Find resources and tools for advancing school crisis readiness, response, recovery, and renewal work, with a focus on recovery and renewal.
These resources include products developed by the SCRR Project, its affiliates, and other state and national organizations, as well as tools and samples from local and county agencies.
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The SCRR Project is dedicated to helping school communities embrace trauma-informed and anti-racist school recovery and renewal practices, programs, and policies. These resources include an emphasis on tools for understanding and meeting the needs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); linguistically diverse communities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identified people (LGBTQ); and school communities experiencing chronic violence.
Thought Leaders in School Crisis Recovery & Renewal Work
Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective. BEAM is a collective of advocates, yoga teachers, artists, therapists, lawyers, religious leaders, teachers, psychologists and activists committed to the emotional/mental health and healing of Black communities.
Coalition to Support Grieving Students’ Online Materials The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, led by our colleague and partner Dr. David Schonfeld, coordinates the Coalition to Support Grieving Students. The Coalition developed a wide-range of video-based, print, and online materials for school professionals to better equip schools to support grieving students, so that no child has to grieve alone. Access the online materials here.
Coalition to Support Grieving Students
The Coalition to Support Grieving Students is a collaboration of professional organizations representing the full range of school professionals. Convened by the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement and New York Life Foundation, the Coalition has created a set of industry-endorsed resources to empower school communities across America in the ongoing support of their grieving students.
GrievingStudents.org is a practitioner-oriented website providing practical, accessible, free information, handouts and reference materials, and includes over 20 video training modules featuring expert commentary, school professionals sharing their observations and advice, and bereaved children and family members offering their own perspective on living with loss.
Flourish Agenda. Flourish Agenda is a national nonprofit consulting firm that works with youth of color, schools, youth-serving organizations, foundations, and local governments to build and implement strategies that allow young people to flourish.
The Hathaway Center for Excellence, a Research and Training Institute, serves to promote learning as leaders in behavioral healthcare through trauma-informed, best practice implementation to advance the field and strengthen the workforce and communities. The Hathaway Center for Excellence offers methods, products and resources that are centered on evidence-based practices and implementation science principles, and it specializes in a wide variety of training and consultation topics, including Trauma-Informed, School-Based Mental Health Practice and Implementation.
Lumos Transforms is a renowned social enterprise organization that leads people and organizations, including schools, towards positive change.
The Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC)’s Products & Resources Catalogue; we recommend referring to the “Responding to COVID-19-Grief, Loss, and Bereavement” and “Responding to COVID-19-School Mental Health” subpages, as many of the resources and events posted there will support school crisis recovery and renewal work.
UCSF HEARTS (Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in Schools) promotes school success for trauma-impacted students by collaborating with school systems to create more trauma-informed, safe, supportive, and equitable school cultures and climates that foster resilience and wellness for everyone in the school community. Joyce Dorado, the Co-Founder and Director, is on our School Crisis Coaches Network.
Products
Guides, Toolkits, & Tip sheets
This resource highlights how school mental health leaders can – and do – work with and through crises. To navigate a crisis successfully, school mental health leaders need the skills to contain the crisis, minimize subsequent trauma, and restore equity and equanimity in the school environment. Their leadership is integral across the continuum of crisis readiness, response, recovery, and renewal.
This guide is our project’s anchor; we will be drawing from it, expanding upon it, and transforming it into trainings, train the trainers, and more.
The guide is written especially for Pacific Southwest states and islands, featuring extensive examples of policy and practice from the region. Creating compassionate policies is a cornerstone strategy of educational leadership. This guide provides a deep dive into developing, implementing, and evaluating trauma-informed and compassionate school policies.
This resource is designed to help schools better support students and families in the aftermath of violence and trauma. It provides strategies to assist schools with readiness, response, and recovery to help a school community support resilience in the event of a tragedy. It highlights the importance of providing culturally responsive services, with example cultural considerations for schools to help Hispanic/Latino students struggling with grief and trauma.
School Crisis Guide I National Education Association (2018)
This guide presents resources, tools, recommendations, and evidence-based practices for incorporating best practices in school mental health into school crisis plans. It is organized into four sections: Prevent, Prepare, Respond, and Recover.
