[narrator] It was about two years ago when my grandson Jeremiah, at the age of 2, witnessed his father
go on the bus? [Jeremiah] No. [narrator] and him and his brothers were strapped in their car seats in the backseat.
There's no words to put in place of how that feels, but at Head Start Trauma Smart, our goal is
really to help young children, their caregivers, their family members, the teachers who work with
them really understand how trauma affects early childhood development--and then what to do about
that. Across the general population, one in four children will experience a significantly traumatic
incident before they're four. The number that really gets your attention is that fifty percent of those
children will experience that three or four times. We've started with Head Start programs because
that commitment to early childhood intervention is very, very strong. The children are really seeing
a lot more than they can explain. And what happens is that they become hypervigilant. They are tired,
they startle easily, their hearts beat rapidly and they can't focus. So--sit down, come to the table
and learn with us--even if I want to--probably isn't possible. [instructor to child] But you want your mommy, well I know you want mommy, but you know, you're here with me and
you're in a safe place. [instructor narrating] We went through the Head Start Trauma Smart program for, I believe, it was a whole
year of training. [instructor to child] You want to sit by Remo? Did you ask Reno if it's okay if you sit by him? [instructor narrating] They
showed us how to use the tools and implement it into the classroom. It has helped me tremendously.
When a child is upset, the first thing I do is I notice that they're having big feelings.
Then I'll speak with the child and I'll name: Hey, Joseph you're having a big feeling right
now. And then I'll validate: It's okay to have that big feeling, but what can I do to help you?
Breathe in, breathe out. [Grandma] For Jeremiah, we have had an ongoing concern with him being able to express how he
feels. Being able to ask for what he wants. When the murders first occurred, it was a
lot of just standing there pointing or waiting. And you had to ask, "Jeremiah, are you hungry?" And
Head Start Trauma Smart actually got us on a path where Jeremiah is able to now say how he feels.
[narrator] They are absolutely very focused on the children. But to be focused on a child, you
have to understand they come in context. So they come in context with a family. [instructor to parent group] We just want to
equip you as parents with as many tools as possible to support your child. [narrator] They come in context with
their school. Your emotional state becomes the emotional state of your classroom. And so you
must include their family and the people in their school. So, that might be the bus driver that greets
them every morning. Whoever it is who's touching that child has to also know how to manage their
emotion and their day-to-day living. We are the first people that the children will see in the
morning. I really really applied what Trauma Smart taught me. Within Head Start Trauma Smart, there is
a very healthy dose of that whole self-care piece. Because the adults in the environment, the parents,
and the staff were struggling themselves with secondary trauma. [instructor to students] So what face is this?
Sad face. Could I see your sad faces? Oh, those are so sad. Let me see your mad faces. [narrator] And
you have to have enough within yourself to be able to respond appropriately with the child.
Head Start Trauma Smart is currently in a growth phase. We are expanding this program across the
state of Missouri. We know that we can't stop bad things from happening, but we can really make a
difference so that people can survive those bad things and then know how to thrive after they've happened.
[instructor] Now that I have those techniques from Head Start Trauma Smart, I can breathe. I can teach. I can
I can deal with the social emotional issues on one hand and I can teach on the other-- and still have a
classroom environment that's a community, that's learning, that's caring and safe for our kids.