DC and out!
So I had two amazing full days in Washington DC, and as with Boston I also had the bonus of seeing some bonus community activities 'ad hoc'. If I'm overly gushing in this post it's likely because as much as I had a truly amazing time I am also a huge US politics junkie and have been since I was 11/12, so being in 'DC' having meetings 'on the hill' and being in the same building at the same time as a major senate hearing was happening was something else! Just like the first time I got to visit Westminster I was really thrilled.
Having said that I'm not just here for personal kicks! Day one proved to be incredibly useful and interesting starting with a breakfast meeting with Wendy Ellis and Dan Press, both are involved in supporting the Building Resilient Communities Collaboration across the US and with working at a high level with policy people in Washington. Wendy has been fundamental to the introduction of Trauma Informed practice across the US and in creating networks that bring people together. Dan is a real advocate for Trauma Informed work across communities, his work these days is pro bono because of his passion for the topic, but he is a remarkable, energetic and knowledgable man.
The contacts and links will be invaluable, but more than anything I think what I took from meeting them was the importance of using an understanding of ACEs and the introduction of Trauma Informed Approaches in the context of the wider community implications and that you have to understand the system that you are working in and the challenges that it presents. Schools for example are an obvious touch point for a lot of work, children are mandated to be their, parents (ideally) are engaged with the organisation, there is a professional who has daily contact. But the challenge is to create the support that enables the school to see that being the touch point is designed to reduce, not increase the workload / pressure.
In the UK I've heard the refrain that teachers are concerned with being given too much in terms of mental health training, as it is a way to add low level 'social work' to their role. I completely understand this fear and so it cannot be stressed enough that there has to be a system of support available which allows teachers to have the skill to identify a potential issue and deal with the child in a way that reduces the chances of behavioural issues within the class (reducing workload) and then having an option for additional support for the emotional needs of the child (reducing workload, introducing resilience).
Easy enough, but budgets are stretched. The next level of course is to seek to identify the medium and long term benefits of increasing resilience within families (not just one child, we need to see the family as a potential piece of work too) in terms of reduced pressure on services. Research and intelligent outcomes measures are a key tool in this, I think social prescribing can help with this and is also a route into families which isn't available in the same way in the US.
I met with Amy, Eric, and Maria who are on the verge of getting the Capital Clubhouse up and running, it was really interesting to see how they had overcome legislative and institutional barriers to fight to get this off the ground. They have had to work around a funding model that is not designed for the kind of work a clubhouse offers, which means they had to create strong relationships within the City Council. What they did really well was work with those people to establish the benefits of having a clubhouse, this meant they had willing and helpful officers to support them.
Meeting with Elizabeth Prewitt and her husband Bill was really useful too, Bill knows EVERYONE, from Norman Lamb in the UK to Sis who I was about to meet at NACOA, and Eric who I had met the previous day. His broad knowledge and huge contact book was an amazing resource and we were able to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of the Clubhouse model (he agreed Center Club is a good one!), but also it was really valuable to be able to compare systems and understand the importance of collaborations and connections across with other organisations. Elizabeth is literally making those connections through her work, as well as being a journalist and policy adviser (and also knowing SO MANY people!) Elizabeth has created a powerful network for people to share good practice and work across the world. This will be a great link for us back home.
I then had a great session with Osaremen Okolo who is an aide to Senator Patty Murray, this was really useful as I was interested to know how they had influenced other politicians to support the movement toward trauma informed ideas. The answer is a mix of evidence, anecdote, and opportunity- the US is facing a significant opioid issue (see NACOA below shifting to addiction generally) which has engaged politicians. They can see people 'just like them' falling to this addiction (the reflection being that this means it impacts more white people), they don't want the solution to be criminalisation (which was the response to crack... which yes was disproportionately an issue in black communities), they see evidence in pockets of trauma informed work being successful and so they can support it.
Finally I met with the quite remarkable Sis Wenger, Sis is CEO of NACOA US - this was a really meaningful for me as NACOA in the UK was a life changing organisation when I began to understand the impact of alcoholism within my own family. I saw a series of addiction programmes that NACOA have helped to roll out, we discussed the journey from dealing primarily with alcohol to dealing with addiction more widely. Sis had even more GREAT contacts for me, but the essence of what I learned was that we have to get in as early as possible with children and families and teach them resiliences - it's not enough to simply get past the short term issue, there have to be building blocks for a stronger family in future. The impact of the probation programme was quite remarkable.
What I will take away from this is a lot of learning but also an endorsement of an early idea of mine which is that I should try and make one of the outcomes of my learning an APPG on Trauma / family resilience / ACES so that we can engage politicians with evidence and anecdote - something which NACOA did to spectacular effect with alcohol in the UK.