Responding to Crisis at a School (School Mental Health Project, 2016)
The resource includes material can be used to raise staff awareness of need and as shared reading prior to initiating staff training. The proper handling of school crises is essential to minimizing negative impact on learning and physical and mental health.
Addressing Grief: Tips for Teachers and Administrators (NASP, n.d.)
This resource gives tips about addressing grief across specific age groups, and recommended books for children coping with loss and trauma. School-based support and increased understanding are essential when a student experiences the death of a friend or loved one.
Crisis Planning and Response | American School Counselor Association (ASCA Toolkit: Crisis Planning and Response During a Pandemic/Virtual School Counseling). This toolkit provides guidance for school counselors providing grief and crisis support in a virtual world.
Trauma-Informed School Practices: Building Expertise to Transform Schools This open access, no-cost downloadable textbook represents the combined insights of Morton, a k-12 educator, and Berardi, a psychotherapist, both of whom are university educators with extensive experience helping districts and teachers incorporate trauma-informed principles into their school culture and classroom. It includes practical strategies on how to transform our learning communities in response to the devastating effect of unmitigated stress and trauma on our students’ ability to learn and thrive throughout the lifespan.
After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools (AFSP, 2018)
If your school has lost someone to suicide, this toolkit offers best practices and practical tools to help schools in the aftermath of a suicide.
Experiencing the Loss of a Student or Teacher: Responding to Crisis (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2020)
This article discusses a school summit that was held to help school districts create a Crisis Team for their schools to better to support providing emotional and mental health support to students.
AASA School Safety & Crisis Planning Toolkit (The School Superintendents Association)
This toolkit is comprised of online resources to assist school districts before, during, and after a crisis. It includes peer-to-peer guidance about a variety of crisis, including shootings, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, suicides and other major disruptions that come without notice.
Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention: Model Language, Commentary, and Resources (The Trevor Project, 2019)
This document outlines model policies and best practices for school districts to follow to protect the health and safety of all students. It is critically important that school districts have policies and procedures in place to prevent, assess the risk of, intervene, and respond to youth suicidal behavior
K-12 Toolkit for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention (2017)
Nickerson, A., & Cornell, D. (2019). School crisis prevention, response, and recovery. In M. J. Mayer & S. R. Jimerson (Eds.), School safety and violence prevention: Science, practice, policy (p. 223–246). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000106-010
This toolkit has been created to help schools comply with and implement AB 2246, the Pupil Suicide Prevention Policy. This California State law requires all local educational agencies (LEA): county offices of education, school districts, state special schools, or charter schools to have a Pupil Suicide Prevention Policy.
School Crisis Response & Recovery Resource Guide (Sonoma County, California, 2015)
This plan has been designed to assist schools in responding to the psychological impact of school crises. The School Crisis Response and Recovery Manual is a component of the Sonoma County Schools’ Model Emergency Operations Plan.
Empirically Supported Treatments and Promising Practices for Child Traumatic Stress: New Evidence Based Training Guidelines(Children’s Mental Health Network, 2016)
These “Training Guidelines” include interventions to treat child traumatic stress. The models include: Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Strengthening Family Coping Resources, and Trauma Affect Regulation: Guide for Education and Therapy. The new guidelines describe what training is recommended or required to provide, supervise, or train others in each model as well as how to communicate information about interventions to assist agencies in making decisions about their training needs.
This brief offers key strategies for addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) in the workplace. Secondary traumatic stress impacts thousands of people working on the front lines of the helping professions, including teachers, social workers, health workers, and clergy. This can lead to organizational dysfunction, burnout, staff turnover, and less effective service provision.
After a Loved One Dies – Parent Booklet
This guide reviews how children grieve and how parents and other caring adults can help them better understand and adjust to a death.
Talking to Children About Terrorist Attacks and School & Community Shootings in the News (National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, 2019)
This guide from offers advice on how to talk to children about tragic events, such as shootings and terrorist attacks.
