News

12/12/24 - ITTIC collaborated through two 2.5-hour sessions with the Western District of New York Human Trafficking Task Force (WNYHTTF). The task force is a multidisciplinary group that brings law enforcement and social service agencies together to identify and investigate human trafficking while using a victim-centered and trauma-informed response. Our discussions solidified foundational knowledge on trauma-informed care through understanding trauma and adversity and its impacts on individuals served and those in the task force, as well as trauma-informed interviewing and language and the sequence of engagement. 

11/22/24 - ITTIC was invited to present during a statewide symposium that was organized by Gov. Kathy Hocul's Office of Diversity and Inclusion in October 2024. Read the full story from UB's School of Social Work here. 

10/31/24 - ITTIC team members Tina Zerbian and Megan Koury attended the New York State Trauma-Informed Network and Resources Center's annual Join the Journey Conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. This conference was a place for professionals and survivors to come together and learn about trauma-informed and resiliency strategies. ITTIC presented on the Organizational Change Manual and how organizations can use the resources provided to move from theory to practice. 

9/20/24 - Tina Zerbian, ITTIC assistant director, and Megan Koury, project manager, presented during the NYSCAA and NYSWDA Annual Professional Development Conference from Sept. 17-20 in Lake Placid, N.Y. Their presentation focused on how to take the theories behind trauma-informed practices and put them into action at CCA, a community action coalition in Cattaraugus County.

9/4/24 - ITTIC assistant director, Tina Zerbian, and co-presenter Andrew Studley, CEO with Connecting Communities in Action, went to Seattle, Washington, during the last week in August to present at the National Community Action Partnership Annual Convention. They presented "Demystifying Trauma-Informed Care: From Theory to Practice," which focused on how using the 10 Key Developmental Areas in ITTIC's Organizational Change Manual can make what feels like an unattainable goal a reality. 

8/15/24 - ITTIC and UB Accessibility collaborated over a two-part discussion for a total of 5.5 hours of training on trauma-informed care. The conversations focused on the intersection of accessibility resources on college campuses and the impact of trauma and adversity on students, faculty and each other. 

7/29/24 - ITTIC presented at the International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH) 38th Congress in Barcelona, Spain on July 24. IALMH hosts an international congress every two years that brings together expertise on emerging and best practices in law and mental health from across the globe. ITTIC Co-Directors Sue Green and Samantha Koury were joined by Hon. Rachel Tanguay and Allison Jayne from Rockland County Family Treatment Court, Tina Zerbian, ITTIC Assistant Director, representing her previous agency Connecting Communities in Action, and Travis Hales, PhD, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and ITTIC, to present a panel on creating and evaluating trauma-informed systems. The presentation anchored ITTIC’s trauma-informed organizational model and then shared the experience, impact, and lessons learned about trauma-informed implementation at Rockland County Family Treatment Court, Connecting Communities in Action and Niagara Falls City School District. Hales ended the panel by describing the creation and future directions of a client version of ITTIC’s Trauma-Informed Climate Scale.

7/1/24 - ITTIC welcomed international visitors from Eurasia who visited Buffalo as members of the "Approaches to Trauma-Informed Support for Victims of Violence, Atrocities and Conflict" project from June 20-25, 2024. This program was sponsored by the US Department of State and the International Institute of Buffalo through the International Visitor Leadership Program. 

ITTIC was very grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with folks from around the globe to share what each organization is doing in regard to minimizing the effects of trauma and the impact of re-traumatization. 

6/14/24 - On June 11, the Niagara Falls High School Trauma-Informed Student Champion Team took their knowledge into their community and gave a 20-minute presentation to the Niagara Falls Housing Authority. The students shared the difference between adversity and trauma and how it can show up in their community, as well as areas of poverty and lack of housing, mobility/opportunities. We are proud of the work that they have accomplished this school year. 

5/28/24 - We are happy to share our newly updated What is Trauma-Informed Care page. We have new descriptions, graphics and resources to share. Let us know what you think by sending us an email at sw-ittic@buffalo.edu. 

5/14/24 - ITTIC and Empire State University have begun their collaboration, starting in April and going through July, on joining trauma-informed care and universal design in how virtual classroom and course instruction are created. This partnership consists of training over 80 staff through trauma-informed practices, sequence of engagement and impact of the work. 

4/29/24 - For the second year in a row, the Niagara Falls City School District's High School Trauma-Informed Student Champions participated in Healthier Niagara Falls "Walk with Us 2024." The students talked about adversity and trauma and how they can impact us. They also created pamphlets and activities for adults and children to utilize to help them think about emotional regulation.

4/11/24 - Dr. Beverly Samways, the Director of Unique Connections in the UK, visited our ITTIC office last week. She was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to come to the United States to explore trauma-informed approaches with various spot across the country. She is particularly interested in trauma-informed approaches for individuals and settings that work with IDD. 

ITTIC and Dr. Samways discussed Dr. Samways's practice experience, the 'state of the field' in the UK and the USA, and explored through ITTIC's experience working and consulting with organizations on their path of becoming more trauma-informed.

Thanks for visiting us, Dr. Samways! Safe travels. 

3/29/24 - Gaskill Prep's Student Trauma-Informed Champion Team completed their first workshop with Cataract Elementary Students on the power of words, and how adversity and trauma can impact us in school. The students ended their session making affirmations to put in their lockers to spread positivity. 

3/18/24 - On March 8, ITTIC presented on three topics during the Williamsville Central School District's Superintendent's Conference Day: foundational trauma-informed educational practices, how to keep yourself and your students regulated, and compassion resilience.

2/23/24 - As we reach the Niagara Collaborative's one-year anniversary, we want to thank our 2022-2023 champions for their hard work in Niagara, Ontario. Through this collaborative, we were able to continue partnerships and spread the knowledge of trauma-informed care to Canada. The collaborative was left with resources and work plans to continue their organizational change, as well as a professional community dedicated to change. If your community partners wish to form a collaborative, contact us for more information.

• Creating and Sustaining a Trauma-Informed Justice System: Considerations for Law Enforcement, Probation, Parole, Corrections and Re-Entry Professionals 
• Trauma-Informed Care: Considerations for Health Care Professionals 
• Trauma-Informed Care: Supporting People Affected by Substance Use

You can find more information on our Online Modules webpage.

1/29/24 - From Feb. 2-3, the 2024 Intersection of Science, Treatment and Policy Conference will be held virtually in support of improving patient care by the NYSAM and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Samantha Koury, ITTIC co-director, will present on "Noticing and Addressing the Impact of the Work" on Feb. 3:

1.  Discuss the ways the workforce can be negatively impacted by the work 
2. Identify how the workforce can be positively impacted by the work
3. Explore trauma-informed strategies for addressing the impact of the work (self/peer/organization) 

For the full speaker list, check out the 2024 conference program. 

1/29/24 - On Jan. 26, the ITTIC team went to Cataract Elementary School, Gaskill Prep and LaSalle Prep for three professional development days. The topics ranged from understanding how trauma and adversity impact students and the workforce, to emotion regulation, to the impact of the work and self-care strategies. 

1/11/24 - The Niagara Falls High School Student Champion Team went to the Niagara Outlet Mall to hand out affirmation cards and have conversations with shoppers about the impact of holiday time, including burnout, boundaries and adversity. The team gave out over 150 affirmations and had a successful first community event.

11/29/23 - ITTIC project and office manager/trainer Megan Koury and Danielle DePalma started up the Niagara Falls City School District High School Trauma-Informed Student Champion Team. This is the first year that the eighth graders (now ninth graders) from LaSalle and Gaskill Prep have transitioned to the high school team. This year, the students will be more engaged in the Niagara Falls city community and working with some of the elementary schools in the district.

11/13/23 – Sue Green, LCSW, and Samantha Koury, EdD, LMSW, co-directors of ITTIC, gave a well-received presentation at the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) in Atlanta, Ga., on Oct. 27. The presentation was on trauma-informed supervision and allowed ITTIC to showcase the Trauma-Informed Supervision Self-Assessment. The assessment revolves around the eight core components of trauma-informed supervision: acknowledge and witness; encourage, self-awareness and self-reflection; neutralize the environment; balance flexibility and clear expectations; model and promote wellness; address the impact of the work; provide culturally responsive support; and notice capacity, opportunity and hope.

For more information on trauma-informed supervision, check out our online, self-guided training for all types of supervisors: Trauma-Informed Supervision: A Practical Framework.

