Training program expanding to Roanoke and Hampton Roads in partnership with The Arc of Virginia
For Immediate Release
Media Contact
Nicole Poulin
Executive Director
Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia
Cell: (804) 310-1520
Nicole.poulin@dss.virginia.gov
Richmond, Va. – The Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia awarded a $200,000 grant to expand Virginia Commonwealth University’s Leadership for Empowerment and Abuse Prevention program to Roanoke and Hampton Roads.
The LEAP program provides training on healthy relationships and information about preventing abuse to adults with disabilities. The grant will support expanding training staff in Hampton Roads and the Roanoke Region for the next two years.
“People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more than seven times as likely to experience sexual assault and more likely to know their perpetrator compared to their peers. Despite these high rates, this is a population that is often left out of efforts to address sexual abuse” said Nicole Poulin, executive director, Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia. “LEAP is one of very few evidence-based training programs in the U.S. and FACT is proud to support the expansion to ensure more individuals have access to critical abuse prevention training.”
LEAP is a collaboration between VCU’s School of Social Work and the Partnership for People with Disabilities. The training takes place in four face-to-face 90-minute sessions that are taught by a trainer with a disability and a co-trainer.
“We know the significant time and resources required to support individuals with intellectual disabilities, and FACT’s commitment to helping address this issue is deeply appreciated and comes at a crucial time. The funds will significantly enhance our ability to provide vital resources, training and support to protect vulnerable Virginians.” Said Parthenia Dinora, Ph.D., Executive Director, VCU Partnership for People with Disabilities
Last year, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, FACT supported Richmond Residential Services Inc and The Arc of Harrisonburg and Rockingham to become LEAP Certified Centers for Abuse Prevention and Safety. The trainers at these locations continue to offer two LEAP trainings a year and create an organization culture of empowerment and abuse prevention.
About Family and Children’s Trust of Virginia
Since 1986, the Family and Children’s Trust has been supporting work to prevent family violence across the Commonwealth of Virginia. FACT is the only organization in Virginia that promotes stability, safety and protection across generations to prevent child abuse and neglect, domestic violence and abuse and neglect against elders. As a public-private partnership that does not receive any state or federal tax dollars, we have the flexibility and agility necessary to raise funds and dedicate our resources to the areas, issues and people that need it most. FACT has become the state-wide leader in addressing the complex issues that impact family violence dynamics across the lifespan. For more information, visit https://www.fact.virginia.gov/.
For Immediate Release
Media Contact
Nicole Poulin
Executive Director
Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia
Cell Phone: (804) 310-1520
Email: Nicole.poulin@dss.virginia.gov
Richmond, VA – Statewide training and a youth camp for children are just a few of the initiatives receiving financial support from the Family and Children’s Trust Fund (FACT) of Virginia. The grants were awarded during FACT’s March 13 board meeting.
“FACT is proud to provide grants up to $5,000 to organizations that are working hard in our communities to prevent and treat family violence,” said Nicole Poulin, executive director, Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia. “The grants help fill funding gaps and jump start new programs to ensure the success of these important initiatives.”
The following organizations and programs will receive grant funding:
violence. Camp HOPE is a new initiative developed by two local community coalitions: Shenandoah Family Youth Initiative and Page Alliance for Community Action. FACT is proud to support this project for the first time.
Ad hoc grants provide financial support to organizations that host statewide and local activities that improve the prevention, treatment and public awareness of family violence.
FACT provides up to $5,000 for each ad hoc grant. Requests are submitted to FACT then board members review and approve requests during their March, June, September and December board meetings.
About Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia
For over 35 years, the Family and Children’s Trust Fund (FACT) has worked tirelessly toward the prevention and treatment of family violence across the Commonwealth of Virginia to support as many families as possible. FACT is the only organization in Virginia that addresses family violence and trauma across the lifespan – from child abuse and neglect to domestic violence to elder abuse and neglect. As a public-private partnership that does not receive any state or federal tax dollars, we have the flexibility and agility necessary to raise funds and dedicate our resources to the areas, issues and people that need it most. By directing all of our funds towards supporting local and state organizations, FACT has a direct impact on Virginia communities and with its partners who are working passionately to prevent, treat and ultimately end family violence. And through our information gathering and sharing and our own research, FACT has become the state-wide leader at the forefront of inter-generational family violence issues. For more information, visit https://www.fact.virginia.gov/
To sign up for the FACT Family Fridge Newsletter, please email taylor.davis@dss.virginia.gov
Nursing facility Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) staff often experience high on-the-job stress, vicarious trauma, and childhood or post-traumatic stress disorder from life events that impact their health, well-being, and job performance and satisfaction. Likewise, people living in nursing facilities may also experience various types of trauma and loss ranging from adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), post-traumatic stress disorder, unexpected transitions and loss, and re-traumatization.
FACT and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Department of Gerontology are partnering to develop a multi-modal training program focused on increasing resilience within CNAs. Using a Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) civil penalties fund grant, the project will build trauma-informed and resilience-focused organizational cultures within licensed nursing facilities.
This project is focused exclusively on nursing facilities and proposes to develop a pilot that assesses individual resilience and organizational trauma-informed care capacity with four nursing facilities in Virginia. Because organizational policies, practices, and supports effect CNAs’ ability to deliver services, this project will target CNAs, managers, and administrators as follows:
FACT was excited to facilitate this innovative partnership and has convened a multi-disciplinary stakeholders advisory group, which includes several FACT Board members. At the conclusion of the pilots, FACT will develop an issue brief that highlights the project and research findings and educates on secondary trauma.
FACT’s ten grantees recently started their trauma-informed projects on July 1st for their 2018-2020 funded grant cycle. The funded projects include innovative initiatives such as batterer intervention programs, collaborative screening tools and system wide trauma-informed networks. Learn more about each FACT Grantee here.
FACT Grantees also serve families in every region of Virginia. The map below illustrates the span of Virginia localities FACT supports.
The adverse impact of such traumas on the human brain, and on human growth and development, is well known and documented. Unfortunately, the knowledge of the consequences of trauma too often is not being used to help shape public policy. The appropriate response to these immigrant families is compassion.
These children and their parents are our fellow human beings, the majority of whom are here because they are fleeing violence and persecution. For their sake, and in the name of the values that undergird and animate our country, please choose compassion.
Family & Children’s Trust Fund (FACT) is pleased to announce $316,712 in grants to ten organizations. These grants represent FACT’s commitment to support direct service and system-wide trauma-informed care approaches across the Commonwealth.
In their landmark ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that exposure to ACE’s, including traumatic events such as child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and substance abuse in the household, can lead to lifelong mental, physical, and social health issues. Based on those findings, experts have cited childhood trauma as one of the most critical public health concerns today. More than 60 percent of children in the U.S. have been exposed to a traumatic event within the year and in Virginia, 19% of children have experienced two or more ACEs. The magnitude of this issue necessitates infusing trauma-informed practices into all human services programs that address issues affecting individuals and families across the lifespan.
FACT funds system-wide trauma informed networks and also requires all funded direct service programs to have trauma informed components. As an established state-wide philanthropic entity, FACT has focused on promoting and supporting trauma-informed practices throughout Virginia for several years. Incidentally, FACT is the only organization in Virginia, and one of few nationally, that addresses trauma across the lifespan.
Congratulations to the following FACT Grant Awardees as they address trauma and family violence in Virginia: NRV Cares, Center for Child & Family Services, OAR Fairfax County, Children’s Trust of Roanoke Valley, Childsafe Center CAC, VCU Health System, James Madison University, Sexual Assault Resource Center, SCAN Greater Richmond, and Shelter for Help in Emergency.