End Well, Plan Well, Begin Well: Re-establishing the School as Community General Considerations: Healing from Collective Crises and Trauma (Northeastern Family Institute)
This resource explains the phases of restoring well-being for students, faculty, and teacher after a collective crisis. These phases include Responding, Recovering, and Reflecting.
Implementation Science and Practice in the Education Sector (SAMHSA, 2017)
The purpose of this brief is to explain implementation principles and processes, and how they fit into school mental health efforts. It outlines key implementation concepts and strategies, describes the field of implementation science and practice, and provides practical guidance.
Restorative Practices: Approaches at the Intersection of School Discipline and School Mental Health (Now is the Time)
This Issue Brief describes the context surrounding the popularity of restorative practices, introduces different types, and provides a universal start-up guide for implementation.
New Approaches to Youth Violence Prevention in Schools (SAMHSA, 2016)
This short video describes various forms of violence that impact youth and discusses the evidence-based practices, programs, and policies that ensure students are safe at school.
Trauma-Informed School Strategies during COVID-19 (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2020)
This document discusses how in the time of COVID-19, schools can adapt or transform their practices by using a trauma-informed approach to help children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn.
Trauma-Informed Telehealth Considerations for Youth with Suicidal and Self-Harm Ideation and Behaviors (Act, Support, and Protect, 2020)
This tip sheet is to provide trauma-informed telehealth guidance regarding safety assessments. Some recommendations are tailored to COVID-19; others are applicable beyond the current pandemic.
Trauma-Informed School Strategies during COVID-19 (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network,
This document discusses how in the time of COVID-19, schools can adapt or transform their practices by using a trauma-informed approach to help children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn.
Supporting Grieving Students During a Pandemic (Coalition to Support Grieving Students)
This guide describes how to use the Coalition materials to support grieving students during the COVID-19 pandemic. For additional related resources, the Coalition has compiled a range of tools to support grieving students.
Restoring a Sense of Safety in the Aftermath of a Mass Shooting: Tips for Parents and Professionals (Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress)
This tip sheet describes common questions that parents may ask after mass violence, and offers guidance on how to respond.
A Manager’s Guide to Suicide Postvention in the Workplace: 10 Action Steps for Dealing with the Aftermath of Suicide(National Alliance for Suicide Prevention, 2013).
This guide provides workplace leaders with clear action steps for suicide postvention, including immediate, short-term, and long-term responses to help employees cope with the aftermath of the traumatic event.
Responding to Grief, Trauma, and Distress After a Suicide: U.S. National Guidelines (National Alliance for Suicide Prevention, 2015)
This strategic document outlines how communities can effectively respond to the devastating impact of suicide loss. The report paves the way for decisive advances in postvention services, including support for the bereaved after a suicide.
Childhood Traumatic Grief: Youth Information Sheet (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2020)
This resource offers information for youth to help them understand the differences between grief and traumatic grief, the signs and symptoms of traumatic grief in children and youth, and what to do to feel better.
Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) Field Operations Guide (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2020)
Guidance on responding to disaster, violence, or terrorism events using the Skills for Psychological Recovery intervention. This approach helps to assist children, adolescents, adults, and families in the aftermath of disaster and terrorism.
This resource summaries the psychological First Aid (PFA) eight core actions.
Articles & Books
Articles
Educators’ Secondary Traumatic Stress, Children’s Trauma, and the Need for Trauma (Harvard Educational Review, 2019)
This essay introduces the concept of trauma literacy, connecting it to students’ trauma and educators’ secondary traumatic stress (STS). The authors contend that alongside trauma-informed pedagogies and mental health services for students, mechanisms are needed for STS prevention, early identification, and rapid response.
“To Promote Success In Schools, Focus on Teacher Well-Being” (Amy Roberts and Helyn Kim, 2019)
This article provides a concrete argument for why teacher well-being is not only central to school well-being; the idea of “well-being” itself needs to be expanded. They offer practice and policy recommendations that support what the PS MHTTC has been advocating: well-being is not only the individual’s responsibility, but that of the organization, system, and leadership.
Lessons from Crisis: Trauma-Responsive Teaching Tools for the Work Ahead (Arlène E. Casimir, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2020)
This blog offers thoughts on how educators can co-create a healing-centered learning environment with students, where wounds become the wisdom needed to go forward. If we aren’t addressing racism, we aren’t addressing trauma.