11/3/23 - Co-Director Samantha Koury presented as a keynote speaker on trauma and trauma-informed care at Capital Health’s Trauma-Informed Care Symposium on Oct. 24 in New Jersey. The symposium was attended by roughly 100 hospital employees, including doctors, nurses, EMTs and social workers. ITTIC is excited to be a part of Capital Health’s first steps toward becoming a trauma-informed hospital system.

10/17/23 - As ITTIC and City Year Buffalo continue the fourth year in our collaborative partnership, core members came to ITTIC to learn what it means to interact in universal precaution. The members went around the room in pairs to share things they have been doing to ensure safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment during the beginning of their yearlong commitment to schools within the City of Buffalo. 

9/29/23 - One of ITTIC's current long-term partnerships is with the Niagara Falls City School District, which is one of the first districts in WNY to train all staff on mental health. Laurrie comments that being trauma-informed is about the way a 'secretary greets a student,' to ensuring all students feel comfortable in all interactions. Read more in The Buffalo News.

9/20/23 - Co-Directors Susan Green and Samantha Koury were flown out to Switzerland and Germany in early September to attend both a training and a conference that recognized the work of the Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual. 

On Sept. 12, Green and Koury delivered a full-day introduction to trauma-informed care to mostly mental health nurses at Universitare Psychiatrische Kliniken in Basel, Switzerland. 

On Sept. 15, Green and Koury were the opening keynote presentation at the Dreilanderkongress in Bielefeld, Germany, on trauma-informed organizations. They followed this with a workshop presentation on strategies to prevent retraumatization in their organizations. 

This new collaborative effort that brought Green and Koury to Switzerland and Germany also includes the manual being translated to German by the end of the year.

8/23/23 - UBNow shares a story about ITTIC's work with the Ken-Ton School District as our partnership comes to a close. Check out the article in UBNow.

7/12/23 - ITTIC spent a day with the Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) at their Albany Central Office to begin a new collaboration year. The focus this year will be to continue building both internal and external capacity for trauma-informed care via training, getting feedback from staff, and working directly with leadership. 

6/16/23 - ITTIC sends a warm thank you to Lancaster's Alternative Program for the 1.5 year long partnership. This program allowed staff to have foundational training on trauma and trauma-informed educational practices, as well as monthly on-going support and consultations. 

6/2/23 - Niagara Falls High School's Student Champion Team does one of their final presentations of the school year to LaSalle and Gaskill's student team. The presentation not only allowed the teams to interact, but also taught them about what to expect when they join into the high school team next year. Megan Koury and Ted Adams facilitated the training alongside NF staff members Danielle Depalma, Gina Lucantoni, Alyssa Antonacci, and Kristen Hyland. 

5/18/23 - ITTIC gives a warm welcome to Maureen Hammett, a part-time administrative consultant. Maureen previously served as the Vice Dean & Chief of Staff for the School of Social Work here at UB for 7.5 years. She thrives in her leadership and coaching skills, and we are lucky to have her. To read more about her, check out her bio here. 

5/15/23 - Co-Director Sue Green, with the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York  attended the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies' #PowerNet conference, representing their sub-section of the Older Adult Trauma Learning Collaborative in Texas from May 7th-9th. This group aims to create more person-centered, trauma-informed care. 

5/1/23 - During the 2023 Celebration of Outstanding Student and Alumni & Research Excellence, Co-Director Susan Green received the Outstanding Career Achievement Award for transforming the delivery of trauma-informed care in our Buffalo Community. Congrats, Sue!

4/28/23 - ITTIC sends a warm welcome to Dr. Jangmin Kim, an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work here at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Kim has taken on the role of a research consultant and is a great fit to our team due to his interest in organizational level change and workforce wellness. To find out more about him, check out his bio here. 

4/21/23 - On Wednesday April 19th, Co-Director Sue Green presented in the Inclusive Excellence Series on Trauma-Informed Care for Health Care Professionals. This one hour training helped students and faculty at UB Dentistry to understand how ensuring universal precaution helps to intentionally neutralize the environment and interactions for re-traumatization. The University at Buffalo community can view the video recording of this lecture by clicking here. 

4/14/23 - ITTIC trainer's Megan Koury and Ann Adams invited City Year Buffalo's Core Members to come to their office space for the final session of the 2022-2023 class. This partnership, like the other two years before-it, have been an incredible experience. ITTIC worked with core members, aged 18-25, as they support students throughout Buffalo Charter Schools. Understanding trauma-informed educational practices (TI-EP), as well as the impact of the work, has helped the core members throughout their journey. ITTIC is looking forward to discussing year four in June. 

4/6/23 - Project Manager Megan Koury poses with Niagara Falls Staff Leaders Tina Ligammare and Alyssa Antonacci and the student champion team at LaSalle Prep School for a group photo. Students have been learning that all behavior is driven from a thought and a feeling, and that there is always meaning behind the behavior. The students have been continuing the work making posters for the school walls and drafting messages for the morning announcements. 

4/5/23 - ITTIC traveled to Albany to do the final environmental walk-through of tenant buildings, public spaces, and the grounds as well as a final 3-hour full staff training on trauma-informed care. Housing Visions has showed their full commitment to understanding how trauma and adversity from both the tenants and staff show up in the work, as well as workforce wellness. ITTIC and Housing Visions will have a follow-up meeting to discuss the findings of all three environmental walk-throughs from Niagara Falls, Syracuse, and Albany locations that were conducted over the last four-months. 

3/3/23 - On March 2nd, 2023, ITTIC facilitated an in-person wrap-up session and graduation for the 36 trauma-informed care champions participating in the Niagara Region Champion Collaborative. The collaborative was a partnership between ITTIC, the Armstrong Strategy Group and the Canadian Mental Health Association, and was funded by PenFinancial with the best hope of building capacity for trauma-informed change in the region. A total of 20 different organizations have at least one individual who is more knowledgeable in trauma-informed approaches, tools, and resources to facilitate trauma-informed organizational change. 

2/24/23 - On Tuesday February 21st, 2023, Project Manager Megan Koury and consultant Ann Adams went to Housing Visions' Niagara Falls Location to work with staff (Property Management, Maintenance, and YWCA partners). Staff from the Buffalo and Lockport office also traveled to attend this session. First, a trauma-informed environmental walk-through was conducted, looking at the physical safety of the common spaces, as well as some vacant apartments. Then, after mingling for lunch, ITTIC held a three-hour informational session where the impact and effects of trauma were discussed. Housing Visions is committed to making their spaces and employees trauma-informed to best serve their tenants and those they interact with in the immediate community. ITTIC will go to their Syracuse and Albany locations over the next few months to continue the work across the company. 

2/9/23 - Last Friday, Rep. Brian Higgins held a press conference at Niagara Falls High School to talk about the 6 million dollar grant that was awarded to continue funding mental health initiatives across Niagara Falls City School District. This grant will be used to continue the work with ITTIC to provide training and education opportunities for staff, administration, and students on trauma-informed educational practices. Read more about it here. 

2/2/23 - ITTIC starts the same work with Gaskill Prep, a 7th and 8th grade school in Niagara Falls City School District, on teaching a student-led trauma-informed champion team about how trauma and adversity can cause a survival response (fight, flight, freeze) to occur. Half of the students worked on creating both digital and paper posters, while the other half practiced what they were going to talk about on the morning announcements this month. 

1/31/23 - Megan Koury, project manager at ITTIC begins work with LaSalle Prep School in Niagara Falls for their own trauma-informed student-led champion team. During the first session, students learned about how trauma can effect the brain into a fight-flight-freeze response based on toxic stress. The students began thinking about how high, moderate, and low stress impact their own bodies, and what they can see outwardly. They then created posters for the school walls that will be up all of February to help their peers understand these concepts. 

1/19/23 - Mark Talley, founder of Agents for Advocacy, came as a guest speaker to talk to the Niagara Falls Trauma-Informed Student Champion team and North Tonawanda students about the importance of growth, resiliency, and understanding your triggers. Talley talked about his experiences with racism, and the tragic death of his mother, Geraldine Talley, who was killed on May 14th at Tops in Buffalo. Students from both school districts were able to ask questions and gain knowledge on how knowing your triggers can help you in moments of hardship. 

12/20/22 - ITTIC spent a full-day with 45 selected leaders and the executive team of OASAS for a trauma-informed leadership retreat in Albany. The focus of the retreat was on both trauma-informed organizations and to envision how the trauma-informed approach, harm reduction and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) inform how the organization continues to do its work moving forward.

