What is being done?

We reached out to members of the TCNJ faculty and the Mercer Street Friends Organization to find out more about trauma informed care and the effect that trauma has on the development of children and young adults. Through them we attained more knowledge of trauma informed care, how important they believe trauma support is for students, what to look for when a child or young adult is experiencing trauma, and what is being done to support those affected. The trauma that children and young adults in Trenton are facing not just limited to witnessing or being involved in violence, physical abuse or sexual abuse but also having the death of a parent(s), being separated from their parent(s) having an incarcerated parent, being a foster child, experiencing homelessness and not knowing when their next meal is.

The “toxic stress” produced from experiencing such traumas not only affect brain development but also their process of learning. “It is hard to expect a student to be able to focus on their schoolwork while they have the stress from a friend being shot a couple days ago, a parent using drugs and having to pick up siblings 1-3 at other schools in the area” says Chelsea Jenkins, from Mercer Street Friends at Rivera Community Middle School. We spoke with Dr Jill Schwarz, an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at TCNJ and the School Counseling Coordinator. Dr Schwarz has had experience working in middle schools in the Mercer County area as a counselor. We asked about the signs to look for if a child is believed to be experiencing trauma. Some of the signs included: chronic absenteeism, decline in hygiene, physical bruising on the body, and behavior issues. She stressed the importance of supporting children and young adults mentally and emotionally in school. “If we don’t support them mentally and emotionally, then we definitely see a decline in academic performance. There can’t be a focus on only academics, if there is no support for their mental and emotional health then you will see a “dip” in academic performance.” said Dr Jill Schwarz.

We also spoke to Dr Jonathan Davis who is a part of the Department of Educational Administration and Secondary Education at TCNJ. He works with the Collegiate Middle Level Association club at TCNJ, which provides mentoring opportunities with two middle schools in the area. He believes having trauma informed care and support counseling in schools in the Trenton area is critical. By having teachers or counselors trained in trauma informed care they can better understand their students, what their students go through, and identify signs of what students are experiencing and how to respond to it appropriately.

Rivera Community Middle School is one of the two schools that partners with TCNJ’s Collegiate Middle Level Association program. Being a “community school” means that a community organization partners with a school in one of three different ways: a public, charter or private school, through teacher union, or the university model. Mercer Street Friends partnered with Rivera Community Middle School after the non-profit organization received a grant from the Department of Education and met with the principle of Rivera. They are a Quaker based organization that has been serving the Mercer County community for 60 years. At first, they provided home health aide services, adult day programs and a food bank that is known to be the largest and most prominent in Mercer County. They have now branched out into five impact areas: the food bank, a parenting center that provides group parenting, works with DYFS to reconnect kids with their families, therapy, and support, an adult education program that provides GED certification, a workforce development providing training for workforce readiness and trade certification, a community school, and vocational services.

After meeting with the principle of Rivera Middle School, Mercer Street Friends took a needs assessment and the feedback showed there was a critical need of counseling at the middle school. Rivera has the undeserving reputation for being a “bad” school. It was the first non-segregated school in Trenton, later turned into an “alternative school” where kids that were kicked out of other nearby schools went to. It then shut down for some time and is currently working as a community middle school. Rivera is also known for being a “feeder school” meaning that when there is an overflow of students from other schools in all four wards of Trenton, they end up attending Rivera. This is an issue since currently the four wards of Trenton are constantly fighting. For this reason, having all the kids mixed together has caused many problems and created more traumatic experiences for the students.

At Rivera, Mercer Street Friends provides counseling for individuals or groups of students, faculty, parents and anyone in the Trenton community. The counseling service is free, and no insurance is needed. They also provide life skills classes for the students and a hunger packing program that provides two meals and two snacks at the end of each week for a student and their siblings. This is extremely important since every child in Trenton now qualifies for free lunch. There are also after school programs, one partnered with the Boys and Girls Club that runs from 2:30 pm when school ends until 8:00 at night. This provides students a safe place to hang out, do homework and stay out of trouble.