As a companion to the Trauma-Informed PA plan released last week by Gov. Tom Wolf’s office to guide the commonwealth and service providers statewide on what it means to be trauma-informed and healing-centered in PA, the Office of Advocacy and Reform and the PA Attorney General’s Office have worked with over a dozen community-based ACEs and trauma initiatives to launch the “PA Trauma-Informed Network” on the ACEs Connection Platform.
“There was a clear emphasis on building grassroots support and empowering people at the local level among the PA Trauma-Informed Think Tank members that mirrored my experiences with successful anti-poverty work over the years,” said Dan Jurman, executive director of OAR. “When we saw what the Attorney General’s office had been working on, it was a no brainer to throw our support behind the great work.”
The Network is one of the recommendations in the Trauma-Informed PA plan to connect ACEs and trauma-informed coalitions and movements in counties and communities across Pennsylvania, as well as organizations and individuals interested in building them.
The Network will help connect all of Pennsylvania’s existing and future trauma-informed coalitions by sharing best practices and lessons learned, and the resources to help people heal from and prevent trauma. The work on this initiative began in 2017 with the Attorney General’s Office, under the leadership of Attorney General Josh Shapiro with the assistance of Robert Reed, Executive Deputy Attorney General in charge of Special Initiatives, and was reinforced by the Trauma-Informed PA Think Tank and OAR this summer.
“This network will serve as an invaluable tool to bolster existing trauma-informed coalitions and create new ones with a more well-rounded representation of all parties crucial to success including education, health, human services, law enforcement and criminal justice, among others,” said Reed.
Individuals or organizations interested in learning more or building their own initiative to connect to the network should go to acesconnection.com/g/pennsylvania-trauma-informed-network