12/12/22 - ITTIC facilitated an in-person year-in-review for the third cohort of health center TIC Champions in collaboration with CHCANYS. Five health centers participated in the Champion learning collaborative since August, attending monthly consults and coaching sessions to learn the trauma-informed organizational model. Champions reflected on the process, presented on their direction for work/next steps and received certificates of completion. 

11/30/22 - Last week Project Manager Megan Koury and Consultant Ted Adams traveled to Sonora, CA to train criminal justice departments in Tuolumne County on Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice System Responses. There were four different 2-hour long sessions with different departments ranging from the county sheriffs, probation officers, correctional facilities, behavioral and mental health specialists, the courts, and more. 

High percentages of individuals involved in the criminal justice system have histories of significant individual, historical, and/or systemic trauma that can result in challenges to successful navigation and recovery. Trauma-informed responses provide criminal justice professionals with the opportunity to promote safety for all, reduce recidivism and more effectively support the individuals and families they work with. 

11/9/22 - ITTIC went to University Health Systems in San Antonio, Texas for their 2nd Annual TIC Learning Collaborative. Co-Director's Susan Green and Samantha Koury spoke on the importance of the work, and updated them on the new Organizational Change Manual that will be coming out this winter. ITTIC partnered with University Health in 2020 to help them start the process of becoming trauma-informed through the use of our Organizational Change Manual. We look forward to our continued work with them. 

10/27/22 - The Journal of Community Psychology published an article, co-written by Susan Green and Samantha Koury, along with external-faculty partner Travis W. Hales and former Co-Director of ITTIC, Thomas H. Nochajski. The article was titled, "Twelve-month organizational study examining the associations among behavioral healthcare worker's perceptions of autonomy, decision-making power, organizational commitment, and burnout: Reconceptualizing the role of commitment in shaping staff member experiences of the work environment." 

The abstract is listed below. Read the full article here.

Previous research has demonstrated that behavioral healthcare workers' experiences of autonomy and decision-making power in the workplace are positively associated with their commitment to the organization and negatively associated with occupational burnout. Models examining the relationships between workplace climate and staff member well-being generally conceptualize workplace climates as predictors of individual commitment and burnout. However, the relationships among these constructs have primarily been explored in cross-sectional study designs. The current study adds to the existing literature by examining the relationships among perceived autonomy and decision-making power in the organizational climate, and individual levels of organizational commitment and burnout over a 12-month period (N=43). The study was done in a public hospital's behavioral healthcare department in the Western New York region. Cross-lagged panel analyses were conducted to assess if time-one scores on perceived autonomy and decision-making power predicted time-two scores of organizational commitment and burnout. Findings indicate that, contrary to popular future states of perceived autonomy and decision-making power. Individual commitment to the organization may be a driving factor in how staff members experience and perceive the service environment. 

10/20/22 - On Thursday October 20th in the afternoon, Co-Director Samantha Koury presented in Saratoga, NY at the CHCANYS22 Annual Conference, held by Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS), one of ITTIC's long-term State partners. 

Koury's presentation was tilted, "Compassion Resilience: What it Takes to Keep Doing the Work." Below is a brief summary of what the presentation was about: 

As community health centers continue to navigate providing care for patients and staff in the context of a variety of stressors such as COVID-19, workforce shortages, community violence and increasing demands, it is critical to acknowledge these experiences being witnessed with empathy may be causing stress and secondary reactions. This breakout session will provide space to acknowledge the reality of witnessing all that is happening right now, and discuss strategies for all levels of the workforce to continue to do their work with empathy while being mindful of personal regulation and wellbeing -- a state of having compassion resilience.

10/14/22 - Co-Director Susan Green will be presenting on Trauma-Informed Care in Medical and Health Settings for UB's School of Public Health and Health Professionals' Rehabilitation Science Seminar Series. The presentation will take place on Friday, October 28th from 2PM-3PM in 146 Diefendorf Hall, UB South Campus. Below is a summary of the presentation:

Psychological trauma is a pervasive public health problem that impacts social, emotional, physical, and neurological development across the lifespan. Standard medical practices can unintentionally re-traumatize individuals if the potential of a trauma history is not taken into consideration. The goal of a trauma-informed approach is preventing re-traumatization while promoting healing. Re-traumatization is any situation or environment that resembles an individual's trauma,. which then triggers difficult feelings and reactions associated with the original trauma. 

For more information, contact clazzaro@buffalo.edu. 

10/8/22 - Co-Director's Susan Green and Samantha Koury traveled to Norfolk, VA to present in the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) 2022 Norfolk Institute & EXPO, presented by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. The EXPO included informative workshops on trauma sensitive and trauma-informed EAP, looking at both visible and invisible disabilities and looking at the resilience in the post-COVID world.

ITTIC's presentation was titled, "Employee Assistance Re-Imagined: Creating Trauma-Informed Workplaces and Maximizing Employee Performance."

10/7/22 - ITTIC has a new self-study course through Continuing Education on Trauma-Informed Supervision. This training will take approximately 1-hour and is useful for all types of supervisors (clinical and non-clinical) who want to be trauma-informed in their interactions with staff. 

Some of the learning objectives include:

• Explain the impact of trauma and re-traumatization on the workforce
• Identify how trauma-informed values/principles can promote workforce wellness and productivity 
• Discuss the positive and negative impacts of the work on staff
• Identify tools that can be used for trauma-informed supervision 
• Create next small steps to be more trauma-informed in one's own supervisor role

Click here for more information and to get signed-up. 

9/16/22 - ITTIC traveled to Club Italia in Niagara, Ontario to kick-off the new collaborative with over 30 different agencies throughout the region. These agencies make-up a wide variety of community addiction services, housing services, libraries, legal clinics, and other community health organizations. 

This collaborative is looking at organization-level change, with the hopes of promoting a trauma-informed community initiative. Between homework assignments, monthly consults, and conversations, this group will be equipped with the tools and strategies needed to implement trauma-informed organizational change, as well as foster new and important community relations. 

9/1/22 - As ITTIC has collaborative partnerships across WNY's many diverse school districts, we have had the opportunity to participate in professional development days, new hire orientations, and back-to-school refreshers. This year, we have touched over 600 people in the past two weeks. All of us at ITTIC are looking forward to starting off a great 2022-2023 school year with our partners.

6/23/22 - ITTIC project manager Megan Koury and consultant Ann Adams went to Housing Visions in Syracuse, NY to do a four hour in-person training. Housing Visions is a nonprofit developer, general contractor, and property manager with a "mission to be the catalyst for sustainable positive change in neighborhoods through real estate development and community collaboration." This training focused on what trauma and adversity are, how they impact the brain and trigger our survival response, and how to respond in a trauma-informed way.

ITTIC and Housing Visions are partnering to work through the trauma-informed approach and how the sequence of engagement can help impact the connections and relationships between their organization and the community they serve. 

6/6/22 - ITTIC Co-Director Susan Green was interviewed by The Buffalo News on what impact trauma has on communities, specifically referring to what had happened on the East Side of Buffalo. Read the article.

4/25/22 - In April 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo proclaimed April 30th as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Awareness Day in the State of New York through Senate Resolution No. 1023. 

Megan Koury, Project Manager and Trainer at ITTIC, met virtually with other professionals in the field of trauma and adversity to help plan the 2022 ACEs Awareness Day Social Media Campaign. Look out for the hashtag #ACEsAwarenessDay2022 on social media for information on Thursday and Friday April 28th and 29th for more information. Feel free to post on your organization's and/or personal social media to spread awareness as well.

4/19/22 - ITTIC Co-Director Samantha Koury presented at the 7th Annual CHCANCYS Emergency Preparedness Seminar on "Positioning Ourselves to Respond Most Effectively" at Baruch College. This presentation was to members of community health centers from across NYS on how being trauma-informed sets the stage for promoting resilience and wellness of the workforce. 

Key Seminar Topic Highlights:

• Acknowledgment of the reality of now through a trauma-informed lens
• Focus on how leaders can make intentional decisions to "neutralize the environment" for the workforce
• Looked at interactions, communication and policies from a trauma-informed lens 
• Looked at how leaders can set the stage for resilience and growth

3/31/22 - After a group of high school students at Niagara Falls High School expressed interest in trauma-informed educational practices, ITTIC and the school district created a student champion team. The group has been meeting on Tuesdays and Saturdays to establish their mission statement and a strategic plan on how to accomplish their goals. 

The students will be making presentations on trauma-informed educational practices to the graduating 8th grade students from Gaskill Prep and LaSalle Prep this upcoming June. 

3/4/22 - ITTIC Co-Directors Samantha Koury and Susan Green published an article titled, "Creating Trauma-Informed Long-Term Care Organizations," with Caring for the Ages, a society for post-acute and long-term care medicine, in order to provide an organizational approach to providing trauma-informed care while avoiding re-traumatization. Read the article.