About FACT: The Family and Children’s Trust Fund (FACT) was created by the General Assembly in 1986 as a public-private partnership to raise funds for the prevention and treatment of family violence, including child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse and neglect. The Virginia Department of Social Services supports FACT’s administrative costs, allowing 100% of FACT funds to directly support programs which work to prevent and treat family violence. FACT is governed by a Board of Trustees, appointed by the Governor, to raise and distribute funds for family violence prevention and treatment efforts, as well as to promote public awareness of family violence issues across the Commonwealth.
This coming Sunday, Oprah Winfrey will present a 60 Minutes story on 
childhood trauma’s long-term effects. In the report, she speaks to Dr. Bruce Perry to learn how trauma affects a child’s brain and can lead to physical, mental, and social health problems throughout the child’s life. The special will also highlight trauma-informed efforts in Oprah’s hometown, Milwaukee.
In a promotional CBS This Morning interview, Oprah spoke about what she’d learned about the impact of trauma stating: “This story is so important to me and I believe to our culture that if I could dance on the tabletops right now to get people to pay attention to it, I would. It is definitively changed the way I see people in the world, and it has definitively changed the way I will now be operating my school in South Africa and going forward any philanthropic efforts that I’m engaged in.” She went on to say, “a lot of people working in the philanthropic world, trying to help disenfranchised people…are working on the wrong thing…unless you fix the trauma, you’re working on the wrong thing.”
Oprah’s shift in perspective comes down to what Oprah calls a “life-changing question.”: “See, we go through life and we see kids who are misbehaving. ‘You juvenile delinquents,’ we label them. And really the question that we should be asking is not ‘what’s wrong with that child’ but ‘what happened to that child?’ And then having the resources to be able to address what happened to you.”
In their landmark ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Study, the CDC found that exposure to ACE’s, including traumatic events such as child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and substance abuse in the household, can lead to lifelong mental, physical, and social health issues. Based on those findings, experts have cited childhood trauma as one of the most critical public health concerns for children today. More than 60 percent of children in the US have been exposed to a traumatic event within the year and in Virginia, 19% of children have experienced two or more ACEs. Fortunately, research has also shown that a stable supportive relationships with caregivers and strong community supports buffer the effects of ACEs, allowing children to thrive.
Just as Oprah highlights, the magnitude of this issue necessitates infusing trauma-informed practices into human services systems, non-profit organizations, and philanthropic efforts. This is the first time a cultural icon of this standing has recognized this issue, however many organizations in Virginia and across the nation have already shifted to trauma-informed practices and programs. As an established state-wide philanthropic entity, FACT has focused on promoting and supporting trauma-informed practices throughout Virginia for several years. Incidentally, FACT is the only organization in Virginia, and one of few nationally that addresses trauma across the lifespan.
As trauma-informed approaches gain national attention, we’d like to highlight several Virginia organizations that have already made trauma-informed work central to their mission:
Family & Children’s Trust Fund
In the last several years, FACT shifted its focus to include support to direct services and system-wide trauma-informed care approaches. Programmatic grants currently fund Trauma-Informed Community Networks in Greater Richmond and Hampton Roads. FACT also requires all funded direct service programs to have trauma-informed components. In addition to programmatic grants, FACT conducts on-going research on trauma-informed care, publishes issues briefs, updates and hosts the statewide FACT Data Portal and supports statewide trainings.
Greater Richmond SCAN
Greater Richmond SCAN is the backbone organization for the Greater Richmond Trauma-Informed Network (GRTICN), a diverse group of professionals in the Greater Richmond area who are dedicated to supporting and advocating for continuous trauma-informed care for all children, families and professionals. The TICN is funded by FACT and exemplifies FACT’s commitment to system-wide trauma informed practices in Virginia.
Voices for Virginia’s Children
Voices for Virginia’s Children’s mission is to champion public policies that improve the lives of Virginia’s children. Promoting resilience and preventing childhood trauma is a part of Voice’s 2018 legislative agenda and includes promoting trauma-informed best practices and continuing support for the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet.
Don’t forget to tune into Oprah Winfrey’s 60 Minutes special this Sunday March 11 at 7:00 p.m. ET!