Products and Resources Catalog

The C-TLC's Schools This Year tip sheet was developed to guide conversations to include a trauma-informed, equitable, and compassionate lens to providing mental health supports for every member of the school community. Throughout this school year and beyond, you can use these tips to bring school communities together to heal from the trauma and grief that COVID-19 continues to inflict. Operating schools—in all forms—with optimism, joy, and connection will support the mental health of staff, students, and families, and provide a positive and healthy foundation for moving into a more hopeful future.

This interactive guide provides a trauma-conscious, equitable, and compassionate roadmap to supporting the mental health and resilience of every member of the school community.

On March 10th, a listening session with Meeta Gandhi, LCSW-R talked about year 1 in the program development and implementation of NYC’s first Children’s Mobile Crisis Team. it also discussed program efficacy, stakeholder use, and lessons learned. Meeta Gandhi, LCSW-R is the Director of the Children’s Mobile Crisis Team with an NYC program.  

  How well are our child-serving systems addressing the unmet basic, health, and education needs of children? What are some of the challenges? What are some of the opportunities? Ann Smith, JD, MBA, Executive Director of AFCAMP – Advocacy for Children answered these questions, and explored ways to meet the needs of children and families more effectively and efficiently.

We held a listening session with Ruth Ettenberg Freeman, LCSW about helping families navigate child therapy and helping clinicians understand how to communicate more effectively with families. The strategies Ruth will provide have been informed by her 30+ years as a parenting educator and as a clinician in private practice. Ruth is the founder of Peace at Home Parenting Solutions, co-founder of the CT Parenting Education Network, and lead author on the University of Connecticut parenting curriculum, "Building Family Futures." This session is ideal for families and mental health providers, but all educators will gain useful knowledge. You can submit questions for Ruth in advance that she will answer during the session.

Young people with foster care experience are incredibly resilient. Despite facing enormous challenges including trauma, loss, and disruptions to schooling and social and family connections, they can and do heal, thrive, and contribute to their communities every day. Relationships with supportive adults and the right services at the right time both contribute to better outcomes - particularly when the adults supporting young people in foster care recognize their potential and when services meet their needs and strengthen protective factors. In this interactive conversation, we discussed the resilience of youth and young adults in foster care, and how providers, practitioners, caregivers, and other adults can help them to navigate challenges and thrive.   Resources Annie E. Casey Foundation | Brain Frames: Short Tools for Positive Interactions With Youth in Foster Care Annie E. Casey Foundation | Adolescent Brain Development Resources The Root | Black Children and Foster Care: On Surviving the Trauma of a System That Doesn’t Care About Keeping Families Together NYT | What Makes Some People More Resilient Than Others Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Resource Guide NYC Well | COVID-19 Digital Mental Health Resources What is essential when promoting resilience and ensuring a culturally humble lens?  

Dr. Yvette Jackson, Dr. Rachel Santa, Ann Smith, JD, and Dr. Christine Mason shared their insights as we explore solutions and vision for equity and inclusion in schools in 2021. Learning Objectives: learn about innovative programs and recommendations to achieve greater equity and inclusion. learn about advocacy and promising practices for children who are more vulnerable and more at-risk. Gain practical ideas and resources to help alleviate stress and create a brighter future, even in the midst of all we are handling today.

This presentation will focus on a community-based, compassionate approach to addressing issues related to children’s mental health and trauma with 7 features essential to providing valuable, cost-effective services to children and youth with serious behavioral and emotional challenges. We will include suggestions for implementing a mental health support services team in a way that serves youth’s needs without stigmatization or additional funding, with concrete examples of our methods.    Presenter(s):  Christine Mason, PhD Dana Asby, MA MEd Martha Staeheli, PhD

Fact sheet describing COVID-19's effect on child mental health.

Back to School After COVID-19: Supporting Student and Staff Mental Health Educators across the world are wondering how school will look when they return to the buildings that they left suddenly earlier this spring.  This toolkit is designed to help guide conversations to include a trauma-informed, equitable, and compassionate lens to providing mental health supports to every member of the school community. Because we will all return to school as different people than when we left, caring leaders are seeking to support each other in turning our tragedies into growth, recognizing the joys amongst the ongoing and profound difficulties, and re-establishing school communities to serve everyone, with greater justice and equity.