The Future of Healing: Shifting From Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement (Shawn Ginwright, 2018)
This article discusses how trauma-informed care has become an important approach in schools and agencies that serve young people who have been exposed to trauma, and here’s why. The article also discusses a shift from trauma informed care to healing centered engagement (HCE), because HCE is strength based, advances a collective view of healing, and re-centers culture as a central feature in well-being.
Why a Postvention Plan is Integral to Schools and Institutions (JED Foundation, 2016)
This article recommends a postvention protocol which puts in place resources and interventions that provide emotional support, crisis intervention and assistance to those affected by a suicide death on campus. Planning a response to the occurrence of such a tragedy is an integral part of implementing a comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention program.
Postvention as Prevention (Suicide Prevention & Resource Center, 2015).
Ken Norton, LICSW, executive director of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, provides a perspective on postvention: postvention is prevention and an integral part of comprehensive suicide prevention efforts.
Creating, Supporting, and Sustaining Trauma-Informed Schools: (National Child Traumatic Stress Network)
This framework illustrates why becoming “trauma-informed” should be an essential component of the overall mission of our education system.
Researchers Examine Policy Responses to School Tragedies (WestEd, 2018)
Petrosino, A., Boal, A., & Mays, A. (2018). Policy responses to a high-profile school tragedy. Translational Criminology (Fall): pp 5-7.
This article examines state and federal policy responses following three school shootings, and pose several questions that educators and policymakers should consider to guide conversations and subsequent decision-making grounded in the latest research and best practices.
Trauma-Informed Practices for Early Childhood Educators: Relationship-Based Approaches That Support Healing and Build Resilience in Young Children (Julie Nicholson, Linda Perez, Julie Kurtz, 2018)
This book is about trauma-Informed Practices for Early Childhood Educators, and guides child care providers and early educators working with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary aged children to understand trauma as well as its impact on young children’s brains, behavior, learning, and development.
How to Deal with Grief, Pain and Anxiety After the Mass Shootings (Today, 2019)
In this interview, grief expert David Kessler discusses how the news of mass shootings can affect those who are and are not immediately impacted by personal loss.
Books
Ayers, R. (2015). An empty seat in class: Teaching and learning after the death of a student. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Doka, K. (2007). Death, dying and bereavement. London: Routledge.
Ginwright, S. A. (2016). Hope and healing in urban education: How urban activists and teachers are reclaiming matters of the heart. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Herman, J. L. (2015). Trauma and recovery. New York: BasicBooks.
Kessler D. (2020). Finding Meaning: The sixth stage of grief. New York: Scribner.
Klicker, R. L. (n.d.). A Student Dies, a School Mourns: Dealing with Death and Loss in the School Community.
Mears, C. L. (2012). Reclaiming school in the aftermath of trauma: Advice based on experience. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Neimeyer, R. A. (2011). Grief and bereavement in contemporary society: Bridging research and practice. New York: Routledge.
Ulmer, R. R. (2013). Discourse of Renewal Theory. In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Van Der Kolk, B. (2015). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, MD | Key Takeaways, Analysis & Review. San Francisco: IDreamBooks.
Online Courses & Archived Webinars
Supporting Students and Staff in the Aftermath of Crisis and Loss I Pacific Southwest MHTTC, 2019
Presenter: David Schonfeld, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
This workshop helps school professionals learn basic skills in how to talk with and support individual students or the entire class/school as they struggle to understand and cope with a crisis or loss in their lives. Dr. Schonfeld draws on over 30 years’ experience in school crisis response and pediatric bereavement to illustrate key points.
Trauma-informed care for schools before, during, and after possible emergency events
(Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools, 2019)
In this webinar, presenters provided an overview of trauma and re-traumatization, discussed manifestations of trauma in students, explored a trauma-informed approach, and reviewed considerations for preparedness planning and how schools can address trauma in their emergency operations plans.
