Trauma and Healing

Trauma-Informed, Family-Centered Practices Training Series

From 2018-2022, the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg sponsored a multi-agency initiative designed to help begin transforming St. Petersburg’s Infant and Early Childhood service landscape to become more responsive to the needs of families through trauma-informed, family-centered services and supports. The initiative was planned and guided by leadership from multiple child- and family-serving agencies collectively providing direct services to most of St. Petersburg’s infants and toddlers. One important arm of the work was dedicated to development of content workshops addressing trauma-informed care, family-centered approaches and supports, and reflective practices for agencies. Over 300 individuals from six partner agencies participated in the workshop series, offered by the Family Study Center’s Dr. LaDonna Butler. Studio versions of the trainings were created to capture essential components of the trauma-informed, family-centered framework that guided the initiative. 

Those studio versions can be found on our training page, along with other resources and information for human services professionals and agencies serving children birth to age 3 from families that have experienced trauma or early adversity. The studio series is comprised of four core modules, ranging from 30-60 minutes. Each is accompanied by a User’s Guide of workbook-style pages that assist the viewer in taking notes and reflecting on the material.

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, trauma-informed child and family service systems are those in which all parties involved recognize and respond to the impact of traumatic stress on those who have contact with the system -- including children, caregivers, and service providers. Recognizing the importance of cultural responsiveness in trauma-informed, family-centered care, the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg sponsored a sister initiative, Reckoning with Race and COVID in Infant-Family Mental Health, to provide additional resources for agencies and other community providers. The products from that initiative can be found here. Additional resources from the NCTSN can be found here.