Handle With Care/Take Care Delaware

OVERVIEW:

A recent national survey of the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence and trauma revealed that 60% of American children have been exposed to violence, crime or abuse. Forty percent were direct victims of two or more violent acts. Prolonged exposure to violence and trauma can seriously undermine children’s ability to focus, behave appropriately, and learn. It often leads to school failure, truancy, suspension or expulsion, dropping out, or involvement in the juvenile justice system.

The West Virginia Defending Childhood Initiative, commonly referred to as “Handle With Care,” is tailored to reflect the needs and issues affecting children in West Virginia. The Initiative, a result of a collaborative effort of key stakeholders and partners, builds upon the success of proven programs throughout the country. The goal of the Initiative is to prevent children’s exposure to trauma and violence, mitigate negative affects experienced by children’s exposure to trauma, and to increase knowledge and awareness of this issue.

When Delaware first heard about Handle With Care, it seemed the perfect fit with what we were doing in so many of our collaborative areas. The goals and the work of the program allows for children and youth to remain in school and in their classrooms for learning; it allows for all members of our communities to understand and respond to trauma in a positive manner; and it provides for the possibility of on-site mental health services at the schools. Delaware currently utilizes a program titled Handle with Care Behavior Management System in psychiatric facilities, so the name was changed to Take Care Delaware.

Model Handle With Care (HWC)/Take Care Delaware (TCD) programs promote safe and supportive homes, schools and communities that protect children, and help traumatized children heal and thrive. HWC/TCD promotes school-community partnerships aimed at ensuring that children who are exposed to trauma in their home, school or community receive appropriate interventions to help them achieve academically at their highest levels despite whatever traumatic circumstances they may have endured. The ultimate goal of HWC/TCD is to help students to succeed in school. Regardless of the source of trauma, the common thread for effective intervention is the school. Research now shows that trauma can undermine children’s ability to learn, form relationships, and function appropriately in the classroom. HWC/TCD programs support children exposed to trauma and violence through improved communication and collaboration between law enforcement, schools and mental health providers, and connects families, schools and communities to mental health services.

PILOT:
Take Care Delaware is an initiative that was piloted at all schools in the Smyrna School District and involved all law enforcement agencies within the district’s jurisdiction.

LAW ENFORCEMENT:
Take Care Delaware provides the school with a “heads up” when a child has been identified at the scene of a traumatic event. It could be a domestic violence situation, a shooting in the neighborhood, witnessing a malicious wounding, a drug raid at the home, etc. Police are trained to identify children at the scene, find out where they go to school and send the school/agency a confidential email or fax that simply says . . . “Take care of Johnny”. That’s it. No other details.

SCHOOLS:
Teachers have been trained on the impact of trauma on learning, and are incorporating many interventions to mitigate the negative impact of trauma for identified students, including: sending students to the nurse to rest (when a TCD notice has been received and the child is having trouble staying awake or focusing); re-teaching lessons; postponing testing; small group counseling by school counselors; and referrals to counseling, social service or advocacy programs. The schools have also implemented many school-wide interventions to help create a trauma sensitive school.

COUNSELING:
When identified students exhibit continued behavioral or emotional problems in the classroom, on-site mental health interventions will be provided to students and their families as identified by school personnel or self-referral.

The counseling is provided to children and families at times which are least disruptive for the student. The counselors also participate in MDT, SST and/or other meetings deemed necessary by school personnel, and as authorized by the child’s parent or guardian. Counselors provide assessments of the child’s need, psychological testing, treatment recommendations, accommodation recommendations, and status updates to key school personnel as authorized by the child’s parent or guardian.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
This program was developed with guidance and technical assistance from the West Virginia Defending Childhood Initiative who also worked with the Massachusetts Advocates for Children: Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, in collaboration with Harvard Law School and the Task Force on Children Affected by Domestic Violence. Special thanks to Andrea Darr.