Tonette Walker Promotes Trauma-Informed Care In State Of The State

In a break from tradition, Wisconsin First Lady Tonette Walker spoke for a few minutes during Gov. Scott Walker’s State of the State address Tuesday to promote an initiative that provides “trauma-informed care” to children across the state.

Tonette Walker’s Fostering Futures initiative trains county and state workers on how to provide specialized care to children and adolescents who have experienced trauma, including child abuse, traumatic accidents or witnessing violence.

“Instead of labeling the child as ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ this approach moves us to better understand what could be causing the behavior,” Walker said in her brief remarks. “Trauma-informed care offers strategies for understanding what is at the root of their struggle and can help identify more effective solutions.”

The program received about $360,000 in state funding in the last biennial state budget.

Marlene Melzer-Lange, a pediatric physician at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, said trauma-informed care has grown substantially in Wisconsin over the past decade as understanding of the effects of trauma on developing brains has proliferated.

Studies have shown trauma can physically alter developing brains and lead to conditions like anxiety, high blood pressure and diabetes later in life.

“For health care providers and social service folks, it’s really important to understand this is actually changing the wiring of the brain,” Melzer-Lange said.

Melzer-Lange said Walker’s advocacy for trauma-informed care can help promote collaboration between care providers.

“Trauma-informed care really transcends not only the medical community, but social services and education, and individual families, and so I think by her speaking up for this topic, it really enhances us getting out of our silos,” she said.