COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
COMMITTEE ROUNDTABLE REPORT
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004

TO:

All Councilmembers

FROM:

Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson

Committee on Education

DATE:

July 12, 2015

SUBJECT:

Report on the Committee on Educations Roundtable on The Value of

Investing in Trauma-Informed Public Schools and Support Services

On June 23, 2015, the Committee on Education held a public roundtable on The Value of
Investing in Trauma-Informed Public Schools and Support Services. This report is a summary
of that roundtable.
I. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There is an emerging body of research about complex trauma, stress and its impact on student
achievement.1 Trauma is defined as a severe emotional response to a frightening or threatening
event or series of experiences that leaves a person overwhelmed and unable to cope. 2 While an
event such as physical abuse or witnessing violence can certainly cause trauma, children can also
experience trauma through homelessness, growing up in poverty, or the loss of a connection to a
parent or loved one.
Studies have shown that high levels of stress and anxiety in youth as a result of trauma can lead
to difficulty with self-regulation and boundaries, difficulty understanding and complying with
rules, and problems with focusing on and completing tasks.3 Overtime this leads to lower gradepoint averages, a decreased reading ability, frequent absenteeism, and a decreased rate of high
school graduation.4 Groundbreaking research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) tells us
that half of children in a high-poverty community exposed to 4+ ACEs are at risk of learning
and/or behavior problems, versus just 3 percent for those with no ACEs.5
1

David Bornstein, Overcoming Povertys Damage to Learning, The New York Times, April 17, 2015.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/overcoming-povertys-damage-to-learning/?_r=0
2
Understanding Child Trauma, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
http://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/assets/pdfs/policy_and_the_nctsn_final.pdf
3
Impact of Toxic Stress and Complex Trauma on the Developing Brain. http://mbhe.weebly.com/index.html
4
Sheryl Kataoka, Audra Langley, Marleen Wong, et al, Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools. Child
Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. Jan. 2012:21(1): 119-x.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3287974/
5
Burke, Hellman, Scott, Weems, and Carrion, The impact of adverse childhood experiences on a n urban pediatric
population, 2011. Child Abuse and Neglect, 35(6), 408-13.

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Children in the District of Columbia are more likely to witness violence, grow up in poverty, and
be homeless than most children across the country. Forty percent of high school students
reported seeing or hearing violence and abuse during the past 12 months. 6 A recent study by the
Urban Institute on gunfire detection around D.C. schools found that a number of middle and high
schools have experienced a disproportionally high volume of close-range gunfire 9 to 11
incidents in a single year between the hours of 7am and 7pm.7 Many children witness or are
victims of domestic violence. According to the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence, D.C.
law enforcement received nearly 33,000 domestic violence-related calls for service in 2014. 8
Child abuse and neglect occurs at a rate of 19 per 1,000 children in DC, compared with 9 per
1,000 children nationwide.9 At the end of 2014, there were over 1,000 DC children growing up
in foster care and many more are at risk of entering into care because of parental neglect. 10 One
in four DC children live in poverty and, in Wards 7 and 8, the child poverty rate is greater than
50 percent. 11 And approximately one in every 24 students attending DC public schools and
public charter schools is identified as homeless.12
More and more urban school districts around the country are realizing that in order to truly
address the growing achievement and opportunity gap in education, they must also focus
attention and resources on mental health for students. One strategy has been to make public
schools more trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive environments. The Trauma and Learning
Policy Initiative, which is a joint project between Massachusetts Advocates for Children and
Harvard Law School, identifies a trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive public school as one that
works to create an environment in which every student feels safe and supported physically,
socially, emotionally, and academically. 13 This requires the entire staff to develop a shared
understanding of the educational impacts of trauma.
The purpose of the Committees roundtable was to learn more about the importance of traumainformed schools and environments. How do we identify students affected by trauma? What
exactly does it mean to be trauma-informed? What types of existing services and trainings are

