Handle with Care

Requirements

• A point of contact will represent their agency on the Handle with Care stakeholder team and help develop the notification flow. This may be through secure email, Google Forms, text or dispatch.
• Partners must complete Handle with Care training and role-specific training.
• Law enforcement and first responders will send Handle with Care notifications to schools when a youth is identified as being exposed to a traumatic event. The notification must include the child’s name, age and school, but should not contain information related to the event.

Training

• Watch nine-minute HWC Roll Call Video.
• Agency supervisors must provide training to partners on department policies to identify, document and report children encountered at the scene of calls. All partners must be familiar with the appropriate on-scene response when children are present to mitigate potential further traumatization.

Requirements

• A point of contact will represent their school or district on the Handle with Care stakeholder team and help develop the notification flow. This may be through secure email, Google Forms, text or dispatch.
• Partners must complete Handle with Care training and role-specific training.
• Schools receive HWC notifications as a “heads up” to observe the child’s behavior and utilize classroom-based, trauma-sensitive interventions if warranted.
• Schools should provide a safe space for on-site counseling or trauma-focused therapy, with parental permission.

It is recommended that participating schools implement universal, selective and indicated interventions such as having greeters each morning at school entrances, pairing students with adult mentors, providing access to therapy dogs or performing brief student mental health screenings where relevant.

Training

• A one-hour Handle with Care training presentation is required. The training provides an overview of the impacts of trauma on children, the impact of trauma on learning, key elements of the program and strategies for successful implementation. All school staff and administrators should be familiar with the program and implementation.
• All participating teachers and administrators should be trained on the negative impacts of trauma and how to utilize classroom-based interventions to help mitigate the negative impacts of trauma. These interventions may include sending a student to the nurse to get rest when a child is having a hard time staying awake, re-teaching lessons or postponing tests when a student is struggling with their concentration, providing small group counseling to students via school counselors or making referrals for additional counseling services. Training should focus on identifying and assessing issues that impact students and specific individual, classroom, and school-wide interventions.

Resources

• Common Trauma Symptoms in Students and Helpful Strategies for Educators - HWC WV
• Helping Traumatized Children Learn - Trauma Sensitive Schools
  • The Impact of Trauma on Learning - HWC WV
  • Creating and Advocating for Trauma-Sensitive Schools - HWC WV

Requirements

• A point of contact will represent their organization on the Handle with Care stakeholder team and help develop the notification flow. This may be through secure email, Google Forms, text or dispatch.
• Partners must complete Handle with Care training and role-specific training.

On-site Counseling

It is recommended that mental health providers partner with schools to provide on-site mental health services (with parental permission) for students who need trauma-focused therapy. The availability of on-site services helps to address barriers that the child and family may experience in attending therapy outside of the school setting.

Training

• A one-hour Handle with Care training presentation is required. The training provides an overview of the impacts of trauma on children, the impact of trauma on learning, key elements of the program and strategies for successful implementation.
• Mental health providers working with children identified through the Handle with Care program must be trained and certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).

Other stakeholders that can be included in the program’s development, implementation, sustainability and promotion include:

• Fire departments
• Emergency medical services (EMS)
• Victim advocacy programs
• Before and after school programs
• Juvenile justice agencies and representatives, including probation and judges
• Department of Child Services (DCS)
• other youth-serving organizations

Training

• A one-hour Handle with Care training presentation is required. The training provides an overview of the impacts of trauma on children, the impact of trauma on learning, key elements of the program and strategies for successful implementation.

HWC

• HWC Overview - IDOH
• HWC Flowchart - IDOH
• HWC Monitoring and Implementation Tools - HWC WV
• HWC Roll Call Video - HWC

Trauma

• Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) - CDC
• ACEs Indiana Coalition
• Prevent Child Abuse Indiana (PCAIN)
  • Paper Tigers Project - Prevent Child Abuse
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network
• Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) Training
• Trauma-Informed Approach: Part 1 | Part 2 - University of Texas Health at San Antonio
  • Use Password: UTteenhealth

Protective factors such as healthy and stable relationships with caring adults and access to safe and stable environments are critical components for mitigating the effects of trauma. HWC helps to better inform schools on the impacts of trauma and how to foster a trauma-sensitive environment that promotes resilience in students. Children respond differently to trauma, and HWC ensures that all children are treated with care and without judgment regardless of their response. Measurable outcomes associated with the implementation of a HWC program include:

• Decreased student suspensions.
• Decreased classroom disruptions.
• Decreased student aggression.
• Increased student test scores.
• Safer school environments.
• Increased teacher support.