In early summer 2015, Snohomish County Human Services created a children’s wellness initiative that became the Children’s Wellness Coalition. Initially, our top priority was to build a foundation for sharing, networking, and regional collaboration.

In the coming months the Coalition developed a summary of community strengths and gaps in the youth mental health system, keying in on several action items.

Our ranks grew as we worked together, identifying school, family and community outreach as our primary goal. We are driven to equip our partners with trauma informed knowledge and tools!

By January, 2016 we were surveying local schools to identify trauma informed and social/emotional needs, and began communicating our findings superintendents throughout the region.

In winter 2016, we refined our mission and vision and began visualizing what a trauma informed community could look like. By the spring, the Coalition engaged in Trauma Training provided by International Trauma Institute at Tulalip Tribes Cultural Center and began reviewing community strengths, weaknesses and gaps, in order to develop action items for our next steps as a Coalition.

Since then, our focus has been on building trauma informed organizations and school sites through our Compassion, Awareness, Resilience & Empowerment (CARE) initiative, toolbox for schools to be trauma aware and includes partnering with families and community members.

To Date, more than 50 community-based organizations and many school districts are working to install trauma informed practices and policies as part of our CARE initiative.

We hope you’ll be next.