Cultivating Resilience Starts Early

“Trauma is unique to each individual child. The research is clear: the earlier we address the trauma by engaging the child, then the opportunity for resilience explodes.“

~ L. Robert Bolling, Chief Executive Officer of ChildSavers 

Isaiah is an energetic and creative young man who has been through some difficult things. When he was seven years old, he woke up one morning to find his father unresponsive in bed, even after Isaiah kept trying to wake him. When Isaiah finally went to a neighbor’s house for help, the neighbors called the police - and the police called ChildSavers.

The only initiative of its kind in Richmond, ChildSavers’ Immediate Response program collaborates with first responders to send Continued therapists to the scene of traumatic events where children are present. “Trauma is unique to each individual child. The research is clear: the earlier we address the trauma by engaging the child, then the opportunity for resilience explodes,” said L. Robert Bolling, chief executive officer of ChildSavers.

Isaiah was met the same day by a therapist who visited his home to assess the situation, talk him through his feelings and engage him in calming activities. Beyond immediate therapeutic work, ChildSavers provides ongoing support for each child as well. Twenty-four hours after the first visit, the therapist visited Isaiah again to see how he was doing and to schedule future counseling. She also worked with the entire family to teach them about mental health.

Over the next six months, Isaiah and his therapist practiced new strategies for dealing with tough feelings. They blew bubbles to release anxiety, drew pictures to process what happened that morning, and made a special box to preserve the good memories of Isaiah’s dad. Through consistent care, they were able to re-establish Isaiah’s sense of safety.

The Immediate Response program is based on research from Yale University and was launched in 2004 with support from the Jenkins Foundation. In recent years, and with continued support from the Foundation, the program expanded to serve children experiencing mental health crises at home, and ChildSavers identified a new Medicaid revenue stream to help sustain this intervention work. In the last year alone, 122 children like Isaiah received essential therapeutic services to help them work through traumatic events and cultivate their resilience.