Milwaukee expands program for kids witnessing violence
You did the right thing.
That's the message a team of crisis workers in Milwaukee tries to share with children who have witnessed violence.
"If a child hid under the bed while the violence was occurring, I want that child to know that that's exactly what I would have done, and that's what kept him safe," said Hendriel Anderson, who works with the team. "If that child has the courage to run next door and call 911, even through the feeling or the guilt of having left mom, I want that child to know that that's exactly what I would have done. That was brave of you to sneak out the back door and go to the neighbors and call 911."
Anderson, a psychiatric clinician, is part of the Milwaukee Trauma Response Initiative, a program set to grow in an effort to help more children. The initiative is expanding from Milwaukee Police District 7 on the city's northwest side to include District 5 on the north side, city and county officials announced Tuesday.
The program helps police work with families and children who have been exposed to violence and offer referrals to mental health professionals from the Milwaukee County Mobile Urgent Treatment Team. The initiative started as a pilot program in 2015.
During 2016, officers made nearly 250 referrals for additional services for children exposed to violent crimes such as battery, domestic violence, shootings and robberies.
"We have blocks in neighborhoods for every news story that you see," Ald. Milele Coggs said. "It is likely some child in that home or in that neighborhood saw that violence, that witnessed that shooting."
Coggs, who was instrumental in expanding the program, said officials hope it will continue to grow to provide help to any child in the city exposed to violence.
"This is an effort that recognizes the lifelong impact that trauma can have on individuals, and particularly young children," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said. "To put it another way, hurt people hurt people."
The initiative will officially start Monday in Milwaukee Police District 5. As with the existing program, officer-clinician trauma teams will act on referrals from first-responding officers and follow-up with families who choose to participate as may times as needed. They will also offer referrals for further counseling.
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County Executive Chris Abele said these types of programs have been a priority for the county for the past six years.
"What typically happens is people read about a story in the paper, and they focus on the dad getting pulled away in a police car, and less on the 4-year-old who's standing on the stair of the house who saw a killing," Abele said.
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said the program is extremely important to the department.
"We recognize the impact that violence and trauma have on young people, and the fact that some of them sadly replicate the behaviors that they were traumatized by later in life," he said.
Flynn, who started a similar program for children 20 years ago when he was chief of the Chelsea Police Department in Massachusetts, said officers have for years been frustrated and wanted to do more to help children they meet at crime scenes.
"Officers are human as well. And we go into these horrible situations, we always notice the children," Inspector Jutiki Jackson said. "We always have a feeling of wanting to do more for the children."
Officers said some families have initially been resistant to accept help, but get back in touch once they see children showing signs of trauma.
"Ones that don't take the initiative at first, they'll be calling back trying to get help because now they're seeing their children showing signs," Officer Monte Kirk said. "They're acting up in school, they're not sleeping right, things like that."