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Our Impact
Insights for Intervention
We partner with so many incredible schools that are working tirelessly to connect with and support students impacted by ACEs. Here are just a couple stories that have been shared with us about how Lifting Up has helped make a difference.
Two Sisters
Imagine two sisters, a first and second grader. After winter break, their behavior changed noticeably. The older sister was no longer social, withdrawing from her friends and her teacher. The younger sister regressed. She started biting and clinging to her teacher, refusing to be separated.
The teachers become increasingly frustrated by the girls' behavior, and numerous calls home go unanswered.
Enter, Lifting Up. For every new district, we conduct a historical analysis to provide a baseline. In one district, we found that these two sisters had experienced eleven escalating domestic violence incidents between Christmas and April.
With Lifting Up live, school support staff now receive notifications for each incident and can build trusting relationships with these girls to help them regulate the toxic stress resulting from these events at home.
The Straight A Student
The counselor at a middle school received a HWC notice for a new seventh grader, "Susie." The counselor looked up the student before checking in. Susie had transferred from another building, but seemed to be doing fine so far. Straight A's, perfect attendance, a growing group of friends. Still, the counselor did her check in.
She invited Susie to her office under the pretense of welcoming her to the building. She asked about Susie's friends, her favorite subject, if she was going to try out for volleyball. She ended the meeting saying, "I'm here if you need anything, my door is always open."
A week later, Susie arrived at school crying, and asked for the counselor. She had been self-harming, and had scared herself with suicidal ideation, and knew she needed help.
The school called in her parents, and was able to provide services to Susie and her mom.
The counselor shared that without the notification, she never would have checked on Susie since everything "seemed fine."
Testimonials
“This is the third year my school district has partnered with Lifting Up and has been able to use Handle With Care. The positive impact this system has made in allowing us to better support our students who may be experiencing challenges in their home lives is immeasurable. We are now able to better identify these students and support them in a trauma focused manner.”
Dr. Cathy Trimble
Associate Superintendent,
District 50 Schools.
“The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office was one of Lifting Up’s first partners. This has been another successful tool for schools and law enforcement to use in keeping our children safe at home and at school. Lifting Up has created strong policies to keep information private where only school officials and law enforcement have access to.”