On Nov. 21, BUSSW faculty and staff and Miami Dolphins Special Team Volunteers worked hard to beautify the new home of the Advanced Clinical & Community Practice and Education (ACCOPE) program, whose mission is dedicated to promoting well-being among children and families through the delivery of trauma-informed services in Liberty City/Charles R. Drew K-8 Center. Volunteers painted the building and organized the new space for the Play Therapy and Field Education Site. To learn more about the program, please click here

In fall 2017, the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), in collaboration with Barry’s Human Resource Department, launched the first-ever Intergroup Dialogue Series for faculty and Staff.

Following the Michigan model from the University of Michigan’s National Intergroup Dialogue Institute, The TRACKS Series (a collaboration between The Sociology Department, The Center for Human Rights and Social Justice, and the Office of International & Multicultural Programs) has been in existence at Barry for three years and has trained students from all majors and academic disciplines.

The response amongst participants was very positive. With the support of Human Resources, CHRSJ plans to extend these social justice and prejudice reduction trainings to more faculty and staff and the community-at-large. There will be two additional Intergroup Dialogue Series that will discuss race and gender this semester.

Led by Dr. Ashley Austin and a team of TGNC community leaders, CHRSJ hosted the Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience to ensure TGNC issues are highlighted on campus and in the local community.  The event brought together the TGNC community and allies to honor the many lives lost each year to anti-transgender violence, as well as the strength and courage of TGNC community members. Like last year, the event received external funding from the Miami Foundation’s LGBT community fund to bring a national activist, Holiday Simmons, MSW. Simmons — a black Cherokee, trans masculine, two-spirit activist — is an athlete and lover of babies, soccer and the ocean, and is a community educator, healer and program manager at Generative Somatics. He focuses on transgender rights, police violence, black resiliency, LGBT Native Americans and two-spirit magic. He is a proud southerner based out of Atlanta, Ga.

Professor Sambra Zaoui, Dr. Mabel Rodriguez and BSW Director Dr. Jennifer Williams took their Intro to Trauma and Resilience class to the Holocaust Memorial on Miami Beach on Oct. 26. Victor Farkas, who is 93 years old, provided a one-hour presentation on his experiences during the Holocaust. The focus was to visit the memorial in further understanding the role of historical trauma and epigenetics on their work with clients. Additionally, students received an historically informative tour of the memorial by the docent, Gerard Lob.

CSJHR hosted the third annual PRIDE week on Barry University’s campus. This week of fun and educational events was aimed at creating a safer and more inclusive campus community for sexual and gender diverse students, faculty, staff and community members. Events included a mentorship and networking event for students that included insight and guidance from local and national LGBTQ community members and allies, daily tabling in Landon to raise awareness of and support for LGBTQ issues on campus, as well as to offer LGBTQ specific knowledge and information, and an AMP and karaoke night to celebrate and honor sexual and gender diversity on campus. 

CHRSJ partnered with the Life of Freedom Center and Ark of Freedom in protecting children from sex trafficking by spreading awareness to local businesses on how to identify and report suspected sex trafficking. Led by Professor Sambra Zaoui, this half-day street outreach gave students tools to identify and report suspected sex trafficking in their communities. The Human Trafficking Street Outreach programs are four-hour opportunities for students to engage with street youth and young adults at risk of human trafficking, exploitation and violence. Participants had the opportunity to learn how to identify and report suspected sex trafficking in their community. They also gained first-hand experience and a glimpse of the challenges faced by marginalized youth while walking through youth-populated areas of Miami Dade and Broward.

On Dec. 1, the SSW hosted the BSW Annual Day of Service and Reflection. This year, students had the opportunity to learn about one of our neighborhood partners through a three-part series of workshops and presentations on ACCOPE at Charles R. Drew Center in Liberty City. Presentations included a Liberty City Community overview led by Dr. Tisa McGhee and “Translating Trauma-Informed Care into Practice” by Dr. Jill Levenson. The series concluded with a day of hands-on Integrative Art Therapy, where students learned different experiential therapy through their own experiences and work.

