MCH Family Outreach hosts Empowered to Connect simulcast

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.”