Tonight I fly to Seattle and drive down to Portland where I will finally have a whole week in one place working in the schools of Hillsboro County! I can't wait... although I'm having to wait because my plane was moved back by 8 hours - time enough for a blog though!
Having said that I'm not just here for personal kicks! Day one proved to be incredibly useful and interesting starting with a breakfast meeting with Wendy Ellis and Dan Press, both are involved in supporting the Building Resilient Communities Collaboration across the US and with working at a high level with policy people in Washington. Wendy has been fundamental to the introduction of Trauma Informed practice across the US and in creating networks that bring people together. Dan is a real advocate for Trauma Informed work across communities, his work these days is pro bono because of his passion for the topic, but he is a remarkable, energetic and knowledgable man.
The contacts and links will be invaluable, but more than anything I think what I took from meeting them was the importance of using an understanding of ACEs and the introduction of Trauma Informed Approaches in the context of the wider community implications and that you have to understand the system that you are working in and the challenges that it presents. Schools for example are an obvious touch point for a lot of work, children are mandated to be their, parents (ideally) are engaged with the organisation, there is a professional who has daily contact. But the challenge is to create the support that enables the school to see that being the touch point is designed to reduce, not increase the workload / pressure.
In the UK I've heard the refrain that teachers are concerned with being given too much in terms of mental health training, as it is a way to add low level 'social work' to their role. I completely understand this fear and so it cannot be stressed enough that there has to be a system of support available which allows teachers to have the skill to identify a potential issue and deal with the child in a way that reduces the chances of behavioural issues within the class (reducing workload) and then having an option for additional support for the emotional needs of the child (reducing workload, introducing resilience).
Easy enough, but budgets are stretched. The next level of course is to seek to identify the medium and long term benefits of increasing resilience within families (not just one child, we need to see the family as a potential piece of work too) in terms of reduced pressure on services. Research and intelligent outcomes measures are a key tool in this, I think social prescribing can help with this and is also a route into families which isn't available in the same way in the US.
I met with Amy, Eric, and Maria who are on the verge of getting the Capital Clubhouse up and running, it was really interesting to see how they had overcome legislative and institutional barriers to fight to get this off the ground. They have had to work around a funding model that is not designed for the kind of work a clubhouse offers, which means they had to create strong relationships within the City Council. What they did really well was work with those people to establish the benefits of having a clubhouse, this meant they had willing and helpful officers to support them.
Meeting with Elizabeth Prewitt and her husband Bill was really useful too, Bill knows EVERYONE, from Norman Lamb in the UK to Sis who I was about to meet at NACOA, and Eric who I had met the previous day. His broad knowledge and huge contact book was an amazing resource and we were able to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of the Clubhouse model (he agreed Center Club is a good one!), but also it was really valuable to be able to compare systems and understand the importance of collaborations and connections across with other organisations. Elizabeth is literally making those connections through her work, as well as being a journalist and policy adviser (and also knowing SO MANY people!) Elizabeth has created a powerful network for people to share good practice and work across the world. This will be a great link for us back home.
I then had a great session with Osaremen Okolo who is an aide to Senator Patty Murray, this was really useful as I was interested to know how they had influenced other politicians to support the movement toward trauma informed ideas. The answer is a mix of evidence, anecdote, and opportunity- the US is facing a significant opioid issue (see NACOA below shifting to addiction generally) which has engaged politicians. They can see people 'just like them' falling to this addiction (the reflection being that this means it impacts more white people), they don't want the solution to be criminalisation (which was the response to crack... which yes was disproportionately an issue in black communities), they see evidence in pockets of trauma informed work being successful and so they can support it.
Finally I met with the quite remarkable Sis Wenger, Sis is CEO of NACOA US - this was a really meaningful for me as NACOA in the UK was a life changing organisation when I began to understand the impact of alcoholism within my own family. I saw a series of addiction programmes that NACOA have helped to roll out, we discussed the journey from dealing primarily with alcohol to dealing with addiction more widely. Sis had even more GREAT contacts for me, but the essence of what I learned was that we have to get in as early as possible with children and families and teach them resiliences - it's not enough to simply get past the short term issue, there have to be building blocks for a stronger family in future. The impact of the probation programme was quite remarkable.
What I will take away from this is a lot of learning but also an endorsement of an early idea of mine which is that I should try and make one of the outcomes of my learning an APPG on Trauma / family resilience / ACES so that we can engage politicians with evidence and anecdote - something which NACOA did to spectacular effect with alcohol in the UK.
Tonight I fly to Seattle and drive down to Portland where I will finally have a whole week in one place working in the schools of Hillsboro County! I can't wait... although I'm having to wait because my plane was moved back by 8 hours - time enough for a blog though!
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