St. Cloud police reach out to kids scarred by trauma

The Star Tribune

The St. Cloud, MN police department has added a new position: trauma-informed advocate. Based on situations officers observe in the course of responding to calls, the advocate reaches out – if possible, within 48 hours – to children and teenagers who have been exposed to suicide, domestic violence, or other potentially traumatic events. Paige McConkey, the first person to hold the position, facilitates the process of connecting families with mental and social services, and also meets one-on-one with children to help them cope. “I’m not a cop or a social worker, I’m kind of a neutral party and my niche is the communication piece,” he explained. “We’re dealing with serious issues and we dig deep, but I try to balance all that with humor and model joy to help them get through all this difficult stuff.” The grant-funded position is a collaboration among the police, local mental health agencies, and the county, and is partially modeled on similar programs in Greensboro, NC and Minneapolis, MN.

Spark Extra! Check out this fact sheet from SAMHSA: Helping Children and Youth Who Have Experienced Traumatic Events.