COMMUNITY-FACING PROGRAMS

TACOMA WHOLE CHILD (TWC) TWC aims to transform schools by creating safe, positive, engaging, and equitable learning environments through a mutually beneficial partnership between the University of Washington Tacoma (UW Tacoma) and Tacoma Public Schools (TPS). This partnership engages school district leaders, community agencies, school teams, and educators, and draws from research-based practices including trauma-informed, culturally-responsive Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS).

Like many communities, Tacoma has experienced increased stress as a result of the global pandemic. The impact has brought challenges in almost every facet of our work in education including academics; social, emotional, and mental wellbeing; attendance; and discipline issues. Through these extraordinary times, the TWC partnership builds resilience and remains committed to meeting the rapidly increasing social-emotional needs of our diverse communities.

The conditions of the pandemic have underscored considerable inequities, areas of need, and opportunities for growth, along with the acknowledgement that addressing multifaceted problems requires more than the work of one or a few. Collaboration is crucial to antiracist practices, and to this end, TWC increased the number of team members and the diversity of perspectives and roles of its members. With this enhanced team at the helm, TWC is working toward the creation of comprehensive and coordinated services for youth and enhanced support for educators, students, and families/caretakers. With our school and community partners, we are re-defining and clarifying the vision, goals, and body of work to be organized by the district team.

Going forward, the team has reaffirmed their commitment to collect and review data (e.g., discipline data, mental health screening, needs assessments) more strategically with intentions to uncover unseen or under-realized needs among populations often pushed to the margins. Although collaboration with our communities may be complex and take more time, we know this time is a wise and necessary investment in the futures of our communities and youth. We are grateful for the ongoing commitment and financial support provided by Tacoma Public Schools for this program. TWC is funded through a partnership agreement between Tacoma Public Schools and UW Tacoma. Key, recent activities of TWC:

n creating District TWC values, vision & mission with input of stakeholders,

n identifying priorities (as they have substantially shifted over these last few years),

n supporting schools in the creation of SEL action plans,

n developing District-specific SEL student learning benchmarks,

n professional development around SEL, ethnic studies, identifying need and strength,

n collecting and reviewing District-level data (e.g., climate, needs assessments, discipline data),

n communicating with partners (e.g., community organizations, counselors, psychologists, special education, families),

n presentations and knowledge dissemination at regional and national conferences, including panel presentations at the PBS

Annual meeting, Northwest Positive

Behavior Support Network (NWPBIS), and the Washington State Association of School

Psychologists (WSASP)

n active involvement and leadership in the SEL

Community of Practice through the UWT

Office of Community Partnerships

ACTION MAPPING PROJECT The Action Mapping Project (AMP) at the University of Washington Tacoma generates an annual set of high-resolution neighborhood youth indicator maps and works with community partners to improve access and equity in neighborhoods through data production, education, and direct action. 15 UW Tacoma undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent alumni currently serve as project managers and research fellows for the Action Mapping Project.

In 2021–2022, AMP engaged with several local and regional organizations to conduct research, data collection, data analysis, and data visualization activities that were designed to inform and influence policy and placemaking throughout the South Puget Sound. Notably, as schools began opening following the secondary waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, AMP began working directly with the Tacoma Public School district to re-establish its longstanding core mission to generate participatory spatial data that reflect the everyday experiences and perceptions of youth in the Tacoma region. A list of projects conducted in 2021–2022 by the Action Mapping Project are listed below. Partner organizations are included alongside each project.

n Tacoma Creates: Qualitative and Quantitative analysis and visualization of organizational annual and quarterly report data.

n Tacoma Creates: Gap analysis of cultural/arts programs in the City of Tacoma and mapping dashboard development of those data.

n Metropolitan Development Council (MDC): Youth

Mapping for Change summer camp for students in

MDC summer programs.

n Thurston County, City of Olympia, City of Tumwater:

Development of equity index and stormwater vulnerability index.

n Thurston County Regional Environmental Education Program (REEP): Gap analysis of programming and participation in environmental education projects.

n Greater Tacoma Community Foundation (GTCF):

Qualitative (content) analysis, social network analysis, and data visualization of 60 hours of data from strategic planning interviews.

n City of Tacoma Neighborhood Planning Department:

Production of participatory neighborhood mapping data for McKinley Hill and Pacific Avenue BRT neighborhood improvement projects. This project is also incorporating existing AMP youth indicator data into the planning process.

n Safe Streets Tacoma – Strengthening Community

Safety project: Production of participatory mapping data, qualitative data analysis, and social networking analysis to support state-funded BIPOC focused community-safety and improvement project. AMP youth indicator data are also being incorporated into this project to augment new findings.