Strategies for senior management teams leading transformative best practice services for children & their families dealing with trauma.

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HEALTHY RESILIENCE, PROTECTIVE FACTORS & WELL-
BEING STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING ADVERSE
CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES-(ACEs)
MAY 26, 2018
Just “1” caring and supportive parent, extended family member, foster parent, teacher,
minister, clergy layperson, mentor, next door neighbor, school clerk, supportive adult,
family friend, coach, peer and family support specialist, case manager, friend, mental
health therapist and other positive adults can make a difference in mitigating traumatic
experiences and help a child/youth “bounce-back” and reach successful adulthood.
RESILIENCE:
The 2018 Child Welfare Prevention Resource Guide states that “All youth face
difficulties, which can range from traumatic stress to everyday disappoints. The
ability to cope and recover (or “bounce back”) after a setback is important to their
success. Experts call this “resilience,” and it’s a skill that can be learned”.

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What You Can Do:
Maintain a positive outlook
Build Confidence
Build Connection
Encourage Goal-Setting
See Challenges as Learning Opportunities
Teach Self-Care
Help Others
Website:
https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/preventionmonth/resources/tip-
sheets/
PROTECTIVE FACTORS:
The Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework developed by a national
research-based initiative within the school district identifies five specific characteristics
(called Protective Factors) that help keep families strong.
They define “PROTECTIVE FACTORS” as “attributes in individual and families that
when present alleviate or eliminate risk in families and increase their health and well-
being. Protective Factors “aid” parents in finding community resources. Positive
support and coping strategies.”
FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTECTIVE FACTORS THAT ACTS AS A
SHIELD:
1. Parental Resilience
2. Social Connections
3. Knowledge of Parenting & Child Development
4. Concrete Support in Times of Need
5. Social & Emotional Competence of Children
Take a look at their website and link entitled “How to Remember the 5 Protective Factors
That make Your Family Strong”.
Website:
http://www.whatmakesyourfamilystrong.org/RememberProtectiveFactors.html

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WELL-BEING STRATEGIES: (not an exhaustive list):
In the Center for Healthy Minds located at the University of Wisconsin state ”practicing
mindfulness of relative calm can help strengthen the ability to make use of these
strategies when emotions run high or challenges arise.”
Researchers at the Center are concentrating their efforts to understand the factors that
shape “well-being” and discover clues of how “well-being” manifests in the mind and
body.
From their research, they provide some of the following “Well-Being Exercise”
recommendations for families and children:
Create a Quiet Space
Pay attention with Purpose & Curiosity
Peace and Notice the Breath
Offer CaringWishes
Practice Gratitude
Hip Hop For the Mind
Mental Exercises in the Classroom to provide well-being to improve attention and
students’ emotion regulation skills
Compassion Meditation
Mindfulness Training that May Help Reduce Teacher Stress & Burnout
Website: https://centerhealthyminds.org/about/why-well-being
In closing, these are just a few snapshot strategies to be deployed and integrated across
any child/youth-serving agency when helping distressed and traumatized families.
Furthermore, I would recommend several brainstorming mind-mapping sessions with
the senior management team members to work on developing and incorporating specific
and diverse “HEALTHY RESILIENCE, PROTECTIVE FACTORS, AND WELL-BEING
STRATEGIES” within categories across all agency programming, staff training,
leadership/workforce development, community partners, and agency infrastructure.
TAGS:
#ACEs #Resilience #ProtectiveFactors #WellBeing #ProgramDevelopment
#StrategicPlanning #ComunityPartnerships #FamiliesThrive #BounceBack
#ClientEngagement #WorkforceRetention #CQI #PerformanceManagement
#MentalHealth #BehavioralHealth #Transformative #MindfulnessTraining
#Prevention #FamilyFirstPreventionServicesAct