On June 22nd, the School Mental Health Initiative's Childhood-Trauma Learning Collaborative (C-TLC), has developed a national webinar to prepare district leaders, administrators, teachers, and other educators such as school psychologists, social workers, and counselors to vision with their staff and local communities as we get ready for teaching and learning in schools and homes this Fall. This 90-minute session, guided by Visioning Onward’s lead author, Dr. Christine Mason, C-TLC Director and Executive Director of the Center for Educational Improvement (CEI) will include the book’s co-authors Paul Liabenow and Dr. Melissa Patschke. These leaders, along with global entrepreneur and founder of the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color, Kevin Simpson, introduced visioning concepts by examining the work of Starbucks, Amazon, and other corporate giants and guide attendees through our 8-step iterative visioning approach, showing you ways to increase its relevance during the current pandemic and amid social unrest across the globe. Dr. Martha Staeheli, a Yale Professor and Director of the New England MHTTC School Mental Health Initiative, will serve as a panelist and describe how to alleviate trauma and further a compassionate response to children’s mental health and well-being. About our Authors: Christine (Chris) Mason, Ph.D. is Director of the C-TLC, a part of the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center's School Mental Health Initiative. The C-TLC was established to foster alliances and adoption of evidenced-based practices supporting a compassionate approach to mental health and well-being in schools. Paul Liabenow is Executive Director of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association, and Melissa Patschke, Ed.D. is Principal of Upper Providence Elementary School in Royersford, PA.   to access a copy of this presentation click here.

/*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*--> In collaboration with the Opioid Response Network and the New England Region 1 Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, CCSME offered this two-part series to address the relationships between infant and adolescent trauma, and the risk and potential for a substance use disorder outcome. Participants in this webinar learned how to name brain systems impacted by exposure to adverse childhood experiences, how to describe three social, emotional, and behavioral impacts of exposure to ACEs during adolescence, and how to identify stigma in self and in others. To download a copy of this presentation, click here. Presenters: Dr. Hilary Hodgdon and Dr. Jeffrey Goldsmith 

In collaboration with the Opioid Response Network and the New England Region 1 Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, CCSME offered this two-part series to address the relationships between infant and adolescent trauma, and the risk and potential for a substance use disorder outcome. Participants in this webinar learned about the various ways addiction impacts the maternal and infant brain, how to identify prevention strategies, how to describe the significance of attachment parenting to promote infant resilience, and discussed the risk of inherited genetics. To access a copy of this presentation, click here Presenter (s):  Katie Volk and Dr. Jeffrey Goldsmith

On June 16th, Dana Asby, M.A., M.Ed., the Center for Educational Improvement's (CEI) Director of Innovation and Research Support, shared more about trauma-informed yoga and related mindfulness practices like breath work, mantras, visualization, and mindful awareness exercises. The Childhood-Trauma Learning Collaborative (C-TLC )is being conducted as part of the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (New England MHTTC). The collaborative is designed to foster alliances to address the needs of children and youth who have experienced/are at risk of experiencing significant trauma.   To access the powerpoint slides to the presentation, click here. 

During this webinar, the authors of Visioning Onward provided inspiration, insights, exercises, and Q&A to prepare you to vision with your schools and districts. In this time of COVID-19, visioning is a critical part of planning for our future. We learned about visioning by examining the work of Starbucks, Amazon, and other corporate giants. Participants received a study guide to take our virtual approach back to your schools and districts to conduct your own visioning sessions. They guided you through our 8-step iterative visioning approach, explaining the importance of visioning for success in business and in education, and helping you plan for visioning with your staff and local communities. We did this with an eye towards the neurobiology of trauma and ways to foster self-care and the well-being of staff and students that are signature components of CEI’s Heart Centered Learning® approach to social emotional learning and mindfulness. To download a copy of this presentation, click here. Presenter (s): Chris Mason, Ph.D., Paul Liabenow, & Melissa Patschke, Ed.D.

This Childhood-Trauma Learning Collaborative (C-TLC) resource guide shares results of the reflective conversations we have had with C-TLC Fellows - a unique group of district leaders, educators, and school-based mental health professionals with whom we have built a sense of trust and community over the past 18 months. In 2020, as we shelter in place as a result of COVID-19, stress, anxiety, uncertainty, and fears about our future are high. School communities are impacted not only by fears of the contagion but also by broad, rapid shifts they are making to deliver equitable remote learning services as seamlessly as possible. Educators, students, and families are adjusting to the ubiquitous 2020 version of home schooling as parents balance becoming surrogate teachers while attempting to work their normal jobs—sometimes feeling inadequate in both roles. Despite the hardships we are experiencing, some schools, across a variety of situations, are using this pause to reimagine what a more equitable and trauma-informed school might look like when children and teachers finally return to school buildings. The outcomes reported in our issue brief resonate with what others are saying nationally and internationally about needs, concerns, and ways of coping right now. 

CEI and Yale conducted an interim evaluation in 2019 to assess the C-TLC Fellows’ involvement in capacity building in New England using Heart Centered Learning (HCL, Mason, et al., 2019, 2020) and providing compassionate responses to students’ needs and well-being. This report is based on the Fellows’ responses to a 15 item survey as well as feedback shared as a part of individual phone interviews.

