Working in Community Coalitions Toward the Creation of Culturally Relevant Trauma-Informed Schools: Recommendations for State Policy

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: The State and Education Reform: A Policy Agenda for Researchers and Policy Makers

Abstract

This paper analyzes the state policies of Wisconsin, Washington, and Massachusetts as they relate to establishing trauma-informed schools. A comparative study was conducted to provide an understanding of each trauma-informed school policy, implementation, and results. This study is based on document analysis as a method for data collection, using Ecological Systems Theory and Community Coalition Action Theory as a theoretical framework. We focused on policies that promoted partnering with community organizations to address culturally-relevant trauma interventions, in order to discuss the effects of such efforts and implications for trauma-informed schools policy in states with culturally diverse populations. There is strong support for designing culturally-relevant trauma-informed school policies that rely on community partnerships for all states that serve historically marginalized students.

Authors

• Patricia Benitez Hemans, University of California - San Diego

• Jessica Trejos, University of California - San Diego