Creating Trauma-Informed Policies: A Forum for School and Mental Health Leaders I Pacific Southwest MHTTC, 2019
Presenters: Leora Wolf-Prusan, Rachele Espiritu, and Kristen Harper, Director of Policy for ChildTrends
This video session explores the four choice points leaders face in trauma-informed school environments; tips for successful policy development and implementation; and examples of current policy at the local, district, state, and federal levels from which you can choose and use for your own work.
Trauma-Informed Suicide Prevention for Educators: Stories, Science, and Strategies I Pacific Southwest MHTTC, 2019
Presenters: Leah Harris and Kelechi Ubozoh
Join Leah Harris and Kelechi Ubozoh in exploring what a trauma-informed suicide prevention approach for educators might look like. This webinar will begin with the perspective of a young person with lived experience of suicidal thoughts. Presenters will identify common myths and misconceptions about students and suicide and explore the vital importance of including students as partners in suicide prevention efforts. Examples of promising student-led initiatives, including peer-to- peer programs and school awareness campaigns, will be provided.
Supporting Students and Staff in the Aftermath of Crisis and Loss I Pacific Southwest MHTTC, 2019
Presenter: David Schonfeld, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
This workshop helps school professionals learn basic skills in how to talk with and support individual students or the entire class/school as they struggle to understand and cope with a crisis or loss in their lives. Dr. Schonfeld draws on over 30 years’ experience in school crisis response and pediatric bereavement to illustrate key points.
Planning for School Crises During A School Crisis I Pacific Southwest MHTTC, 2020
Presented by Stephen Brock, PhD and Yesmina Luchsinger
This presentation guides us through key school crisis preparedness actions. He provides an overview of the third edition of PREPaRE, a curriculum that contains current research and strategies for integrated school safety and crisis prevention, planning, response, and recovery efforts. No crisis response is perfect. Crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, will reveal gaps in crisis preparedness.
Supporting Grieving Students During a Pandemic Pacific Southwest MHTTC, 2020
Presenter: David Schonfeld, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
This presentation highlights the unique challenges for supporting students during the pandemic and describes free resources from the Coalition to Support Grieving Students that can be used to address these challenges. The current pandemic is associated with a large and growing number of deaths. Physical distancing, including lengthy school closures, makes it difficult for schools to provide support to grieving students using traditional means.
Microaggressions, Bias, and School Climate Pacific Southwest MHTTC, 2017
This webinar presentation informs viewers about what micro-aggressions are, and how they are connected to school climate and student safety. Strategies for teaching school staff how to recognize and respond to campus micro-aggressions and help students recognize the harm they cause are included.
Trauma-Informed, resiliency-based, and Interprofessional Practice Sequence (The University of Vermont, 2020)
These courses offer trauma-informed and resiliency-based coursework through a variety of hybrid-online formats tailored for teachers, social workers, counselors, and other health and human service professionals. Taken individually or as a sequence, the program will focus on learning applied approaches to working with children, families, and communities affected by trauma and adverse life experiences
Podcasts & Apps
Roberto Rivera, Pain to Propane Project (Roberto Rivera, 2020)
This podcast talks about total revival of inner-city schools by means of giving students a voice! His experience in Chicago Public Schools was trans formative and in this podcast, he lays out the blueprint of we can all elevate kids from PTSD to thriving!
Trigger Stop: Sensory and Emotional Check-In (Google Play, 2019)
The use of the APP supports sensory and emotional identification and literacy which is the ability to identify, understand, and express sensations and/or feelings in the body and to express them in a healthy way.
inSocialWork (University of Buffalo School of Social Work, 2008-2019)
This podcast series by the University of Buffalo School of Social Work engages practitioners and researchers in conversations regarding best practices and emerging trends related to trauma and trauma-informed work.
Truth for Teachers: A Crash Course on Trauma-Informed Teaching (2018)
For teachers interested in setting boundaries and simple preventative measures, this podcast episode from Truth for Teachers can shed light on cultivating a trauma-informed classroom.
Coping with COVID-19: Learning from Adversity (Sticher, 2020)
In this 5-part podcast series, learn about tools and strategies to support teachers with challenges presented by COVID-19, and the return of children back to school.