Baltimore Connecting Children to Nature (BCCN) Strategy 1: Strengthening partnerships between the health, early childhood, education, and environmental communities.
Watch the 7/16/22 recording of a training we hosted on Trauma Informed Care and the Trauma Informed Approach for Youth and Youth Care Givers with Kimberly Lagree-Saleh, LHE, the Assistant Director of the Office of Youth & Trauma Services at the Baltimore City Health Department. Surveys collected after this session showed that participants rated it 4.9/5 for content. As one participant said, “This presentation was so strong and was a wonderful overview on integrating a trauma-informed approach working with youth and how nature plays an integral part in deep healing. Kim was able to distill the key points from various researchers, along with her own work, and present it in a clear manner.”
We had a wonderful time at Nature Nurtures 2022 — thank you so much to our hosts at the William S. Baer School, and to all our wonderful presenters and attendees!
Fostering trauma-responsiveness in the environmental and childcare communities are a central focus of BCCN’s Strategy 1. This goal is twofold: we aim to increase trauma-informed care practices amongst environmental and outdoor program providers, while simultaneously integrating nature-based practices into mental health care and trauma-informed care.
A central focus of BCCN moving forward is to form new and deepen existing partnerships with local organizations working in trauma-informed care and mental wellness. If you are interested in partnering, please reach out to the Office of Sustainability at sustainability@baltimorecity.gov.
Context
Baltimore, like many large post-industrial urban areas, has high vacancy rates, high unemployment, and high crime rates. Children and families that have been victims of poverty and violence are suffering the resulting trauma and stress. Data from the Baltimore City Health Department shows that in 2018, 31% of children in Baltimore had experienced 2 or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), which includes events such as domestic violence, living with someone with an alcohol/drug problem, the death of a parent, or being a victim/witness of neighborhood violence.
In response to the exceedingly high levels of trauma experienced by children and youth in Baltimore City committed to the Elijah Cummings Healing City Act. The law, signed into effect in February 2020, demonstrates a citywide commitment to healing Baltimore’s children and led to the creation of the city’s Trauma-Informed Care Task Force and the Healing City Baltimore movement.
We know that access to nature has the power to promote mental health, confidence, and resiliency in the face of trauma. Research has found that time in nature, and even just perceiving more nature, can reduce stress from adverse events in young people while increasing resilience. Nature provides important opportunities to optimize childrens’ changes for long-term physical and psychological health.
BCCN Related Work
In an effort to promote trauma-informed care (TIC) practices in natural settings and facilitate trauma-informed care training for outdoor program providers, BCCN organized and supported a number of training opportunities in 2020 prior to the COVID-19 shutdown.
- February 2020: BCCN, in partnership with the National Park Foundation, provided a TIC training for staff working directly with Baltimore children and youth. Attendees included educators and rangers from the National Park Service, the National Aquarium, Living Classrooms, and other local environmental program providers.
- March 2020: BCCN held the first annual Nature Nurtures Symposium to provide Trauma-Informed Care trainings, workshops on integrating nature into daily practices, youth stories, and networking opportunities to its attendees. TIC trainers included mental health practitioners from the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) and the Black Mental Health Alliance, and our nature programming workshops leaders included staff from Baltimore City Recreation and Parks (BCRP), Carrie Murray Nature Center, Healthy Harbor, Natural Leaders Network, National Park Service, Great Kids Farm, and more.
- August 2020: The Black Mental Health Alliance held the virtual iteration of their annual Youth Summit #YoungBlackMindsMatter. BCCN supported the planning of the summit, partnered with the Natural Leaders Network to host a workshop on youth-led community organizing, and shared a week-long social media campaign with information on the intersection of nature and mental health.
- February – May 2021: In partnership with the Black Mental Health Alliance, BCCN brought books by BIPOC authors covering topics of nature and the environment and/or mental health to students at Baltimore City Public Schools. Black Mental Health Alliance staff led readings and reflection activities to introduce youth to mindfulness and stress reduction practices to connect to the nature inside themselves and in the wider world. The program capped off in May with a seed-planting activity provided by staff from the Baltimore City Public Schools’ Great Kids Farm.
- June – July 2021: BCCN held its second annual Nature Nurtures series, adapted for a city emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. The workshop series, running from June 18 – July 8, included virtual and in-person workshops on trauma-informed care, healing in nature, outdoor education, outdoor recreation, and urban agriculture. The in-person workshops took place in green spaces around the city to highlight local areas to connect with nature. Our virtual workshops were all recorded, so you can check them out on the Nature Nurtures 2021 summary page.
- February 2022: BCCN participated in the 2022 Healing City Baltimore Summit, presenting a workshop on connecting kids to nature and sharing a resource list for local nature connection.
- March-May 2022: BCCN relaunched the Wellness & Environmental Book Club with the Black Mental Health Alliance at Belmont Elementary School and the National Academy Foundation, as well as a series of sessions at Baltimore’s public libraries.
- June 2022: BCCN held Nature Nurtures 2022 on Saturday, June 25th at the William S. Baer School in west Baltimore, with over a dozen amazing partners offering trainings and workshops on topics ranging from emotional intelligence to nature-based mental health to composting to botanical art.
- July 2022: BCCN hosted a free virtual training with Kimberly Lagree-Saleh, Assistant Director of the Baltimore Office of Youth & Trauma Services at the Baltimore City Health Department, on Trauma-Informed Care & the Trauma-Informed Approach for Youth & Youth Caregivers with 25 participants representing schools, environmental providers, and other youth programs.