Julie Ost and Laura K. Maurizi, District of Columbia Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Office of the State
Superintendent of Education, 2013.
http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/2012%20DC%20YRBS_OSSE_0.pdf
7
Testimony by Sam Bieler on behalf of the Urban Institute presented before the Committee on Education on June
23, 2015.
8
Testimony by Erin S. Larkin, Policy Attorney, DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence presented before the
Committee on Education on June 23, 2015.
9
Children Who are Confirmed by Child Protective Services as Victims of Maltreatment, Kids
Count Data Center, 2014. http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/6221-children-who-areconfirmed-by-childprotective-services-as-victimsofmaltreatment?%20loc=10&loct=3#detailed/3/10/true/868,867,133,38,35/any/12943,12942
10
Presentation by Yuliana Del Arroyo, OSSE, to the Mayors Advisory Committee on Child Abuse and
Neglect (MACCAN), February 24, 2015.
11
Soumya Bhat, The Value of Investing in Trauma Informed Schools in DC, DC Fiscal Policy Institute, June 24,
2015. http://www.dcfpi.org/the-value-of-investing-in-trauma-informed-schools-in-dc
12
Homeless Students, Learn DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
http://www.learndc.org/schoolprofiles/about/glossary/homeless-students
13
Helping Traumatized Children Learn, Massachusetts Advocates for Children: Trauma and Learning Policy
Initiative. http://traumasensitiveschools.org/trauma-and-learning/the-solution-trauma-sensitive-schools/

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available to students and school-based staff in this regard? And how can the District of Columbia
better coordinate and improve mental health services for students?
II. TESTIMONY

The Committee heard testimony from 25 public witnesses and 1 witness from the Executive. A
copy of all written testimony received (and statements submitted to the Committee after the
roundtable) is attached to this report and the video recording of the hearing is available online at
http://oct.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel_13.asp. The following are some highlights
from the testimony presented before the Committee regarding the state of trauma informed
programs in D.C. and what is happening in other jurisdictions.
The State of Trauma Informed Programs in D.C.
Witnesses confirmed the need for a more trauma informed approach in our public schools and
the need for resources to make that happen. Chris Obermeyer, a high school science teacher
within D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) for the past four years, testified about his first year
teaching and how he sought out training on his own to recognize and respond to trauma after
learning of some of the experiences of his students. After first finding training through the Office
of the State Superintendent of Education, Mr. Obermeyer partnered with the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention to bring suicide prevention, intervention and post intervention
training to 15 staff and 5 students at his school.
Joe Smith, the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Eagle Academy Public
Charter School, testified that Eagle Academy currently has 13 full time mental health
professionals in its two schools working with children and families. As Mr. Smith described,
Eagle Academys programs did not happen by accident. His experience at Eagle Academy has
led him to believe that schools serving at-risk students must be more than trauma-informed; they
must become trauma-competent. Emily Bloomfield, the CEO of Monument Academy Public
Charter School and Tia Brumsted, the Director of Student Wellness at E.L. Haynes Public
Charter School echoed Mr. Smiths belief. As Monument Academy prepares for opening,
trauma-informed strategies will be integrated into the staffs training and preparation. For the
past two years, E.L. Haynes Student Wellness team has focused on reducing stigma and
increasing accessibility to counseling and mental health services.
Through the testimony of public witnesses, the Committee learned more about several programs
currently running in public schools in D.C. Chaz Kohlreiser, a therapist with the Wendt Center
for Loss and Healing, testified about the work he has done through the organizations Resilient
Scholars program. Through this program, staff delivers weekly individual and group therapy
services in DCPS and public charter schools. During the 2014-15 school year, Resilient Scholars
participants reported an 85 percent reduction in trauma symptoms. Mike Lamb, the Executive
Director for Turnaround for Children in DC testified about his organizations work at WalkerJones and Orr Elementary Schools. They bring a mental health provider to be in the building all
day, every day including the summer, incorporate the provider into the schools student support
team that Turnaround helps build, and train principals to manage a mental health partnership and

