Supporting and responding to schools in a crisis.
About
About the SMART Program
School Mobilization Assistance Response Teams (SMART) respond to schools during a traumatic event that emotionally impacts students and staff. Team members mobilize immediately to provide support to students and staff. In addition to crisis management services, SMART provides comprehensive training to help prepare your school and staff in the event of a crisis of any magnitude.
What is a School Mobilization Assistance Response Team?
SMART is made up of counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, ELA staff, security staff and community volunteers.
Services
SMART Services
Crisis Response
Once we receive the call, SMART members mobilize immediately providing support to students and staff in the event of a crisis of any magnitude.
School Crisis Trainings
SMART members will come to your school and provide your staff with an 8 hour initial training including the following topics:
- How to prepare and respond to a school crisis
- Developing an emergency plan
- The importance of a phone tree
- Key roles during a school crisis
- Communicating information to staff, students and families
- Understanding the developmental stages of students K-12 and how reactions differ
- Addressing trauma and grief in students K-12
- What to do in the days and weeks following a crisis
- Key factors for assessing risk in a school setting
Additional Workshops and Trainings
In addition to the core training, SMART conducts focused trainings including the following topics:
- Team Lead Trainings
- Quarterly Update Meetings
- Community Forums
- Customized Trainings (upon request)
What Districts Say About SMART Assistance
“I am so grateful to all of you for your professional expertise and personal support this past week. I was again reminded why I am so fortunate to work in this community. Facing this tragedy together made us much stronger than we would have been otherwise.”
“Our school has suffered a great deal of loss this year. Each and every time…your team has taken the time to ask questions, check in with teachers, support students and just be a warm presence.”
Trainers
Our Trainers
Wendy and Jodi are both volunteers with the Trauma Intervention Program of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington (TIP). They coordinate many of the school trauma responses in the area. Over the years, Wendy and Jodi have also served as mentors and provided supervision and continuing education for the TIP Teen Volunteers.
Wendy and Jodi developed the School Mobilization Assistance Response Team (SMART) training in 2001. They have trained over 1500 staff members from Clark County, Washington area, the Parkrose and Reynolds School Districts in Portland, Oregon, Clackamas Community College Counseling Department, Grays Harbor County and the State of Delaware how to respond to crisis situations in the schools. Additionally, Wendy and Jodi offer Quarterly Update trainings and team building activities for all SMART Team members.
Wendy and Jodi are both trained in Critical Incident Stress Management and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing by Dr. Jeffrey Mitchell. Wendy and Jodi have both met the requirements for a Certificate of Specialized Training in Schools and Children Crisis Response Specialty through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Wendy has also met the requirements for a Certificate of Specialized Training in Mass Disasters and Terrorism and Jodi has met the requirements for a Certificate of Specialized Training in Health Care.
Wendy Silverthorne, LCSW
Wendy is the SMART Team Coordinator. She has a broad social work background, having worked in the field for almost 40 years. The majority of those years have been spent working in a school setting. Wendy was named Washington State School Social Worker of the Year, 2002.
Jodi Wicks, MS
Jodi is a Crisis Stabilization Clinician at Catholic Community Services. She was a Bereavement Manager for Peacehealth Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver Washington for two decades.
Resources
SMART Resources
Clark County Community Resources
Websites of Interest
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation
Trauma Intervention Program
National Association Of School Psychologists
National Education Association
TIP: When Tragedy Strikes
Downloadable Resources
Safety Planning Toolkit
How to Talk to Kids About Death
New York Life Bereavement Resources
Psychological First Aid, Field Operations Guide, 2nd Edition, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, National Center for PTSD
Contacts
Who to Contact
Upcoming Classes & Events
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