2/25/22 - Associate Director Lisa Cox and Niagara Falls City School District Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruct Richard Carella presented in the 2022 Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference, the largest gathering of trauma-informed educators for building resilience and improving children's outcomes. 

The presentation focused on how creating a trauma-informed school district involves responding to the prevalence of trauma by making changes to all levels of district functioning to prevent the potential for re-traumatization of students, families, and staff. Becoming trauma-informed requires strong leadership investment and a strategic implementation plan that includes engagement from all levels of stakeholders. 

Participants identified specific examples of how districts can strategically plan for and implement trauma-informed change; how they can use tools in their own trauma-informed change process; and how to develop initial steps their school and/or district can take in order to begin or continue the trauma-informed change process.

2/25/22 - The Canadian Mental Health Association Niagara, PenFinancial Credit Union and Armstrong Strategy Group came together to launch an initiative to better understand and reduce the impact of trauma on Niagara's health and social service agencies and the people they serve. ITTIC and The Niagara Trauma-Informed Care Agency formed an initiative that includes two phases: a research phase and an agency strategy development phase. After the initial research is complete, ITTIC will work with a collaborative group to develop respective strategies to become a trauma-informed organization. 

2/9/22 - ITTIC presented for the Buffalo Center for Social Research Grand Rounds on our framework on how to help organizations plan for, implement, and sustain trauma-informed change in ways that ensure safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment while also promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. ITTIC also partnered with Continuing Education to provide CEUs for those who wanted them. 

2/3/22 - ITTIC formally began working with the OASAS Addiction Treatment Centers (ATCs) this week by providing a kick-off presentation to all ATC directors and assistant directors on trauma-informed organizations. ITTIC will be meeting with the directors monthly, as well as providing monthly in-person and virtual training, consultation and coaching at the Blaisdell and St. Lawrence ATCs through the end of September. Additionally, ITTIC will be providing regular virtual consultation to the TIC committees at Kingsboro and South Beach to support their continued integration of trauma-informed practices. 

2/3/22 - On January 27, 2022, ITTIC provided an initial 2-hour presentation to Lancaster High School Alternative Program (LAP) staff. Moving forward, ITTIC will lead monthly coaching and consultation sessions to help staff further operationalize trauma-informed practices within their roles. This partnership is scheduled to run through June 2022. 

1/27/22 - On January 24, 2022, consultant Whitney Marris presented to the NYS Trauma-Informed Coalition on different resources that New York State has in activating trauma-informed change with politicians, lobbying efforts, and activism. 

Marris states, "There are many different avenues that New Yorker's can take to mobilize their strengths for advocacy efforts for trauma-informed care." She goes on to explain how we all have power in our own stories, and can change the future with our voice and organizations. 

12/20/21 - ITTIC presented the first of three sessions to approximately 35 leaders of Toronto-based agencies providing services to women and children on trauma-informed care. The series is sponsored by the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto (Woman ACT) and will provide the leaders tools, resources and implementation steps for furthering trauma-informed organizational change. 

12/20/21 - Last week, ITTIC began its first of six trainings with Exploration Charter Elementary School in Rochester, NY. ITTIC will be aiding the elementary school in understanding and implementing trauma-informed educational practices with the children (K-4) and staff through the rest of the school calendar year. 

12/20/21 - The ITTIC team has compiled a report summarizing the advancement of trauma-informed federal- and state-level public policy efforts in 2021. 

The report captures overarching themes found within legislative proposals aligned with a trauma-informed approach along with more specific details related to each notable trauma-informed measure introduced across the United States in 2021. 

To receive a copy of the report, please email us at sw-ittic@buffalo.edu.

12/2/21 - As of December 1, 2021 the Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual has reached over 6,000 people in 52 countries. If you are interested in downloading a copy of the manual version 1.5, feel free to check request it here. 

12/2/21 - On Wednesday, December 1, ITTIC facilitated the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS) Trauma-Informed Champion Team's final learning collaborative session for 2021. Two cohorts of CHCANYS Champions representing seven community health centers across New York State gathered to reflect on their learning, discuss progress made in spearheading meaningful, sustainable change, and shared their ideas and action steps for 2022 and beyond, reaffirming their commitment to continuing this important work. ITTIC and CHCANYS teams are looking forward to continued collaboration in the new year and beyond!

11/12/21 - ITTIC continues to recognize the need for individuals, organizations, and systems to look beyond the lens of individual trauma. We are excited to share with you our newly updated info-graphic illustrating system and relationship dynamics that are often experienced as being re-traumatizing. For more information and to download, check out our PACES Connection post. 

11/12/21 - Last week, journalist Benjamin Joe published an article in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal on ITTIC's partnership with Lockport City School District. In the interview with Associate Director Lisa Cox, Lisa shared that "everyone has a story, so that's part of the message we like to share, too... so people don't feel alone." Check out the full article here.

10/22/21 - Samantha Koury, one of ITTIC's project managers, was quoted in an article titled, "As schools reopen, trauma-informed teaching might be more important than ever." Sarah Lindenfeld Hall writes about how the new approach of "what happened to you," dropped school suspensions by 52% in a Raleigh, NC elementary school. Koury delves into the importance of brain science, stating "when children experience complex trauma, especially over a prolonged period, the amygdala, the brain's emotion and fear response center, becomes overactive." 

9/30/21 - Sue Green and Dana Horne presented to the School of Social Work at Salisbury University on 9/24/21. The presentation focused on creating trauma-informed practices in schools of social work and sharing the UB School of Social Work's story of adopting a trauma-informed and human rights

9/30/21 - September 15 marked the completion of a fruitful and engaging 6-month learning collaborative with Westchester County's Trauma-Informed Champion Cohort.

In addition to remaining dedicated to spearheading trauma-informed change implementation within their individual agencies and organizations, Champions have also committed to mobilizing their learning to help make a meaningful system-wide change in partnership with Westchester County's existing Trauma Subcommittee.

Champions will be leading the cross-sector learning initiative to promote reflection, discussion, idea-sharing, and continued collaboration toward the shared goal of advancing trauma-informed approaches and practices across the country. The first convening to strategize and devise plans for future collaboration and action took place on September 22nd, with Champions reporting that the group stands equipped, empowered and energized to begin to put their learning to practice. Regular monthly meetings moving forward will use the ITTIC Manual as an anchor for further learning, goal-setting, and implementation within and across service sectors. 

The ITTIC Team is humbled to have had the opportunity to work with leaders across Westchester County throughout the learning collaborative and looks forward to remaining connected with Champions as they synergize efforts with the Trauma Subcommittee and continue to contribute to cultivating as an integrated trauma-informed system of care throughout Westchester County. 

9/17/21 - On Tuesday, ITTIC and eight-core members from Assembly House 150 began an important dialogue on how to be trauma-informed with the community members with whom they work. A second discussion will be held in the upcoming weeks after the start of their 12-week paid career experience program in construction trades begins. 

9/3/21 - ITTIC presented information on trauma and trauma-informed practices to almost 1,500 school personnel across four districts during the schools' professional development weeks. 

8/19/21 - ITTIC's Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual hit a new milestone this week with over 5,500 requests from around the globe. If you are interested in checking it out, learn more at the website.

7/29/21 - ITTIC and the Osborne Association began the first 4-hour session of a year-long partnership with the Buffalo Police Department (BPD) on the newly adopted policy, Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents. The kick-off consisted of a two-part training:

• In the first 2-hour time block, the Osborne Association trained on the new policy and how it would benefit community-police relations. 
• In the second 2-hour time block, ITTIC trained on trauma-informed approaches and practices to ensure that the child, the adult and the police officer stay safe and are able to regulate themselves in order to keep their lids-down. The main aim is to neutralize the environment to safeguard everyone in the situation from re-traumatization. 

ITTIC and the Osborne Association will continue with a series of 30 trainings to ensure that all BPD officers and staff get a full understanding of the policy and how trauma impacts the work that they do, and the families that they interact with. 

7/26/21 - ITTIC kicked off the new CHCANYS cohort with three new health centers. This new cohort will participate in the "standard" format with a full Champion Team consult, as well as separate health center-specific coaching each month. There will be opportunities for all health centers in both the advanced and "new" cohort to join together in December to discuss lessons learned, celebrate their progress, and consider next steps to remain connected and in collaboration with one another. 

7/16/21 - ITTIC was highlighted twice in the Behavioral Health News Summer 2021 Issue.

