One of our aims is for Lancashire to be a trauma informed county. Being trauma informed is not an initiative but a way of being, and part of our culture. This impacts on our beliefs, values, way of life and the way our society is organised. The relationships we form, the language we use and the way we see the environment are all part of our culture.
Lancashire VRN contributes to this aim by:
Learning from those with lived experiences, working with our communities, and with the public and third sector workforce, we are collaboratively developing our understanding of violence and its relationship to trauma.
We are focusing on the following eight principles:
We are taking a strengths-based approach to address current skills, differentiated knowledge and needs of the workforce.
A trauma informed organisational framework will be shared with partners to build capacity and sustainability within the workforce. This will help to support partners in terms of the process and infrastructure for cultural transformation.
The term ‘adverse childhood experience’ refers to a wide range of stressful or traumatic experiences that children may experience while growing up.
ACEs range from experiences that directly harm a child (such as suffering physical, verbal or sexual abuse, and physical or emotional neglect) to those that affect the child’s home environment (including parental separation, domestic violence, mental illness, alcohol abuse, drug use or a family member being incarcerated).
Surveys show that ACEs are very common, with between half and two thirds of respondents experiencing one or more ACE.
A Blackburn with Darwen study showed that the more ACEs individuals experience in childhood, the greater their risk of a wide range of health-harming behaviours and diseases as an adult.
Working in a trauma informed way is part of the jigsaw to addressing some of these issues.
Having ACEs does not define the rest of your physical and psychological wellbeing. What must be remembered is that ACEs can be prevented.
Following the success of the Four Nations webinar series on public health approaches in policing, delegates were asked what content would be useful in their
Lancashire Violence Reduction Network has secured government funding to steer young people away from violent crime and create a better understanding of childhood trauma amongst
Lancashire Violence Reduction Network, the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner, and Blackpool Council welcomed a government minister to Blackpool to find out about the proactive