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create proactive school-wide behavior management and support systems. Every week for 45
minutes, Turnaround also trains teachers in building classroom community, consistent rules and
procedures, defusing disruptive behavior, and cooperative learning strategies. Since school year
2012-2013, the suspension rate at Walker-Jones has decreased by 75 percent and at Orr by 71
percent.
Dr. Aaron Rakow, a clinical psychologist, professor of psychiatry, and Director of School
Based Mental Health Initiatives at Georgetown University, also co-founded an organization
called InSite Solutions. Currently, InSite Solutions partners with approximately two-dozen
schools throughout Washington, D.C. to provide the following: (1) training for teachers on
classroom behavioral management techniques as well as how to recognize and properly screen
for mental illness in children; (2) training in evidence-based mental health interventions for
school social workers, teacher, and school leaders; and (3) a free mental health clinic without
walls within the school where children and families can receive evidence-based interventions
from clinical psychologists, meet with a psychiatrist who can write prescriptions for behavioral
medication, and be assessed by neuropsychologists who help in conducting thorough student
evaluations. Dr. Rakow testified that their model has achieved promising results to date with
schools seeing decreases in emotional and behavioral problems, trauma related to shame and
sexualized behaviors.
Sherry Peters, Senior Policy Associate at Georgetown University Center for Children and
Human Developments National Technical Assistance Center for Childrens Mental Health, and
Soumya Bhat, Education Finance and Policy Analyst for the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, testified
about the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), which is geared
towards reliving symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety
experienced by children who have been exposed to trauma. Ms. Bhat also spoke of Structured
Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS), a group intervention
focused on adolescents. Both programs are available through DCPS; however, Ms. Bhat noted
that they are only available to a small number of students with the greatest needs in schools. Ms.
Bhat stated that more work needs to be done to ensure that both DCPS and charters are truly
trauma-sensitive.
Outside of the classroom, Dr. Eddy Ameen, Chair of the Youth Working Group of The DC
Center, spoke of his work training volunteers to counsel homeless youth through a program
called StandUp For Kids. Dr. Ameen stated that he built the curriculum to include a significant
trauma-informed approach because they recognize that about 100% of youth who are homeless
have experienced some form of trauma.
Other Jurisdictions
Lisa Raymond, the Deputy Director at DC Action for Children described the work in
Massachusetts, where advocates worked with state legislators to include guidelines for traumasensitive schools in a 2014 bill addressing gun violence. This legislation tasked the states
education department with creating a structure to increase the number of trauma-sensitive
schools through a number of strategies, including technical assistance, the dissemination of best
practices, and establishing a grant program to support pilot programs. The FY16 budget for

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Massachusetts included $500,000 for this effort.14 Ms. Raymond explained that when discussing
Massachusetts effort with Susan Cole and Michael Gregory from the Trauma and Learning
Policy Initiative at Harvard, they stressed their belief that states should not establish traumasensitive schools as unfunded mandates; rather school districts and schools should be encouraged
to opt into this approach, with the state providing funding and technical assistance. DC Action
for Children agreed with that recommendation.
Several witnesses testified about the need for D.C. to do more in terms of suicide prevention and
match what other jurisdictions have done in that regard. Amy Loudermilk, the Associate
Director of Government Affairs for The Trevor Project, testified that D.C. is in the minority of
states that have no law regard suicide training in schools. Currently, twenty-four states require
suicide training and another fourteen have laws encouraging suicide training for school-based
personnel. Ryan Newcome from The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offered to
work with the Committee and share the model legislation they have developed to address this.
III. NEXT STEPS

Dr. Robert Block, the former President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has said
adverse childhood experiences are the single greatest undressed public health threat facing our
nation today. While there are a number of school-based programs to address trauma currently
ongoing, the D.C. lacks coordination and widespread accessibility. Deputy Mayor for Education
Jennifer Niles testified about several valuable school based trauma initiatives and programs in
the District of Columbia, but agreed with the Committees conclusion. Deputy Mayor Niles
stated quite simply that coordination is not sufficient and neither are the resources. Through
Deputy Mayor Niles the Executive has signaled a commitment to working together with other
stakeholders to improve our approach and ensure that each student in the District of Columbia
feels safe and supported in school. The Committee on Education recommends the following:

14

Explore potential legislation on suicide prevention training for school-based staff. Among
D.C. youth, the number of suicides is low, but the number of suicide attempts is nearly
twice the national averagewhich is certainly cause for alarm. Training school-based
staff to recognize the signs of students who may be struggling could assist in bringing
this number down.

Expand and invest in school-based mental health programs, including clinical

components. The Department of Behavioral Healths School Mental Health Program
provides prevention, early intervention, direct treatment, and consultation services to
students, teachers, and parents. Currently, however, the program only serves 62 public
and public charter schools, thus it does not meet the full need around the District of
Columbia. Under the Affordable Care Act, mental health services are now an essential
benefit. We have a unique opportunity to build up the capacity of our school health
centers to provide care.

Safe and Supportive Schools, Helping Traumatized Children Learn, Massachusetts Advocates for Children:
Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative. http://traumasensitiveschools.org/get-involved/safe-and-supportive-schools/

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Invest in cross-sector, professional development geared towards training educators on

trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive approaches in public schools. Many students who
need counseling services are the most reluctant to go to a professional and discuss
trauma, but they can and most often do go to a school-based staff member that they trust.
Therefore, those individuals should be well-equipped to have those conversations and
know where they can turn to for help and additional resources.

Conduct a full review of the results of the restorative justice pilots at DCPS high schools.
Further, we should ensure data collection and documentation as DCPS rolls out its
Response to Intervention (RTI) framework over the next school year.