Who started Resilient Youth of Somerset County?
We are a group of advocates from all sectors of the community, working on behalf of children within Somerset County, NJ.
We are a sub-committee of Friends of Somerset County Youth, and our members include representatives from Children’s Hope Initiative, Richard Hall Community Mental Health Center (RHCMHC), Somerville Public Schools, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Middle Earth, Somerset County Office of Youth Services and Family Support Organization (FSO).
What is our mission?
Our goal is to bring trauma informed care to Somerset County through education and outreach. We plan to educate youth stakeholders throughout our community on the effects of ACEs and the success of trauma informed care. Our goal is to provide TIC training to members of every Somerset County youth service organization by December 2020.
We recognize that there are thousands of youth stakeholders in Somerset County and that we can’t individually educate everyone. We are hoping to educate as many people as we can, and through our outreach, be the catalyst to make Somerset County, NJ trauma informed.
Why is trauma informed care important?
Adverse Childhood Experiences impact a person’s mental health, physical health and behavior by creating a heightened sense of awareness or a constant state of fight or flight.
Trauma Informed Care is an organizational structure, community mindfulness and treatment framework that understands, recognizes, and responds to the effects of all types of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences. Trauma Informed Care emphasizes physical, psychological and emotional safety, and helps survivors rebuild a sense of control and empowerment. (http://www.traumainformedcareproject.org)
How can you help?
Educate yourself on the effects of adverse childhood experiences and the success of trauma informed care. Our links are a great place to start! Help us spread the word about our important work, and bring trauma informed care into your daily interactions — lead with empathy!
Make sure to join our mailing list to stay informed of our progress!
Support Resilient Youth of Somerset with a donation today! To earmark your donation for RYS programming, just add your wish as a note on the donation page. Thank you!
For more detailed information, follow our links:
ACE study and its findings: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html
Health implications of toxic stress: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4928741/
Impact of ACEs on the Justice System: https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/childhood-adversities-linked-contact-justice-system
Financial costs of ignored ACEs: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/201909/how-adverse-childhood-experiences-cost-133-trillion-year
Trauma informed care defined: https://www.traumainformedcare.chcs.org/what-is-trauma-informed-care/
Training resources: https://www.acesaware.org/learn-about-screening/training/
Informational resources: https://www.acesaware.org/resources/
Legislative status: NJ, https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562021/20210204a.shtml
Federal, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3291?s=1&r=53
Successful examples of trauma informed care: https://www.communitypsychology.com/what-is-trauma-informed-care-an-example/
https://www.ethndis.org/edonline/index.php/ethndis/article/view/959/1339