Members of the Waco and Bryan/College Station communities
learned about trauma-informed care during the Empowered to Connect simulcast on
April 13-14. The live simulcast showed presentations from the main conference
held in Tennessee where childcare leaders shared knowledge and strategies to
help professionals, adoptive and foster parents better connect with children
who have experienced emotional or physical trauma and the effects those
experiences can have developmentally.
The conference is a joint effort between the Karyn Purvis
Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University, Empowered to
Connect, and Show Hope. Show Hope an international movement to care for
orphans through adoption aid, care centers, adoption support and student
initiatives. Presenters shared Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)
methods developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross from the TCU
institute to help bring attachment and connection to families.
MCH Family Outreach in Waco hosted the
simulcast on the Waco campus. Attendees included social workers,
teachers, clergy, and foster and adoptive caregivers. This was Waco’s fourth
year hosting the event and second time to host.
“Offering the simulcast allows local families and
professionals to have access to TBRI information directly from TCU team
members,” said Brooke Davilla, director of MCH Family Outreach in Waco. “As we
are committed to spreading trauma-informed care services to our community, we
feel this is a wonderful opportunity for those who may not readily be able to
attend trainings that are far away. Offering the simulcast also allowed MCH
Family Outreach to meet new families and referral services who may utilize our
services in the future.”
MCH Family Outreach in Bryan/College Station hosted the
simulcast for the first time at First United Methodist Church of Bryan with 30
people attending. Ted Randall, director of the Bryan office, said 11
participants were foster and adoptive parents while 19 were professionals from local
school districts, Child Protective Services, and local community outreach
services.
“We wanted to host Empowered to Connect to bring TBRI to the
community,” Randall said. “We believe professionals, biological parents and
foster/adoptive parents can all benefit from trauma-informed care. This was a
great beginning to bringing more information into their
lives. Additionally, it allowed our MCH Family Outreach office to share
about how we can work with area agencies, schools and families to continue
their education and practice with trauma-informed practices.”
