Capacity building occurs when communities aim to strengthen knowledge, abilities, and skills of individuals to improve organizational structures to better meet the needs of the community in a sustainable way.
A small city in New England realized that given the violence levels in their community, many of their students experienced trauma as a result. The administrators and the mental health staff realized they not only needed special services to address the needs of the students who had experienced trauma, but also needed to develop universal strategies to address violence and trauma for the entire school district.
From a meeting with a technical assistance provider, it was clear that most staff did not understand how trauma impacted students academically, emotionally, and behaviorally. The administrators first turned to the local community mental health center for training to educate their staff. Simultaneously, they worked with an expert in trauma who, with a cross-disciplinary group of principals, teachers, mental health staff, and parents, created a plan to develop a trauma-informed care approach for the entire school district. This approach involved universal strategies for all staff, a change in their discipline code, and continued training for teachers on how to handle students with trauma.