas County CSCD - Samantha Haynes
Care Options For Kids - Kevin Schoenberger
Caring Family Network - Renee Calder Price
Casey Family Programs - Michael Martinez
Cenpatico - Karen Rogers
Center for Child Protection - Barbara Jefferson, Addie Wieland
Communities in Schools of Central Texas - Kris Downing, Sarah McCafferty
Communities for Recovery - Kate Jones & Kanisha Denmon
CommunitySync/Project HOPES - Suzanne Hershey
Community Yoga Austin - Shawn Kent
Easter Seals - Jessica Moore
Eanes ISD - Katie Bryant, LCSW
El Buen Samaritano - Donna Shanor
Helping Hand Home - Micki Marquardt
Kids in a New Groove - Karyn Scott
KIPP Austin Collegiate High School - Vanessa Marie Flores
Lake Travis ISD - Kathleen Hassenfratz
LifeWorks - Rob Thurlow
NAMI Austin - Karen Ranus
OutYouth - Keisha Martinez
Pflugerville ISD - Vicky Esparza-Gregory
People's Community Clinic - David Burrows
Rock Springs - Kelli Wright, Damien Robinson
SafePlace - Linda Herbert, Barbara Ball
Southwest Key Programs - Hillary England
Spirit Reins - Rhonda Smith
Texas CASA - Sarah Crockett, Adrianna Torres-Garcia
Texas NeuroRehab Center - Cheryl Nickell
The Settlement Home - Bronwyn Seay
YWCA Greater Austin - Laura Gomez-Horton 
    
Website Committee
Stephen Kolar - Website Liaison
Kevin Schoenberger, Laura Gomez-Horton, Trish Rivera

Newsletter Committee
Andrea Ciceri - Newsletter Liaison
Bronwyn Seay, Micki Marquardt, Angelica Reyes, Gretchen Johnson

Membership and Marketing Committee
Joe Dias, Barbara Jefferson, Kathy Paloma, Kate Amerson, Cristina Guerrero, Julie Guirguis, Jina Sorensen, Donald "Doc" Shuffield, Kathleen Doherty