Luzerne County implements school program for traumatized youth

Police officers throughout Luzerne County are notifying schools if they encounter one of their students at a traumatic scene as part of a new “Handle With Care” initiative, county officials said.

“The police are really on board with this, and we were so excited with their reaction to the program and their willingness to be a part of it,” said Tara Fox, administrator of county’s Mental Health/Developmental Services department.

“From beginning to end, this is a fantastic project.”

Children react differently to trauma, and the program ensures school officials have a heads up in case they observe any signs help is needed, Fox said.

Due to confidentiality, teachers are not informed of the specifics but instructed that they should be more aware because something occurred, Fox said.

“What a teacher may view as oppositional behavior could relate to something that happened or a lack of sleep,” she said. “If a child is not behaving differently, nothing is done.”

Domestic abuse, fires and deaths are among the types of incidents that could prompt police notification to a student’s school, she said.

“It could be anything that would require police to come to the house,” Fox said.

The county is not tracking statistics because police contacts with schools are confidential, Fox said. However, she was she has been informed several referrals have been made in multiple school districts.

Helping students succeed in school is the ultimate goal, she said.

“Research now shows that trauma can undermine children’s ability to learn, form relationships and function appropriately in the classroom,” a program description said.

Notifications are made through a web link as part of the Safe2Say Something platform. No information is shared regarding the details of the trauma the child may have been exposed to because the program is designed to treat all children with universal precautions, it said.

The county’s human services division, which includes Fox’s department, began researching Handle With Care more than a year ago through the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties System of Care.

After learning about successful implementation of the program in other states, the county developed a plan to effectively train schools, law enforcement and mental health providers and started successful pilot programs this February in the Wilkes-Barre Area and Hazleton Area school districts, Fox said.

Handle With Care was launched countywide in October, with participation by all municipal and state police and the support of county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, Fox said. All school districts and private schools in the county are participating in the program and have multidisciplinary teams to handle notifications, she said.

“Many chiefs of police see this as an opportunity to support the children they protect and serve. Although many police departments had an informal system established with schools, this formalizes the process and makes it much easier than what was informally in place,” a release said.

Fox said a child exposed to trauma appearing defiant may need help and could become more traumatized if the only response is discipline. At the same time, a child may need space because a sudden bombardment of services could make things worse, she said.

“It’s a slippery slope. We have to monitor and base our response on their behaviors,” Fox said. “If they do need help, it may be as basic as brief assistance processing an event as opposed to long-term, ongoing treatment.”

County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo highlighted the program during her recently yearly review.