Supportive adults want to be helpful, but they may not know how. Offer training and support to supportive adults to help them be a more active and supportive presence in the lives of children or youth in your system.

How to do this

Talk to supportive adults to find out what they need. Some might benefit from trauma-informed trainings, but others may simply need encouragement to reach out to youth and ideas for what activities to do and what questions to ask.

Make existing trainings available to supportive adults. By offering existing trainings, you should be able to provide more support at no extra cost. Send emails or share pamphlets about upcoming trainings with all the supportive adults you have identified.

This strategy in action

New Hampshire offers free classes to supportive adults on topics like how to navigate communicating with teenagers. Some of this is trauma-informed training.