During this webinar, the authors of Visioning Onward provided inspiration, insights, exercises, and Q&A to prepare you to vision with your schools and districts. In this time of COVID-19, visioning is a critical part of planning for our future. We learned about visioning by examining the work of Starbucks, Amazon, and other corporate giants. Participants received a study guide to take our virtual approach back to your schools and districts to conduct your own visioning sessions. They guided you through our 8-step iterative visioning approach, explaining the importance of visioning for success in business and in education, and helping you plan for visioning with your staff and local communities. We did this with an eye towards the neurobiology of trauma and ways to foster self-care and the well-being of staff and students that are signature components of CEI’s Heart Centered Learning® approach to social emotional learning and mindfulness. To download a copy of this presentation, click here. Presenter (s): Chris Mason, Ph.D., Paul Liabenow, & Melissa Patschke, Ed.D.

Session Three: Understanding Grief and Increasing Wellness Trauma-Informed Learning for Early Childhood Educators Series May 21, 2020 This session focused on the grief that different traumatic experiences can trigger, including the current pandemic. By understanding that the experience of grief can be used to build resilience, this session provides participants with tools needed to build and cultivate resilience within themselves to accomplish this for themselves and the children they work with. Other topics that were covered include the stages of grief and variability within those stages; the developmental psychology of grief; strategies for building and promoting resilience practices that foster connection and wellness among children, staff, and communities. Slide deck  Recording My Personal Wellness Wheel from Resilient Futures Self Care Tips Sheet Developmental Responses to COVID-19 Trauma from Resilient Futures   Learning objectives for this series: Learn evidence-based practices that teach children how to replace trauma-based coping strategies with resilience-based strategies. Understand and develop strategies to address trauma-based inequities in your systems and raise equity. Review and practice several evidence-based wellness and resilience practices.   Early Childhood Educator Training Series Session one: Understanding Trauma and Stress Session two: Cultural Humility and Responsiveness

During this webinar, the authors of Visioning Onward provided inspiration, insights, exercises, and Q&A to prepare you to vision with your schools and districts. In this time of COVID-19, visioning is a critical part of planning for our future. We learned about visioning by examining the work of Starbucks, Amazon, and other corporate giants. Participants received a study guide to take our virtual approach back to your schools and districts to conduct your own visioning sessions. They guided you through our 8-step iterative visioning approach, explaining the importance of visioning for success in business and in education, and helping you plan for visioning with your staff and local communities. We did this with an eye towards the neurobiology of trauma and ways to foster self-care and the well-being of staff and students that are signature components of CEI’s Heart Centered Learning® approach to social emotional learning and mindfulness. To download a copy of this presentation, click here. Presenter (s): Chris Mason, Ph.D., Paul Liabenow, & Melissa Patschke, Ed.D.

Session Two: Cultural Humility and Responsiveness Trauma-Informed Learning for Early Childhood Educators Series May 14, 2020 This session focused on the need for understanding and integrating the practices of cultural humility into a trauma-based model. Participants learned about; the three parts of practicing cultural humility, the successful application of this model in early childhood work, and the importance of cultural humility when working from a trauma-informed approach. A focus was given to supporting participants to develop strategies that address inequities in their systems while raising equity. Finally, participants were given information on how to identify and respond to microaggressions as a bystander with privilege, and/or as adults protecting children. Slide deck  Recording Three Tips for Building Equity from Embracerace   Learning objectives for this series: Learn evidence-based practices that teach children how to replace trauma-based coping strategies with resilience-based strategies. Understand and develop strategies to address trauma-based inequities in your systems and raise equity. Review and practice several evidence-based wellness and resilience practices.   Early Childhood Educator Training Series Session one: Understanding Trauma and Stress Session three: Understanding Grief and Increasing Wellness

This webinar reviewed current trends in children’s mental health (particularly with rural and low-income populations and students of color) and explored why youth suicide and mental illness are on the rise. They also discussed cultural, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors and how they impact prevention and treatment options, with recommendations for how to improve equity. They also explored restorative justice and case studies of effective solutions. To download a copy of this presentation, click here. Presenter: Meghan Wenzel, M.S., Researcher and Writer, Center for Educational Improvement

The Pacific Southwest MHTTC curated a series of topical resource sheets to help you find high-quality tools and information on caring for yourself, your families, and the communities you serve. This resource sheet focuses on links to articles about family coping strategies, caring for children and other family members, and talking to children about COVID-19. It also includes family support groups and warmlines. Click the "View Resource" link above to download, or view all available resource sheet topics.

Session One: Understanding Trauma and Stress Trauma-Informed Learning for Early Childhood Educators Series May 7, 2020 This introductory session defined trauma and gives participants a foundational understanding of behaviors resulting from exposure to early childhood trauma. This session also addressed research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Using this information, the trainers define a trauma-informed approach including what it means to be trauma-informed. Slide deck  Recording Trauma and Resilience Snapshot by Wilder Research   Learning objectives for this series: Learn evidence-based practices that teach children how to replace trauma-based coping strategies with resilience-based strategies. Understand and develop strategies to address trauma-based inequities in your systems and raise equity. Review and practice several evidence-based wellness and resilience practices. Early Childhood Educator Training Series Session two: Cultural Humility and Responsiveness Session three: Understanding Grief and Increasing Wellness