Heywood Hospital's 'Handle with Care' program connects traumatized children with supports
In attempt to create a supportive community for children across the Greater Gardener area, Heywood Hospital has established Handle with Care, a communication initiative that connects children to resources they need after experiencing trauma or violence.
For the past eight years, Handle with Care (HWC) has been used by hospitals all over the country to bridge the gap between law enforcement, first responders, and school staff by installing an easy communication system to identify child trauma victims.
Selena Johnson, Director of Community Investment at Heywood Hospital is one of the HWC program leaders. She said before HWC protocol was established in 2019, children who experienced abuse, neglect, or any form of trauma were not reported by first responders.
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Children involved with first responders are connected with supports at school
Now with HWC protocols when law enforcement is called in for an emergency then all children at the scene are identified in the police report and the child's school is notified about the situation.
"What we're trying to do here is to just give a notice to schools that this student is returning to school after this thing happened to them and they might need a little bit of extra kindness that day," she said. "
Ever since the program was implemented in 2019, more school districts and police departments in the Greater Gardner area are adopting HWC into their protocol. Johnson and her team at Heywood work with six different school districts including Ashburnham-Westminster School District, Gardner Public Schools, and Narragansett Regional School District and 10 police departments in the area.
Besides creating an improved streamline of communication HWC program also provides law enforcement, educators, and school leaders with training identifying trauma and sensitivity training. Johnson said the training is incorporated with each individual school district's educator curriculum. She said these trainings have improved communication between first responders and school staff to help get the right resources to the child in need of support.
Johnson said this protocol program is much needed in the Greater Gardner area because this community is often overlooked by the state when it comes to funding and awareness.
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"A lot of our problems don't get the awareness that big cities get, and we don't get the funding that we need to make these gaps in our communities smaller," she said. "We are a region that has to work together in order to make a change and Handle with Care really has created a wonderful atmosphere for collaboration."
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: 'Handle with care' supports children facing trauma first responders
