The Trauma-Informed Youth Experience Panel

The Trauma-Informed Youth Experience Panel Abstract There are gaps in how the community supports and serves young men of color and their families who have been harmed by violence. The Trauma-Informed Youth Experience Panel is a project through the Community Organizing department of United Way of Santa Cruz County. The Trauma-Informed Youth Experience Panel project is the development, implementation, and evaluation of a panel of 4 community members who have experienced violence and trauma as youth in the community of Santa Cruz County.The purpose of the panel was to build the capacity of service providers in the county to understand and address the unique needs of this population.The measurable outcomes are: to give three to four community members who have experienced violence and trauma as youth an opportunity to share their voice; to present the panel to 75 community stakeholders and service providers; and to debrief and evaluate the panel with the panelists and United Way Community Organizing staff. The most important result from this panel is that a hundred percent of people who experienced the panel expressed in the evaluation that they, “felt that the panelists gave them a better idea of the impact that trauma has on youth and their families”. Potential improvements for the next panel could be to increase the amount of time the panelists are given to speak and to include their experiences throughout the conference at the next trauma informed event. Key Words: Youth Violence Prevention Task Force (YVPT), Criminal Justice Counsel (CJC), Trauma-Informed System of Care, Project Thrive