Building Connections: Supporting Community-Based Programs to Address Interpersonal Violence and Child Maltreatment:

Building Connections was developed to support service providers in community-based programs who work with women and children who may be living with IPV. We also hope it can help service providers and organizations to work from a trauma-informed perspective and develop trauma-informed relationships that cultivate safety, trust, and compassion. If your program serves men and boys, look in Section 9 for some resources about engaging and providing support to them.

Child Trauma Academy-The Cost of Caring: Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Impact of Working with High-Risk Children and Families

The purpose of this course is to present an overview of the topic of secondary trauma. The goal is to gain a better understanding of how to better serve the children we work with by making sure we are at our best. The better we understand how working with traumatized children affects us both personally and professionally the better able we will be to serve them. In order to remain emotionally healthy ourselves, it is critically important that we understand how the elements of a child’s trauma can be absorbed. All professionals working with traumatized children can learn approaches and strategies to protect themselves from being emotionally overwhelmed by this work. In the end, the ability to help traumatized children depends upon our ability to stay emotionally healthy and motivated in difficult and often very frustrating situations. Price: Free

Child Trauma Academy Surviving Childhood: An Introduction to the Impact of Trauma

By the time a child reaches the age of 18, the probability that he or she will have been touched directly by interpersonal or community violence is approximately one in four. Across the world, these numbers are even more astounding. First, trauma can have a devastating impact on the individual child, profoundly altering physical, emotional, cognitive, and social development. Second, the child’s experience directly impacts his or her family and community. We now know that a child’s potential to be creative, productive, healthy, and caring depends upon his or her experiences in childhood, and if these experiences are threatening, chaotic, and traumatic, the child’s potential is diminished. Ultimately, we all pay the price exacted by childhood trauma, whether we are dealing with individual children or large numbers of scarred adults assuming their places in society. Price: Free

Canadian Centre for Child Protection

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s online training helps individuals working with children to understand their role in helping to prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation. It increases awareness among adults who work with children to recognize and respond to signs of child sexual abuse, to help reduce the risk of it occurring, and to help build personal safety confidence in children. Price: Ranges from free to $12 per training

Canadian Child Abuse Association-  Child Witness Court Preparation Program

The Child Witness Court Preparation Program is designed to provide direct assistance to the increasing number of children being called upon to testify in court proceedings. The needs of child witnesses are primarily addressed in group settings. Court accompaniment is also available for all children and families wanting support on the day(s) of the court proceedings. Price: $250/session or $1000 for all 4 modules