LYNCHBURG — The Moore County Sheriff’s Office and the Moore County School District recently announced a partnership to launch the Handle With Care program to support children facing trauma, and violent situations in Moore County.
A recent national survey of the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence and trauma revealed that 60 percent of American children have been exposed to violence, crime or abuse. Forty percent were direct victims of two or more violent acts. Prolonged exposure to violence and trauma can seriously undermine children’s ability to focus, behave appropriately, and learn. It often leads to school failure, truancy, suspension or expulsion, dropping out, or involvement in the juvenile justice system.
Handle With Care enables first responders, whether it be law enforcement, fire, or EMS to notify schools if they encounter a child at a traumatic scene, so schools and mental healthcare leaders can provide trauma-sensitive support right away.
The statewide Handle with Care program is being coordinated through the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Dangerous Drugs Taskforce through a state grant. Technical assistance, training and program support is provided at no cost to the county.
“We are excited to work with such great partners on a program that will help students achieve at their highest levels despite whatever traumatic circumstances they may have endured,” said Sheriff Tyler Hatfield
Handle with Care has three components.
First, local law enforcement provides the school or child care agency with a “heads up” when a child has been identified at the scene of a traumatic event. It could be a meth lab explosion, a domestic violence situation, a shooting in the neighborhood, witnessing a malicious wounding, a drug raid at the home, etc. Deputies are trained to identify children at the scene, find out where they go to school and send the school/agency a confidential email that simply says: handle with care. That’s it. No other details.
The school district will then distribute the notification to the appropriate teacher and/or counselor so they can monitor the student’s behavior and determine what trauma-informed support the child may need at school – such as reteaching lessons, giving more time on tests, sending the student to the nurse’s office to sleep, or sending the student to the counselor.
If needed, the counselor will make a referral to a mental health provider.
To learn more about the program, please visit: https://tnhandlewithcare.org. •
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