Appendix F: STARS Overview

STRENGTH, TRAUMA AND RESILIENCE STUDIES CERTIFICATION OR STARS

Developed with input from DCF leadership, lead agency representatives, case management service representatives, and other stakeholders for child welfare professionals, STARS is a university-led, evidence-based, trauma-informed, engaging workforce resilience training that will motivate, educate, and improve the skills of the child welfare workforce to improve child safety. • STARS is expected to launch on October 17, 2022. Registration will open in September 2022. • Eligible participants include child welfare case managers and child welfare protective investigators with at least 1 year with the organization. • Application process will include a required letter of support from supervisors and a required statement of intent from potential child welfare professional participants. • Course will address coping, stress management, secondary trauma, and primary trauma (trauma histories interfere with learning). • Builds better resilience skills for families. • Provides concrete tools for growing child, parental, and family resilience • 12-18 hours of self-paced, online course content with 2 virtual, synchronous sessions with a university faculty member to practice and reinforce skills. • Offers opportunities for participants to connect with peers and a coach. • A certificate of completion will be issued from Florida State University upon completion of the course. • Eligible for CEU’s by the Florida Certification Board and connected to advancement criteria on the

DCF Career Ladder.

COURSE OUTLINE

Chapter 1 Traumatic Life Experiences and Health Impacts

Explain the importance of the child welfare professionals’ role in working with persons affected by trauma.

• Identify how cultural, social, and environmental factors influence children’s and adult experience of trauma. • Define different types of trauma. • Describe polyvictimization in children.

• Examine the impact of trauma on children, parenting, and family relationships Chapter 2 Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences and Relational Health

• Explain Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) • Discuss how the Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) can encourage healthy child development • Describe the public health approach to preventing and addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) • Identify the therapeutic options and child welfare interventions for helping clients who recover from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Chapter 3 Trauma-Informed Skills and System Collaboration

• Use trauma-sensitive methods of communication to increase the likelihood of shared understanding between client and professional. • Describe basic strategies of motivational interviewing. • Identify the differences between sympathy and empathy. • List the guiding principles of trauma-informed care for child welfare service systems. • Identify ways to improve partnership and collaboration across systems. First In-Person Training - Will focus on practicing trauma-informed communication skills and motivational interviewing

Chapter 4 Preventing Secondary Traumatization/Vicarious Trauma

• Describe typical workplace stressors • Define and recognize the impact of and primary and vicarious/secondary trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue • Identify risk and protective factors for primary trauma, and vicarious/secondary trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue • Identify new skills, including coping strategies and self-care, to prevent and address workplace stress • List steps that leadership can take to improve response to workplace stress

Chapter 5 Partnering with Families: Building Family Resilience

• Define and describe characteristics of resilience. • Identify steps to engage in successful partnerships with families that elevate voices of children, youth, and families. • Identify strength-based approaches that build physical and psychological safety of children, youth, and families.

• Learn the six protective factors that build resilience in children, youth and families and help them heal from trauma. • Identify steps to deliver services and social supports to children, youth and families that promote resilience. • Examine the factors that help children, youth, and families with posttraumatic growth.

Chapter 6 Resilience Toolkit: Practical Tools to Reduce Stress

• Examine various research-based stress management techniques. • Learn how each stress management technique works to improve functioning and increase resilience. • Learn to practice each technique. • Understand how stress management techniques can be provided to clients to help build resilience skills. • Understand how such techniques can be used by child welfare staff to help build resilience skills. Second in-person training - Will focus on practicing skills for successful engagement with and building safety for children, youth, and families; assessing and preventing secondary traumatization in child welfare staff and practicing tools that build resilience for clients and child welfare staff.

OVERVIEW: STARS

• The overall learning objectives for the STARS Professional Certification curriculum include: • Understand that trauma is nearly universal and is considered a public health issue because of its potential impacts • Describe the mental, physical, and behavioral health problems connected to childhood maltreatment • Understand what constitutes individual trauma and related issues including traumatic stress theory, complex trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), polyvictimization, and PTSD • Understand how stress from ACEs can affect the developing brain and behavior • Recognize common short term and long-term responses to trauma • Recognize why child welfare professionals should understand the concepts of trauma and resilience • Be familiar with research on the components of resilience, along with individual skills that promote resilience • Use a strength-based, culturally competent approach to interacting with individuals and families who have experienced adversity • Integrate knowledge about trauma and resilience into a trauma-informed practice • Be prepared to work in trauma-informed and trauma-responsive organizations