• On page 5 in the article tiled Facilitating Trauma-Informed Organizational Change: OASAS Trauma-Informed Care Champions, you can read about ITTIC's collaboration with OASAS with direct quotes from Project Manager Samantha Koury and Co-Director Susan Green.
• On page 27 in the article titled 24 Organizations Team Up In Westchester's First Trauma-Informed Systems Change Collaborative, you can read about ITTC's collaboration with Westchester County. 

7/1/21 - The Niagara Gazette published an op-ed by Niagara Falls City School District Superintendent Mark Laurrie, outlining activities over the past year. The piece notes that the district and UB Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care partnered to offer training and support to district employees. Teachers took part in mental health first aid, trauma-informed care, and diversity and implicit bias training. 

7/1/21 - ITTIC facilitated two full-day train-the-trainer sessions for a total of 56 OASAS trainers to deliver an introduction to trauma and trauma-informed care. The training curriculum included one designed for treatment and prevention workforce members, and a second for certified peers and recovery coaches. The trainers attended the train-the-trainer virtually and will meet with ITTIC trainers again in the fall for coaching and supervision. 

6/24/21 - Brighid Gannon, the co-founder of Lavender and an award-winning nurse entrepreneur known for building innovative healthcare businesses, cited ITTIC in her article for Forbes on Monday morning. The article, titled Four Ways to Help Employees Navigate After Trauma, discusses the repercussions and staggering impacts of living through COVID-19 on employees whom are both back to work and working remotely. Gannon goes on to explain what trauma-informed strategies are, and gives examples of each of the five guiding values of Trauma-Informed Care. 

6/10/21 - Blythedale Children's Hospital highlights their role in becoming the first clinical leader and sponsor of Westchester County's first ever Trauma-Informed Systems' Change Learning Collaborative, facilitated by ITTIC. This new collaborative consists of a six-month, customizable training that will help organizations and communities transition towards trauma-informed care. You can learn more about it on their website.

6/1/21 - After a five month long partnership, ITTIC wraps up training 20 City Year members on trauma and trauma-informed educational practices. Members ranged from ages 18-24, and are now able to take their knowledge with them as they transition from working in the five Buffalo Charter Schools out into their next opportunity. 

5/1/21 - For the next two years, ITTIC will be in partnership with Lockport City School Districts in order to provide trauma-informed evaluation, training, and consultation. As part of their awarded STOP Violence Grant, the district has committed to incorporating trauma-informed and restorative practices within their schools. You can learn more about it here. 

4/12/21 - ITTIC trained a total of 37 leaders from across Westchester County today in the formal kick-off of a five-month learning collaborative. Champions will learn about the 10 key development area for trauma-informed change through monthly online consults. You can learn more about it here.

3/30/21 - ITTIC's Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual has now been downloaded more than 5,000 times by individuals and organizations spanning 46 countries across the globe, as well as in every US state.

To see which countries have requested the manual, click on the image to the left to see a larger map.

To request ITTIC's Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual, visit the website.

The ITTIC team appreciates the continued interest in using our manual as a guide to effect organizational- and system-level culture change, and remains struck by the meaningful work so many are continuing to do to advance a trauma-informed approach!

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or thoughts regarding our annual and/or how we can support you in your own trauma-informed change efforts.

3/15/21 - ITTIC has been providing trauma-informed Champion consultation to two non-profit agencies in Slovenia since summer 2020. The individuals meet virtually with Samantha Koury, project manager, every 1-2 months to discuss and apply ITTIC’s trauma-informed organizational model to their own work. The international collaboration was highlighted in UB International's Fall 2020 issue--please see page 22 for more details. 

2/26/21 - ITTIC will be partnering with the Osborne Association from April 2021 through July 2022 in order to develop curriculum and train Buffalo Police Department officers on how to adopt trauma-informed, child-sensitive practices to policing. Read more about the Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents Project here.

1/27/21 - ITTIC formally began its collaborative partnership with the Williamsville Central School District last week by providing two offerings of trauma-informed toolbox strategies for the classroom sessions, as well as two virtual support sessions for teachers and staff this week. ITTIC will offer both types of sessions every month for the remainder of the school year, as well as meet with the district's social-emotional learning (SEL) committees. 

1/13/21 - ITTIC team consultants trained over 60 UB Police officers during the first two weeks of January. As of January 13, almost every officer has received foundational education on trauma and trauma-informed practices. ITTIC meet with small groups of officers via monthly consultation sessions for the rest of the academic year in order to continue to build capacity for trauma-informed responses.

11/12/20 - The Erie County Legislature adopted a resolution, sponsored by Legislator Lisa Chimera, requesting that Erie County departments and offices integrate trauma-informed principles into plans, policies, procedures and procurement. In addition to the ITTIC team working diligently over the last year to advance and structure this resolution to fit the needs of service recipients and employees within Erie County programs, departments and agencies, ITTIC Project Manager, Samantha Koury, championed the value of a trauma-informed approach and presented a compelling argument to adopt the resolution at a special discussion session with the Erie County Legislature Health & Human Services Committee. Notably, Erie County is only the second county in New York State to formally support practices that promote trauma-informed awareness and approaches in county government and services. Read more.

10/12/20 - Spectrum News has published an article highlighting the trauma-informed coaching, training, and consultation that the ITTIC team is providing to the University at Buffalo Police. Click here to read more about this year-long partnership.

10/2/20 - Over the course of this week, the ITTIC team delivered foundational training on trauma and trauma-informed practices to the entirety of the West Seneca School District. Each school will receive ten hours of follow-up support throughout the 2020-2021 school year.

9/24/20 - UB Now has published an article highlighting ITTIC's partnership with the University Police (UP) that integrates trauma-informed practices into UP's public service model. Click here to read more about how the ITTIC team and UP are working together to facilitate supportive, trauma-informed campus interactions throughout the 2020-2021 school year.

9/18/20 - ITTIC kicked off a trauma-informed champion collaborative sponsored by the Capital Region Youth Justice Team (CRYJT), bringing together leaders and key stakeholders across nine counties to become more knowledgeable about a trauma-informed approach and to build capacity to create trauma-informed change within the juvenile justice system. The ITTIC team will continue to collaborate with CRYJT through February 2021. Read more about this and other state partnerships here.

9/14/20 - Our new Trauma Talks interviews with Ambika and Lynn highlight the ways in which a trauma-informed approach to supporting others while navigating the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism has helped facilitate individual and collective resilience-building, connection, and growth, with particular attention to interfacing with people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as people engaged with the foster care system. Visit our Trauma Talks COVID-19 Series page by clicking here to listen to these and other podcast interviews, listed alphabetically by interviewee name.

9/10/20 - ITTIC will be partnering with the University at Buffalo Police throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Following the recent delivery of the initial SAMHSA training, ITTIC consultants will work with the department throughout the year to provide training on trauma and trauma-informed care as well as ongoing consultation and coaching.

9/8/20 - ITTIC is pleased to announce that the team will be working in partnership with the North Tonawanda School District to facilitate trauma-informed culture change throughout the school year. The partnership kicked off this week with a meeting with the building principals and the district's social-emotional learning team. Click here to read more about this collaboration. 

8/31/20 - Since April, ITTIC been able to provide space for over 1,700 unique individuals to be witnessed and validated through trauma-informed virtual support sessions. These sessions were facilitated across many different systems of care, for a wide variety of workforce roles, as well as for community members seeking support while navigating COVID-19 and civil unrest.

8/25/20 - ITTIC Co-Director Sue Green and ITTIC Project Manager, Samantha Koury joined Mandy Davis and Tonya Jones, both of Trauma-Informed Oregon, as expert panelists at the 2020 National Prevention Network Conference to shine a spotlight on trauma-informed responses to supporting individuals and the workforce in the context of the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice.

4/26/20 – Over the past month, ITTIC has provided dozens of virtual support sessions to providers across the state from various systems of care in response to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on both communities and the workforce. The sessions focus on a specific topic and provide opportunity for participants to share their experiences and what they notice is working to respond to others, and in taking care of themselves. ITTIC will continue to offer the sessions as needed. 

3/13/20 – ITTIC began its partnership with the Niagara Falls City School District via a presentation to the Board of Education. The presentation included an overview of trauma-informed educational practices and the work plan for the coming year. ITTIC will start with meeting with principals and then begin training school-based Champion teams over the next few months. 

3/9/20 – ITTIC kicked off both the HealtheConnections and Delaware County Rural Health Care Alliance-sponsored Champion teams over two weeks in Poughkeepsie and Delaware County respectively. Over 60 leaders attended one of the full-day trainings that anchored them in the trauma-informed organizational model and provided the foundation for the six-month learning collaborative. 

