Dear Advocates,

We are thankful for your tireless support! With your support last year, we had a successful 2019 GA Session, and we looked forward to seeing all that we accomplish again this 2020 Session on behalf of Virginia’s children.

We hope you will be able to join us virtually and in-person for our 2020 Campaign for a Trauma-Informed VA Advocacy Day on January 21st! If you have not registered yet, make sure you register NOW using this link! With your help, we can build a resilient Commonwealth by speaking up for our kids.

Over 30 organizations have endorsed our Unified Policy Agenda thus far. Let’s continue to uplift these priorities this 2020 Session!

This is our 2nd Campaign year, and we encourage you to promote the theme:

I am #TraumaInformedVA

*TAKE ACTION* by using our action alert center!

Support Community-Level Prevention through FACT

Improve Early Childhood Education

Step One: Find your legislator 

• They can easily be found here.
• Search their twitter handles or find their Facebook pages. Some legislators also have Instagram. We have compiled many of their social media handles here:House social media handles Senate social media handles

Step Two: Create a video or promo telling everyone why you are #TraumaInformedVA 

Video Example 

Prompt 

Your Turn!

You can follow the same theme using these tactics: 

• Write why you are #TraumaInformedVA on a sheet of paper and tag your legislator and/or our pages- @VaKids
• Simply write a status telling us why you are #TraumaInformedVA and tag your legislator and/or our pages- @VaKids
• Record a video using the theme – I am #TraumaInformedVA and tag your legislator and/or our pages- @VaKids
• Feature other creative methods, such as poetry, artwork, pictures/videos of the work you do on-the-go, and more using the theme #TraumaInformedVA. Email: Chloe at vakids.org if you would like to hear our thoughts.
• Use our pre-drafted posts by copying and pasting it onto your social media pages! You can also like, comment, and share our social media content.

Sample posts: 

[for an organization] We support @VaKids on the Campaign for a #TraumInformedVA, because all children should have the opportunity to live long healthy and successful lives. https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/unified-policy-agenda

I am #TraumaInformedVA, because I believe all schools should have the right supports in place to respond to students experiencing trauma. https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/trauma-talking-points

I am #TraumaInformedVA, because communities, agencies, and professionals have an increased access to resources that foster resiliency through the presence of their trauma-informed community networks. https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/trauma-informed-community-networks

I am #TraumaInformedVA, because all child-serving organizations and agencies need adverse childhood experience training in order to meet children where they are and resist retraumatization. https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/trauma-talking-points

I am #TraumaInformedVA, because VA should promote policies that reduce maternal and infant disparities by improving access to healthcare. https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/trauma-talking-points

I am #TraumaInformedVA, because  children should have access to early childhood education through early childhood mental health consultations to reduce preschool suspensions and expulsions. https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/trauma-talking-points

I am #TraumaInformedVA, because I participate in my local community network to work across disciplines and share best practices. Please support our work by increasing FACT funding. https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/trauma-informed-community-networks

I am #TraumaInformedVA because [for example: I am a member of a trauma-informed community network… I’ve been trained to be trauma-informed through ACES training… because I ask “what happened to you?”] https://vakids.org/trauma-informed-va/trauma-talking-points

#Repost our talking points! Forward to fellow friends, community members, and partners!

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