As the Attachment & Trauma Network(ATN) begins its 22nd year as the Voice for Traumatized Children and Their Families, the Board of Directors is streamlining the programs offered by the organization.
“For two decades, we’ve done incredible work providing support, education and advocacy for families of traumatized children and for others who work with our children,” explains Julie Beem, Executive Director, “as more information has become available on the impact of childhood trauma, through the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study, and best practices for trauma-informed care, it was time to hone our services. So our Board wisely decided to focus on three critical programs.”
The three p
rograms are:
Trauma-Informed Parenting – designed to empower parents of traumatized children to be healing agents for their children, led by Tif Junker. “ATN’s focus has always been on providing parents support, education and resources that contribute to healing,” Tif Junker reports. “Combining and adding even more focused, tangible support like educational programming, retreats and other parent-focused activities into one effort allows us to empower parents with a Whole-Hearted ,Whole-Brained, Whole-Child approach to trauma recovery at home.”
Trauma-Sensitive Schools– to provide systemwide resources, trauma-focused educator training and on-going consultation tailored to each school district, led by Melissa Sadin. “Trauma informing schools and shifting the paradigm for our children during the school day is mission critical,” says Ms. Sadin, a veteran teacher, administrator and mother of a traumatized child. “ATN’s program is designed to empower teachers to become trauma-focused and to create classrooms and schools where all children feel safe and can get regulated, connected and learn.”
Childhood Trauma Awareness –being the Voice for traumatized children and their families means raising awareness of the plight of early childhood trauma. This program will focus on messaging, outreach, social media and an awareness campaign and is led by Sandy Davis & Thomas Ahern. “Our members and donors named awareness as their number one concern,” Ms. Davis explains. “We’re committed to amplifying the Voice of our children impacted by trauma and to raise awareness not only of what our families need, but also tell of the hope there is for healing when families are given attachment-focused, trauma-informed resources.”
As part of this overall program restructuring, watch for new educational offerings, updates to ATN’s website, increased social media coverage, and a significant change to the organization’s memberships in the coming weeks.
For questions about any of these programs, contact Julie Beem at [email protected] . To get involved as a volunteer, contact Sandy Davis at [email protected].