2/20/20 - ITTIC met with members of the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS) to begin the upcoming collaboration to train trauma-informed Champions in community health centers across the state. ITTIC provided two introductory webinars at the beginning of the month to begin the recruitment process; 30 individuals from 10 health centers across the state will be participating in an 11-month learning collaborative. 

2/10/20: ITTIC will be facilitating two new trauma-informed care champion learning collaboratives sponsored by HealtheConnections in Poughkeepsie, New York and the Delaware County Rural Health Care Alliance in Hampton, New York. A total of 60 individuals across the two teams will be trained from March through June on how to plan for, implement and sustain trauma-informed organizational change. 

2/3/20: ITTIC's contract with the Catholic Health System has expanded to include providing trauma-informed training, consultation and coaching to the four emergency and two maternal-child departments over the next year. ITTIC has been collaborating with Mount St. Mary's Hospital to facilitate trauma-informed culture change for the last year and a half, and is looking forward to starting in the new departments toward the end of February. 

1/24/20: ITTIC was invited to present at University Health System in San Antonio on Monday. Stakeholders from University Health System and their collaborative partners attended the five-hour session on trauma-informed organizations in order to learn about ITTIC's trauma-informed organizational model, experience training and evaluating in various service sectors and to begin thinking about next steps to work toward being a trauma-informed organization and city. 

12/13/19: Earlier this fall, ITTIC initiated a partnership with the Bennett Rehabilitation Institute to offer short-term, supportive counseling services to the clinic patients and their families. MSW intern Brittany Raczkiewicz will offer the counseling services focusing on processing major life events and navigating significant changes through May 2020.

12/9/19: Sue Green and Samantha Koury were invited to present at the Erie County Association of School Boards (ECASB) speed boarding event last Thursday. Board members from schools across Erie County attended the event and rotated between five presentations for 20 minutes each. Sue and Samantha presented on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), trauma-informed educational practices and ITTIC's Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual. 

1/25/19: ITTIC trainers delivered a Trauma 101 psychoeducation presentation to all elementary school teachers in the Ken-Ton school district. The presentation included information on trauma and adversity, re-traumatization and an introduction to the values/principles of trauma-informed educational practices. The teachers will receive follow-up consultation and further education that relates to the implementation of trauma-informed educational practices.

2/19/19: The purpose of the Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual is to help organizations and systems plan for, implement and sustain trauma-informed culture change. This manual is intended for: organizations, systems of care, hospitals, schools and businesses that are considering and/or interested in implementing a trauma-informed approach.

3/28/19: Yesterday ITTIC facilitated the wrap-up training for the Salamanca Trauma-Informed Care Champion Team. The focus of the half-day was around resilience, post-traumatic growth and action planning moving forward. The Champions shared their sub-committee projects they worked on for the duration of the six-month learning collaborative, focusing on addressing trauma, inviting community stakeholders to the table, messaging to the community and educating other providers. The team of 23 Champions graduated and received certificates of completion.

4/8/19: ITTIC delivered the wrap-up training for the Oswego County Trauma-Informed Care Champion Team last Friday. In addition to considering their own individual organizations, the team worked together in order to map out structures for sustainability and next steps for their community's trauma-informed initiative. 18 members of the Champion team graduated and received certificates of completion for their participation in the seven-month learning collaborative.

4/16/19: Samantha Koury was one of the invited presenters at the Catskill Hudson Area Health Education Center 2019 Nursing Summit last Friday. This year's summit was focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how the nursing profession can respond to the prevalence of trauma and adversity. Samantha presented on how front line nurses, nurse administrators and health care systems as a whole can be trauma-informed in their work. She also joined the other presenters to be part of a discussion panel at the end of the day.

4/25/19: Erin Bascug presented a poster describing outcome data from ITTIC's Trauma-Informed Parenting Education Support Group at the Celebration of Student Academic Excellence today. Erin is a MSW/PhD student at the UB School of Social Work and student affiliate of ITTIC. She was the primary creator of the Trauma-Informed Parenting Education Support Group curriculum while she was an intern at ITTIC last year and continues to supervise the facilitation of groups at the Lighthouse and Madonna House.

5/10/19: From May through September 2019, ITTIC will be in contract with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) in order to provide a five-month trauma-informed care "Champion" learning collaborative. Up to 30 individuals will be identified to participate and come together as a full team in Albany on 6/3/19. Please see our state partnerships page for more details.

5/27/19: Shelley Hitzel, LMSW and Senior Investigator Tom Gibbons provided trauma-informed education to probation officers from across New York on Wednesday 5/22/19 using the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s "How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses" curriculum. Over 20 officers were in attendance from Allegany, Genesee, Steuben, Yates and Chautauqua Counties. The training was provided by ITTIC and sponsored by the Allegany County Probation Department, with funding provided through a grant from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Please see our SAMHSA collaboration page for more details about the training curriculum.

6/7/19: ITTIC met with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)-sponsored trauma-informed care "Champion" team on Monday 6/3/19 to formally kick-off the learning collaborative. The full-day training focused on building the foundation for creating trauma-informed organizational and systems change with 26 identified Champions from various state offices. The learning collaborative will continue through the end of September 2019 via monthly online consultations, homework assignments and a wrap-up training in Albany.

6/18/19: ITTIC is now contracted with Rockland County Department of Social Services in order to help them build the foundation for trauma-informed practices in their work. ITTIC will be traveling to Rockland County once per month from June through September 2019 in order to provide training, consultation and coaching to staff. Please see our state partnerships page for more details.

7/9/19: Shelley Hitzel, LMSW and Senior Investigator Tom Gibbons NYSP trained recruits in the 71st class at the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy last Tuesday. A total of 16 officers from across Niagara, Genesee and Erie Counties were present at the training. Recruits will begin employment at Genesee County Sheriff's Office, Batavia Police Department, Tonawanda Police Department, Niagara County Sheriff's, Niagara Falls Police Department, North Tonawanda Police and Lockport Police in September.

To date, ITTIC has provided the SAMHSA How Being Trauma Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Response to over 100 recruits. Visit our SAMHSA training page for more information.

7/19/19: ITTIC entered into a three-month contract with the St. Lawrence County Youth Advocate Program earlier this month. This week, ITTIC trainer Kristin Rivera spent two days with their identified Champion team to kick-off their learning of ITTIC's trauma-informed organizational model. Champions will continue to meet with ITTIC each month in-person and virtually for consultation and continued education. Please see our state partnerships page for more information.

8/5/19: Tom Nochajski and Samantha Koury presented on behalf of ITTIC alongside other colleagues at the 36th International Congress on Law and Mental Health in Rome, Italy. Their presentations on implementing trauma-informed educational practices and solution-focused trauma-informed care were part of a two-hour panel session entitled "Designing Trauma-Informed Systems" on Friday, July 26th. 

8/20/19: ITTIC was invited to present at the annual Air Force Sexual Assault Response Prevention (SARP) refresher training in Chicago, IL yesterday. Samantha Koury attended the full-day on behalf of ITTIC and provided the presentation, which focused on how Sexual Assault Response Coordinators can be more trauma-informed in their work with survivors and with their workforce of advocates and volunteers. 

9/6/19: ITTIC has begun a more formal working relationship with the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP), a group with representation from across the country working to advocate for trauma-informed policies and programs at the federal, state and local levels. ITTIC has been a participant in CTIPP's monthly conference calls for the past year. However, as of the last few weeks, representatives from ITTIC have become more active in the collaborative advocacy efforts of drafting potential policy language and planning to educate government legislators and representatives. 

Please visit the CTIPP website for more information and resources about the movement. 

9/30/19: ITTIC delivered the final wrap-up training for the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS)-sponsored trauma-informed care learning collaborative today. In addition to considering their own individual work and their own office, the Champions worked together in order to map out what is needed as a collaborative team in order to bring what they learned to their partners and organizations that they oversee. 21 members of the Champion team graduated and received certificates of completion for their participation in the five-month learning collaborative.

10/10/19: ITTIC was invited to present at the 2019 New York Department of Health AIDS Institute Criminal Justice Initiative Conference yesterday in Albany, New York. Samantha Koury attended the first day of the conference and provided the presentation on trauma and trauma-informed care. The criminal justice initiative funds 12 community based organizations and prioritizes the provision of linkage and navigation services for persons living with HIV under custody and recently released from DOCCS. As a means of continuing the momentum and success they have had since it began in 2017, the initiative has formally embraced an anti-stigma, culturally responsible and trauma-informed framework. 

