The increasingly widespread recognition that the experience of trauma can have lasting negative effects particularly on children is the basis of the trauma-informed movement.  Research on the effects of trauma include the famous ACEs study (Adverse Childhood Experiences) which showed not only that the effects can be profound and can help adults understand the children they work with better, but also that a high percentage of children in the U.S. have had significant traumatic experiences.  Working with the challenging behaviors that kids with trauma histories often requires adult responses and a host of strategies that can be nontraditional, but that can positively impact all children.

The Wisconsin Afterschool Network is building a course that will help afterschool staff get trauma-informed, and will be offered in several parts of Wisconsin this spring.  Sign up for text message or email notifications at afterschoolwisconsin.com for info about this course, new blog posts and other opportunities, and welcome to the Wisconsin Afterschool Family!