Handle With Care

The Educational Service Center (ESC) of Northeast Ohio, Student Wellness Department, has partnered with Ohio Handle With Care (HWC) to bring this trauma-informed, cross-systems initiative to Cuyahoga County. HWC (a system approach to trauma) utilizes a collaborative strategy aimed at ensuring that children who are exposed to adverse events receive appropriate interventions and have opportunities to build resilience through positive relationships with teachers and first responders. Handle With Care aims to promote safe and supportive schools, homes, and communities that protect children and help traumatized children heal and thrive.

Benefits of HWC

• Universal strategy which benefits all children
• Provides teachers with the support they need to address trauma’s impact on learning
• Looks at a child’s behavior from a different perspective
• Improves relationships, communication, and collaboration between law enforcement, schools/child care agencies, and mental health providers, and connects families, schools, and communities to mental health services
• Provides teachers with a heads up so they can provide care instead of a consequence
• Connects children with mental health services if needed
• Training safeguards trauma-informed implementation and responses
• Builds resiliency!

View the Handle With Care Flow Chart

View the Cuyahoga County one-pager