10/17/19: ITTIC was invited to be the keynote presentation at Michigan State University's (MSU) 2019 Trauma Summit yesterday, hosted by the Trauma Service and Training Network. Over 50 faculty and staff from a variety of university departments, including the School of Social Work and Department of Psychology, came together for the summit based on their investment in ensuring they are responding to the university community in a way that is trauma-informed. Sue Green and Samantha Koury provided a three-hour presentation on ITTIC's Trauma-Informed Organizational Change Manual with considerations for a university setting. The Trauma Service and Training Network Steering Committee will continue to facilitate regular meetings to plan for and implement action steps to build on MSU's commitment to preventing sexual violence and misconduct in a trauma-informed way. 

11/11/19: Sue Green, Denise Krause and Samantha Koury presented in Montreal, Quebec at the 2019 Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association (SFBTA) conference over the weekend. The workshop presentation, entitled "What" and "How": Training Professionals to be Trauma-Informed by Integrating Solution-Focused Skills, provided an overview of trauma-informed care and it's conceptual overlap with the solution-focused approach, how participants could consider training others using the four levels of learning and invited participants to reflect on how they could or already use solution-focused skills to train on trauma-informed care. The session had approximately 60 participants and was selected to be translated into French. 

11/18/19: Brittany Raczkiewicz, MSW intern at ITTIC, has begun co-facilitating an eight session trauma support group at Vive, a shelter for refugees and asylum seekers that is a part of Jericho Road Community Health Center. The support group infuses the evidence-based, present and future-focused curriculum of Seeking Safety with therapeutic mandala work, which provides residents with the opportunity to learn essential coping strategies and to identify growth and resilience. The group will run through the third week of December. 

12/4/19: Samantha Koury attended the 2019 Ending the Epidemic Summit sponsored by the New York Department of Health AIDS Institute yesterday. Samantha co-facilitated a poster presentation on implementing trauma-informed organizational change with a former trauma-informed Champion from GMHC, which described the learning collaborative ITTIC facilitates with the AIDS Institute and the work done at GMHC since the Champion graduated from the collaborative.

12/31/18: Samantha Koury and Research Professor Tom Nochajski attended the 2018 World AIDS Day Ending the Epidemic Summit in Albany, NY. Samantha was presented with the Ken Dunning Trauma-Informed Care Award, a NYS Department of Health Commissioner's Special Recognition Award, for her dedication, contribution and commitment to improving and promoting the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.

12/7/18: The second cohort of the WNY Trauma-Informed Care Champion Team and Advanced Champions from the first cohort graduated today at Hospice Buffalo's Education Center. Both teams had the opportunity to share the work that was done during the collaborative period with each other and leadership who attended the event. The upcoming trauma-informed care resource repository was also showcased, which is scheduled to be released in January 2019. The graduation event closed with an invitation to all Champions to be a part of a vision meeting to plan the future goals of the Trauma Informed Community Initiative of WNY.

11/14/18: ITTIC is collaborating with the Salamanca School District to deliver the champion learning collaborative training model. Twenty five champions from nine agencies/organizations across Cattaraugus County participated in the kick-off training of this initiative. Similar to other learning collaboratives ITTIC has delivered, champions were trained in trauma/adversity, re-traumatization, steps to creating trauma-informed systems of care, the role of a Champion and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s ten implementation domains. Champions will participate in monthly coaching/consultation sessions in which they will continue to operationalize SAMHSA's ten implementation domains as well as the five values/principles of trauma-informed care.

11/6/18: ITTIC trainers delivered a Trauma 101 psychoeducation presentation to all middle and high school teachers in the Ken-Ton school district. The presentation included information on trauma and adversity, re-traumatization and an introduction to the values/principles of trauma-informed educational practices. The teachers will receive follow-up consultation and further education that relates to the implementation of trauma-informed educational practices.

10/15/18: As part of the Trauma-Informed Care training initiative, Whitney Mendel is providing coaching/consultation sessions to the Care Management Team at Mount St. Mary's hospital. She will be attending morning huddles to provide support, encouragement and information to staff around Trauma-Informed Care. The work ITTIC is doing at the hospital is highlighted in the October issue of the Connections Newsletter.

10/7/18: Lauren discusses her own history of mental health and how her history has influenced the progression of her career. She explains the work she has done in the mental health field and states that she sees her current role as "a bridge between the mental health community and the general population." 

Leah shares her experiences with mental illness, specifically suicide and suicide prevention. Leah is a trainer at the National Center for Trauma-Informed Care; she is passionate about bringing a trauma-informed perspective to youth suicide prevention efforts. She discusses how she has found meaning in her own experiences with intergenerational trauma and mental illness. 

9/28/18: ITTIC delivered a seven-hour kick-off training to all champions in the Oswego County learning collaborative. Champions were trained in trauma/adversity, re-traumatization, steps to creating trauma-informed systems of care, the role of a Champion, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s ten implementation domains. Champions will participate in monthly coaching/consultation sessions in which they will continue to operationalize SAMHSA's ten implementation domains and as well the five values/principles of trauma-informed care.

9/24/18: ITTIC is partnering with the Oswego County Health Department to deliver a seven month learning collaborative in Oswego County, in which 30 Champions from 19 different agencies/organizations across the county are participating. The identified champions have completed an online Trauma 101 course and will be having their seven hour kick-off training on 9/28/18. Champions will receive ongoing coaching/consultation from ITTIC staff over the seven month period—putting the Champions in the position to bring the information and resources back to their own agencies/organizations/systems for planning, implementation and sustainability. 

9/7/18: The second cohort of WNY Trauma-Informed Care Champions attended their final wrap-up training at The Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care. From April-September 2018, the 35 champions in this cohort have received training and consultation on trauma/adversity, re-traumatization, advocacy, trauma-informed culture change and SAMHSA's ten implementation domains for trauma-informed care. The champion graduation event for the second cohort will be held on December 7, 2018. 

8/31/18: ITTIC's work with Mount St. Mary's Hospital is featured in the August 2018 issue of the Connections Newsletter. The article discusses the framework of trauma-informed care as well as the hospital's efforts to increase staff awareness of trauma/adversity and how to implement trauma-informed care. 

8/21/18: From September 2018-February 2019, ITTIC will be partnering with KidsPeace. ITTIC trainers will deliver a Trauma 101 psychoeducation presentation to the staff at KidsPeace which will provide an overview of trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the impacts of trauma/adversity, re-traumatization and introduce Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) and the 5 guiding principles. ITTIC trainers will provide follow-up consultation to help staff further operationalize TIC within their roles. ITTIC will also meet with leadership throughout the project period.

8/3/18: From August 2018-July 2019, ITTIC will partner with the Cheektowaga Central School District. Specifically, ITTIC will work with the Mental Health Team and implementation planning teams (administrators, teacher/departmental leaders, PPS teams) to provide training, coaching and consultation around Trauma-Informed Educational Practices, trauma-informed organizational planning, and beginning implementation.

7/27/18: In this podcast, Natasha discusses her experiences of chronic childhood sexual abuse by family members. She explains the experience she had with disclosing the abuse to her teachers in school and the repercussions she faced because of the disclosure. As a result of her own experiences, she highlights the importance of educating adults who interface with children about the signs of childhood abuse and neglect. She also explains how the principles of trauma-informed care influenced her experiences in two different treatment settings. 

7/13/18: ITTIC is facilitating an eight-week trauma support group at a local community agency to assist refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers address the trauma they have experienced. The support group aims to help participants learn safe coping skills in addition to recognizing and managing their experiences of trauma and oppression. The support group combines elements of the evidence-based curriculum Seeking Safety with the creation of mandala art.

7/1/2018: In the month of July, ITTIC is providing an initial Trauma 101 psychoeducation presentation to 120 staff members at Belmont Housing Resources for WNY. During this presentation, staff members will learn about trauma/adversity and its impact, re-traumatization and how to prevent it at both client and staff levels, and how to begin thinking about how the five guiding values/principles of Trauma-Informed Care—safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment—apply to their individual roles. Additionally, all staff members will participate in a two hour follow-up consultation.

6/8/18: Samantha Koury, LMSW and Travis Hales, PhD presented a paper entitled The Results of a Trauma-Informed Intervention on Staff and Clients at the Trauma Talks Conference in Toronto. The presentation focused on the influence of implementing trauma-informed care on organizational, staff, and client outcomes.

PhD student Erin Bascug participated in the poster presentations where she presented preliminary data regarding feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a curriculum that ITTIC developed to determine best practices for conducting client-centered psychoeducational trauma support groups for women in a residential treatment setting with opioid use disorder.

