‘It’s been a significant challenge’
Conn. police step up to help children dealing with trauma
At some point about a year ago, it occurred to Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo that some children in his city were traumatized by gun violence and other events, including the arrest of a parent, which was leading to increased calls to police to deal with problems at school.
“I know that exposure to certain circumstances can be a compounding factor when kids act out in an inappropriate way,” Spagnolo said.
So he decided to join a number of other police departments around the state that are addressing trauma in children as a way of reducing crime and helping kids succeed in school by forming a task force that identifies children in need and connects their families with services.
“We review those cases collectively and see what we can do to support that family and connect that child with care,” Spagnolo said.
It’s not a new concept for New Haven police, which have worked closely with the Yale Child Study Center for 30 years to address trauma in children by instructing officers on the beat to reach out and connect kids with services.
On Thursday afternoon as New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson attended roll call, one officer told the group that a clinician from the center would be riding along. “He said if you have a child in crisis, let me know and we’ll be right over,” Jacobson recalled.
A former police officer in East Providence, R.I., Jacobson said he had never heard of police connecting kids with help until he joined the New Haven Police Department in 2007.
“We never had anything
like that,” Jacobson said. “We didn’t work with any clinicians and there was no mental health help or assessment for children.”
After Jacobson was hired in New Haven, he quickly became a believer in the Yale Child Study Center program and made sure the department was involved in the creation of a “tool kit” for officers on the street to minimize trauma and increase avenues for help for children who have witnessed violent crimes.
His department also works with the Clifford Beers Community Health Partners, which will canvass New Haven neighborhoods after a shooting or violent event to give residents information on how to get help for trauma.
Lt. Jason Rentkowicz makes sure that all New Haven officers going through the police academy receive training in how to respond to trauma in children.
“Officers are taught to contact the Yale Child Study Center and they are given the skills and strategies to deal with the children themselves,” Rentkowicz said. “The took kit breaks it down by categories, including age and group. We tell officers these are the tools you can use in these situations.”
Experts have become more aware of recognizing the impact trauma can have on children in the past few decades, said Steven Marans, who co-directs the Yale Child Study Center.
“When children are exposed to domestic violence, sexual and physical abuse or a disaster, it can be traumatically overwhelming and disregulating,” Marans said. “Throughout time, children have been exposed to way more trauma than we hoped.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem by creating social isolation when schools were closed and by forcing some children to confront the loss of loves ones, including caretakers, he said. There has also been an increase in violence in many of the state’s cities, police said.
“I think one of the things is that in certain children’s lives there has been an increase in events outside of their homes that are traumatizing,” Marans said. “Violence is happening in their neighborhoods.”
The center partners with police and the Yale New Haven Hospital pediatric emergency department to identify children who have witnessed a traumatic event and might benefit from services. The families are followed throughout the process by both police and clinicians, who check in at various points to see how they are doing.
The center receives about 10 to 15 referrals a week from police and more from the pediatric emergency department, Marans said. Officers will canvass neighborhoods after shootings or violent events to check on families to see whether anyone needs help, he said.
The protocol has been “enormously successful” in interrupting the development of post-traumatic stress in children, Marans said.
“One of the things we’ve had an opportunity to learn is that people tend to thing about trauma as scaring that is forever,” he said. “But that doesn’t have to be the case.”
Other police departments are recognizing the value of providing help to children who may have witnessed a violent act.
Hartford doesn’t have a formal protocol but will reach out to families after a violent event in their neighborhood, department spokesman Lt. Aaron Boisvert said.
“If there’s been a case we know a child has witnessed, we’ll get them help,” Boisvert said. The help can include a referral for services or an immediate trip to the hospital, he said.
“We’re very victim conscious,” Boisvert said. “Children will get referred to any services they need.”
The Office of New Britain State’s Attorney started an innovative program this year to connect children who have witnessed crimes with services to address trauma in the hopes of preventing future crimes as the child matures.
But the program came to an unexpected halt this summer when the person who was hired to do outreach to parents and school resigned for personal reasons. New Britain State’s Attorney Christian Watson and Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin are now considering their options on how to move forward.
Spagnolo had a defining moment last year when he read a report on the high rate of calls to police, suspensions and arrests in Waterbury schools issued by state Child Advocate Sarah Eagan.
“A bell kind of went off that this was connected to a deeper problem,” Spagnolo said.
He formed the trauma task force with his youth squad supervisor and representatives from the state Department of Children and Families and educators. They meet weekly to look at reports that flag kids who may need help and connect them with services.
He also started a youth crisis intervention team that includes a behavioral health specialist who works in the hours when school is out and goes to scenes with police.
“We’re trying to identify families that may needs,” Spagnolo said. “This is a shift from policing to community services. They could be having a housing issue or a medical issue. By connecting them with the right services, we can may be address some of the issues.”
He’s also working with the superintendent of schools, DCF and Probate Court to start a truancy clinic. Truancy has become a huge issue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and sometimes changing the climate at home will have an impact on school attendance, he said.
“We’re really firing on a lot of cylinders,” Spagnolo said. “But it’s been a significant challenge.”
“When children are exposed to domestic violence, sexual and physical abuse or a disaster, it can be traumatically overwhelming and disregulating. Throughout time, children have been exposed to way more trauma than we hoped.”
Steven Marans, of the Yale Child Study Center