USING RESTORATIVE PRACTICE TO PROMOTE FAMILY RESILIENCE Jenna Voss, PhD, CED, LSLS Cert AVEd. jvoss@Fontbonne.edu Susan Lenihan, PhD., CED slenihan@Fontbonne.edu
Learning Objectives â– Identify approaches and strategies that result in positive outcomes for children and families experiencing trauma.
â– Examine the use of restorative practices to promote positive outcomes for children and families experiencing trauma. â– Create a personal improvement plan focusing on specific strategies which can be used to promote resilience through interactions with children and families experiencing trauma.
WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY? Five Fast Facts
1. Among all children under 18 years in the U.S., 43 percent live in lowincome families and 21 percent— approximately one in five—lives in a poor family.
2. The percentage of children living in poverty today is higher than it was in 1969.
3. Suburban areas are seeing the greatest increases in poverty rates.
3. One in four Latino children in the U.S. is poor according to the Children’s Defense Fund.
4. The median income of White households in the U.S. is two times larger than that of African American households.
5. Forty-five percent of infants and toddlers live in lowincome families?
Housing and Food Insecurity
Safety in the Community
Education and Schools
Health Disparity
The Crisis Within How Toxic Stress and Trauma Endanger Our Children The Crisis Within by Nancy Cambria
https://forthesakeofall.org/
Changing Minds Now
Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey https://acestoohigh. com/got-your-acescore/
What is Resilience?
FRAMEWORK
Framework
Effective practices that professionals can use to foster resilience and to maximize development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and live in poverty include: 1. Identify personal bias; 2. Build relationships; 3. Assess family needs; 4. Provide resources and support; 5. Increase awareness and advocate; 6. Educate families on quality instruction;
Voss and Lenihan (2016) http://www.infanthearing.org/issue_briefs/ http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/jehdi/vol1/iss1/7/
Identify Personal Bias ■ We must understand our own “values and attitudes and be prepared to suspend judgment on behaviors, world views, and lifestyles of others that conflict” with our own beliefs. (Thomas-Presswood & Presswood, pg 154) ■ Be present, non-judgmental, and selfless.
■ Find the strengths in each family. ■ Recognize priorities may be different than ours. ■ Watch, listen, learn.
■ Hold high expectations for achievement.
Build Relationships Parent-Professional
Parent-Child
• Provide feedback and authentic affirmation to make families feel comfortable.
• Recognize and acknowledge the positive aspects of child-caregiver interaction.
• Use language the family understands and explain new terms.
• Note appropriate attachment between child and caregiver.
• Talk with caregivers about their lives • Comment on child’s strengths and to know what their tangible and development. intangible contributions can be. • Provide resources for caregivers to • Ask meaningful questions and develop positive relationship with listen, listen, listen. child—print, online, and community resources.
Assess Family Needs ■ Identify strengths of the family, through team assessment when appropriate. ■ Determine type of poverty experienced by the family – Resources can include: financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, support systems, knowledge of hidden rules, role models – Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
■ Allow family to prioritize needs. – Our intervention must match need.
■ Document – observe trends, prioritize appointments
Taken from: http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/whatareneeds.html
Provide Resources and Support ■ Listening Technology ■ Access to Services
■ Food, Housing, Health ■ Keep everyone safe
Increase Awareness & Advocate
■ Agency-wide – Participate in activities with colleagues to increase agency-wide effective practices such as book study, poverty simulation, and resource simulator (www.nccp.org) .
■ Community-wide – Be aware of legislative initiatives that could provide support for children living in poverty and advocate with governmental leaders for the implementation of such policies.
Educate Families on Quality Instruction ■ Help families select quality childcare or early education programs – When “families are not able to afford the cost of high-quality preschool programs” they are often “unaware of the characteristics of high-quality preschool programs.” (Thomas-Presswood & Presswood, pg 118) – http://www.childcareaware.org/
■ Teach what makes “good instruction” – – (Thomas-Presswood & Presswood, pgs 126-127) – Relevant, Multi-cultural, varied learning modalities
■ PLAY! – “Children living in poverty may also be deprived of the benefits of safe and creative playtime…” (Milteer & Ginsburg, pg e204)
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES
Gestures that Heal https://changingmindsnow.org/healing
National Center for Children in Poverty http://www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text _1180.pdf
http://nccpblog.tumblr.com/post/160049744267/new-nccpreport-lifts-up-positive-protective
Partnership for Resilience http://partnership4resilience.org/ Restorative Questions
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What was your role in what happened?
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What were you thinking at the time?
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What have you thought about since?
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Who do you think has been affected? How?
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What do you need to do to make things as right as possible?
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How can we make sure this doesn’t happen again?
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What support do you need?
How will you promote RESILIENCE? ~ in each interaction with your patient, client or their family? ~ on a broad level, within your programs and policies?
2 successes and a wish (i.e. self improvement plan)!