6/1/18: Sue Green and Samantha Koury met with 14 of the WNY Champions from Cohort 1 who are participating in the Advanced Learning Collaborative. The champions each identified a project they will work on that falls within one of the following areas of Trauma-Informed Care: training and implementation, organizations, clinical trauma treatment considerations, and advocacy/policy. During this meeting, the champions worked together in small groups to consider what their next steps are and how they want to move forward on each of their identified projects. The champions will receive individualized coaching and consultation from ITTIC through December 2018 to assist them in completing their projects.

5/1/18: The Ken-Ton School District highlighted its partnership with ITTIC in the May 2018 issue of the School Gram. Ken-Ton is one of the first school districts in the Western New York area to implement trauma-informed educational practices. ITTIC is currently providing training and consultation to each of the nine school-based champion teams. ITTIC delivered Trauma 101 trainings to champion team members on 3/28/18, 4/18/18, and the next training is scheduled on 5/24/18. ITTIC will begin training all levels of district staff at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.

4/23/18: Shelley Hitzel and Cpt. Elliott, Niagara County Sheriff's Office, delivered the SAMHSA training entitled, “How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses” to the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy recruit class. The current recruit class is comprised of seven individuals who will be employed at various law enforcement agencies once they complete the academy. These agencies include: Niagara County Sheriff's Office, Niagara Falls Police Department and the Town of Tonawanda Police Department. To date, Cpt. Elliott and Shelley have delivered this training to four recruit classes, with over 50 law enforcement officers receiving this training.

4/23/18-4/25/18: Sue Green, Samantha Koury, and Suzanne Bissonette traveled to Sarasota, Florida for a Trauma-Informed Care training with All Star Children's Foundation. The ITTIC team met with the founders and leadership team on 4/24/18 to discuss the importance of trauma-informed care in the development of their "Campus of Hope & Healing." On 4/25/18, the ITTIC team delivered a full day training for the Board of Directors, founders, and community partners of All Star, which included information about trauma and adversity, adverse childhood experiences, how trauma impacts brain development, re-traumatization, and the 5 guiding values/principles of trauma-informed care.

4/13/18: ITTIC delivered a closing training for the AIDS Institute's third cohort of 26 champions in Albany, NY. This training marked the end of the 6-month learning collaborative entitled "Building Agency Capacity for Trauma-Informed Care." During the training, the champions were trained in how to foster resilience, post-traumatic growth and vicarious resilience. Champions also discussed next steps and action planning, which is important to consider when thinking about how each of the champions will bring the skills and knowledge they learned from the collaborative back to their agencies and organizations. Each champion also received a certificate of completion.

3/28/18: The first training session of Trauma 101 for principals, key staff, and champions in the Ken-Ton School District was held on March 28, 2018. Forty individuals in the district were trained in trauma and its impact, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), re-traumatization and an introduction to Trauma-Informed Educational Practices. This training is the foundation for the work that will be done during the 3-year training initiative. The next Trauma 101 training session will be delivered on 4/18/18.

Leadership support is crucial for creating and sustaining the organizational change process. Below is a message that Mr. Bovino, Superintendent of the Ken-Ton School District, sent to all faculty and staff in the district:

Good Morning:

Here in Ken-Ton, we have always prided ourselves on being at the forefront of educational innovation. This is most recently evident in our Ken-Ton Forward Strategic Planning process. A major component of that process is a focus on the social-emotional wellness of students.

Part of our forward-thinking efforts in this area is the development of Ken-Ton as a "Trauma-Informed District." You may have heard reference to this process in a few different ways recently. In collaboration with UB’s Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care we are undertaking a 3-year process to train all Ken-Ton staff in Trauma-Informed Educational Practices.

This training will begin shortly with a small group of staff and will expand to the others over a three-year period of time. This initial training will be in the Basics of Trauma-Informed Educational Practices. This will be a purposeful and differentiated process that will result in many staff being trained so Ken-Ton becomes a district that embraces a Trauma-Informed approach.

During the past year I have attended a number of meetings and conferences with educators and fellow superintendents. I can tell you that the mental health crisis in this state is real. A recent survey responded to by NYS superintendents indicated that mental health issues is a top concern. The survey also indicated it was an area where superintendents would like to commit to additional funding.

This month I attended a two-day conference on mental health for educators. The conference was both informative and alarming when one understands the issues we are facing. Two districts presented on how they have attempted to deal with mental health issues. One critical component for both districts was a thorough understanding of Trauma-Informed Care along with development of programs and training so that the entire staff can operate as a trauma-sensitive district. You may ask, what is defined as trauma? I have provided a link to a a fifteen-minute Ted Talk by Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris. I recommend that you view it as she will explain trauma and the impact it has on child’s social, emotional and physical development and overall quality of life.

In the video you will hear about ACE. I learned a great deal about this study that has been in place now for a number of years: Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACE. According to the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the ACE study found that:

• Adverse childhood experiences are common. For example, 28% of study participants reported physical abuse and 21% reported sexual abuse. Many also reported experiencing a divorce or parental separation or having a parent with a mental and/or substance use disorder.
• Adverse childhood experiences often occur together. Almost 40% of the original sample reported two or more ACEs and 12.5% experienced four or more. Because ACEs occur in clusters, many subsequent studies have examined the cumulative effects of ACEs rather than the individual effects of each.
• Adverse childhood experiences have a dose-response relationship with many health problems. As researchers followed participants over time, they discovered that a person's cumulative ACEs score has a strong, graded relationship to numerous health, social, and behavioral problems throughout their lifespan, including substance use disorders. Furthermore, many problems related to ACEs tend to be comorbid, or co-occurring.

https://web.archive.org/web/20161009181048/http:/www.samhsa.gov/capt/practicing-effective-prevention/prevention-behavioral-health/adverse-childhood-experiences

The study uses a survey instrument to determine if a child has suffered one or more ACEs. I have attached several images that explain what the ACE survey measures and the adverse impact one or more ACEs has on a child. We have seen the increase of mental health issues in our own district. Referrals to the Family Support Center are at an all-time high. Another important aspect of the mental health condition of our students is the stress that it places on our staff. The problem is real and it impacts all of us.

As you begin to see and hear about Trauma-Informed Educational Practices I encourage you to participate. This might mean completing a survey to help in decision-making and program design, it might mean focusing on this topic in a faculty meeting or special training opportunity. The questions you are asked and the professional development you will be provided will allow for our staff to become independent practitioners of Trauma Informed Educational Practices as our colleagues at UB transition out of the schools by the end of our 3-year plan.

Trauma-Informed Educational Practices will look differently to our many kinds of staff with various skills and experiences. But in each case, I ask you to support this initiative with your honest participation. We need to work together to prepare ourselves to meet the needs of our community. Thank you for taking the time to review these materials.

3/23/18: ITTIC has been deliberately working with Mount St. Mary's Hospital (part of the collaboration with Catholic Health) to integrate Trauma-Informed Care into different parts the hospital. As part of this initiative, Whitney Mendel attended this month's Spirit Day at Mount St. Mary's Hospital. While working with staff to hand out soft pretzels as a self-care treat, Whitney also highlighted the overlap of the values/principles of Trauma-Informed Care with Catholic Health's values.

3/15/18: The kick-off training for the WNY Trauma-Informed Care Champion Team (second cohort) was held. Champions were trained in trauma/adversity, re-traumatization, steps to creating trauma-informed systems of care, the role of a Champion, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)'s ten implementation domains.

3/12/18: While Dr. Mandy Davis was in Buffalo for ITTIC's WNY Trauma-Informed Care Champion collaborative meeting, she recorded a podcast with Josie Diebold. She is featured in Episode 235 of the inSocialWork Podcast Series. Click the link below to hear Dr. Davis discuss challenges and barriers to promoting and sustaining trauma-informed policies and practices.

2/7/18: Eighteen law enforcement officials (Lieutenants, Detectives, Investigators and Patrol Officers), from eight local police departments participated in the most recent SAMHSA training entitled, “How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses.” Previous trainings included only a few officials, so we're pleased the number increased. 

1/24/18: Dr. Mandy Davis, the Director of Trauma Informed Oregon, presented to the WNY Trauma-Informed Care Champion Team, the TICI Legislative Committee, and to the community about the work being done through Trauma Informed Oregon. She also gave feedback to the Champions and the Legislative Committee in regards to the policy resolution they created.

3/27/17: ITTIC is now in two-year partnerships with ECMC and Catholic Health.