CHRSJ is committed to advancing trauma-informed research, education and practice. In addition to our trauma-informed social work curriculum, our focus is to provide organizations with interdisciplinary training and tools in this area. We are currently offering two different opportunities to all agencies, institutions and organizations that would like to become more knowledgeable about trauma-informed care.These presentations are targeted to social workers, mental health counselors, psychologists, victim advocates, addiction specialists, correctional programs, school personnel and other child welfare staff. By encouraging the adoption of trauma-informed service delivery systems, we can respond to the needs of clients in a way that reinforces strengths through client-centered corrective experiences.

New Free Webinar on How to Build a Trauma-Informed Workforce by TI Expert Dr. Jill Levenson

Click here to view.

“Translating Trauma-Informed Care Concepts into Social Work Practice” Workshop

This workshop will first summarize research describing the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences. Then, participants will be introduced to SAMHSA’s principles of trauma-informed care (TIC), which conceptualizes trauma as a set of experiences that profoundly influence a person’s identity.  The presentation will focus on two main skill sets: (1) case conceptualization through the trauma lens and (2) trauma-informed responding. This presentation will describe how early traumagenic environments contribute to the development of delinquent behavior, addiction, self-regulation challenges, maladaptive cognitive schema and dysfunctional interaction patterns. Participants will learn to view and respond to clients within the context of their collective experiences and apply TIC principles to service delivery across a variety of professional social work roles. Through trauma-informed practices, we can deliver services that promote healing for wounded and troubled clients and their families, improve their psychosocial functioning, and disrupt the intergenerational cycle of unrealized potential.

For more information and to RSVP to the workshop, email CHRSJ work study student, Johanna Rodriguez, at johanna.rodriguez@mymail.barry.edu.

Dr. Jill Levenson, professor of Social Work, was invited to Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2017 to deliver a keynote presentation at the New Zealand and Australia Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuse conference. Her keynote was titled: "Prevention of sexual abuse through trauma-informed practices and policies." At the conference, which featured a diverse group of international experts on sexual abuse treatment and prevention, Levenson also provided a half-day, pre-conference workshop about preventing child sexual abuse by counseling persons with pedophilia. She also participated on a discussion panel following a screening of "Untouchable," a provocative film about the far-reaching effects of child sexual abuse and the sex offender management policies put in place in the U.S. to prevent reoffending.

Levenson then traveled to Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, where she spent two days as a visiting scholar at a sexual abuse prevention symposium. One of four internationally recognized experts invited to speak, she presented about trauma-informed treatment services for people who sexually offend. The following day she participated in dialogue groups sharing diverse perspectives and sexual abuse prevention initiatives from around the world. While down under, she also befriended a koala and a kangaroo.

The TRACKS series continued to engage students in critical dialogue and discussion during the fall semester. Thirteen students participate in a Sexual Orientation and Religion Series. Here is what some of the participants had to say:

“I'm the type of person that likes asking the question ‘why?.’ I liked that this was an open space where I could explore a question not necessarily looking for an answer, but looking for another question.” — Tyler James

"I love participating in Tracks ... every discussion has been beneficial to my personal growth." — Stacia Ming

"I've learned we all live very distinct lives. Not one person has experienced life the way that I have, and while that’s a phenomenal thing, it’s also complex. We can learn a lot by simply speaking to each other about what life has like for us." — Aliyah Price-Perry

SAVE THE DATE

“Failing Florida's Children: Foster Shock” —  Documentary Screening and Q&A by Director Mari Frankel

Feb. 8 | 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Andreas 111, Barry University

RSVP required to Carolina Rios: crios@barry.edu

About the documentary: http://fostershock.com/the-story.html

It is with excitement that we share the 2016-17 Annual Report from the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice! Please see attached.

Thank you to everyone who contributed in their own special way. There is still much work ahead and we are at full force achieving this year’s goals!

We are only a few weeks away from our visit to the Florida State Capitol for LEAD 2018 (Monday, Jan. 29 and Tuesday, Jan. 30). If you are interested in attending, please contact Professor Naranjo at FNaranjo@barry.edu. Remember, this is on a first-come, first-served basis and there is a limited number of seats available.