Another cutting-edge resource for Mainspring

If you noticed, Jennifer, Chloe and Sam have each been in training for a week with the incredible Dr. Karyn Purvis, her colleagues from the Institute of Child Development at TCU, and about 200 other child welfare professionals from TravisCounty. That’s because Mainspring is participating in a new program called the Travis County Collaborative for Children. This project (just begun) has the goal of improving care and outcomes for children in the foster care system in TravisCounty. This can be accomplished by putting every person that touches a child’s life (from the foster parent, the caseworker, the lawyer, the CASA, the therapist, the teachers etc.) through a trauma informed care training called Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). TBRI is an emerging intervention model for a wide range of childhood behavioral problems.

The TBRI principles are simple, but profound. The foundational idea is that relationship-based trauma can only be resolved through loving, stable relationships, such as can be offered by nurturing caregivers. By using the connecting, empowering and connecting principles taught in TBRI at Mainspring we are able to teach children new and improved coping and self-regulation skills.

We hope that by joining the Travis County Collaborative for Children Mainspring can become part of the healing process for families and children involved in the child welfare system.