Chronic Trauma and the Teen Brain - an Online Forum

• Did you know that 60.6% of youths have witnessed violence and 46.3% have reported experiencing physical assault?

• Did you know that exposure to trauma, delinquency, and school failure are related? 

Chances are, trauma has affected many of the young people you work with in schools, child welfare, the juvenile justice system, or any other place where teens gather. 
That's why the Vulnerable Populations Portfolio at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is taking the unusual step of creating a time-limited online community forum, "Chronic Trauma and the Teen Brain -- foundation staff may direct funding to address the issue and want to know more about it. The goal of the forum is to learn from you—the expert—while connecting you to other experts.

Here's what they're looking for:

• "Tell us how you see trauma affecting your work with young people on the ground in schools, the juvenile justice system, child welfare or any other place you work with teens."

• "Are you a researcher? Come share your findings with practitioners and help us think about how practitioners and researchers can share knowledge to improve outcomes for young people."

Please do let your colleagues know about this important opportunity to be heard and to learn from others about this topic. I understand the forum will be open between August 9 and August 20th, but there's already material posted, so you may be able to post sooner. You can post to the forum at any time; it's scheduled to close August 20th August 31st.
Other resources:

• "10 Things Every Juvenile Court Should Know about Trauma and Delinquency" 
• "Why Investing in Trauma-Informed Care for Juveniles Makes Sense"
• "Beyond “Scared Straight” – Moving to Programs that Actually Work"

Photo by Prema01.