Family Engagement within Trauma-Informed Schools: Toolkits for Elementary School Staff

September 18, 2019

This toolkit was designed for a facilitator to present to Elementary School staff (leaders, teachers, other staff) seeking to offer support to families when their children experience trauma. It was developed by the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center in collaboration with Ohio’s Family and Community Engagement Network. This toolkit can be used as a brief introduction to trauma-informed practices for school staff or as a supplement to a more robust trauma-informed schools training program. A second version of this toolkit tailored to middle/high school staff is also available.

The toolkits contain the following resources:

An interactive PowerPoint presentation with presenter notes embedded that could be used as a guide for conversations or presented more formally at a staff professional development. (Plan for at least 1 hour)
A worksheet to accompany one of the slides in the presentation, which will allow staff to self-assess their school’s implementation of the principles of trauma informed care with families.
A set of handouts for school staff:
- “Family Engagement within Trauma-Informed Schools”: This handout includes principles of trauma informed care and practices to employ with families.
- “Be Ready with Resources”: This handout contains a series of links that school staff could go to in order to connect families with information and tools to support their children who have experienced trauma.
Two example resources that school staff could share with families about relaxation exercises and ways to help children heal.
Two self-care resources from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
A Secondary Traumatic Stress Handout for Administrators and Building Leadership Teams