CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY, TRAUMA AND RESILIENCE (CHATR)
PROBLEM
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are chronic stresses that occur during childhood, and may have a long-lasting effect over someone’s whole life course. These can include events that happen directly to a child (such as psychological or physical abuse) or circumstances in a child’s environment which can have a detrimental impact (for example, domestic violence, substance misuse, poverty, racism or bereavement).
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A range of studies over the last 20 years or more have shown that ACEs can have a profound impact on the physical and mental health of a person, not only during childhood, but throughout their life.
According to a study by the Wave Trust, 67% of the population have experienced at least one ACE, while over 12% have experienced four or more.
SOLUTION
An interactive training programme focused on building relationships between agencies and learning from each other's work.
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The ChATR programme aims to establish a multi-agency community of practitioners in Hackney and the City of London that works in a way that is trauma-informed, ACE (adverse childhood experiences)-aware and resilience-focused.
IMPACT
100% of attendees felt more confident knowing about how to use ACEs approaches to support families.
100% agreed (81% strongly agreed) that they felt their opinions were heard during the programme.
100% agreed (81% strongly agreed) that the programme provided an opportunity to learn from other practitioners.
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The training programme is being rolled out across the whole borough and now has a dedicated Project Manager.
MY ROLE
I ran a six-week intensive project with leads from City and Hackney CCG to rapidly codesign a pilot training programme, working with 12 practitioners including Social Workers, Health Visitors, Midwives and Children's Centre staff to design, run and evaluate an interactive training programme. Through workshops we understood what type of structure was needed - one without slides, focused on interaction and building a network of professionals across the system, and lead by practitioners themselves.
I continue to support the ongoing development of the programme through weekly consultations with project leads, ensuring that the core elements of the programme and approach are sustained and scaled.