As a statewide organization, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona has accrued many highway miles to reach all four corners of Arizona and everything in between. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic has limited these options for in-person trainings and travel. To adapt to the current crisis, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona has begun hosting online webinars for the first time ever, kicking off during April’s Child Abuse Prevention month. Within the month of April, we hosted 13 webinars, reaching a total of 2,578 child welfare professionals, parents and foster parents, and teachers. That output is 380% more than the number of people Prevent Child Abuse Arizona reached during Child Abuse Prevention Month last year.
The webinar topics included building personal and family resilience, managing children’s behavior, preventing and addressing adverse childhood experiences, the unique needs of infants and toddlers in foster care, stress and the trauma-informed approach, mandatory reporter training, and working with families in a strength-based way.
Attendees reported that this information was not only helpful in their professional role working with children and parents, but also in how they regulate themselves and respond to their own families.
- “I will use what I learned in both my professional and work life, in my interactions with people, and how I view things.”
- “I love the tips on how to respond positively. This was so helpful for me as a professional and a parent.”
- “I tend to send kids to timeout when they are out of control and when I’m upset, then I come back later and calmly talk to them about what happened. This webinar helped to realize that could cause children to feel like I would only love them if they were good and not when they are bad. I need to work on filling my cup and responding calmly to situations. When I respond calmly, kids will learn I love them regardless!”
- “I will apply the self-regulation techniques in my own day-to-day life, and be more mindful of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems of the children with whom I work, so I can better address their stress or behavioral issues.”
Attendees especially relished the information on stress, resiliency, and connection during this unique crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- “This was helpful in learning how to help other people to stay calm and stress less during this hard time.”
- “I liked that it was interactive. Kudos to Prevent Child Abuse Arizona’s creativity in making this possible and keeping Child Abuse Prevention Month at the forefront of our minds.”
- “I’ve looked forward to Prevent Child Abuse Arizona Wednesday Webinars all month. During the last 6 weeks, our staff has watched many, many webinars, and you are definitely one of our favorites. We hope you are able to continue with the educational and much needed webinars.“
- “This presentation gave me a fantastic means for talking about behavior and trauma impact with my clients. It’s useful TODAY. Thank you!”
While Prevent Child Abuse Arizona values its in-person gatherings as a means to foster authentic and uplifting connections, the online webinars have provided their own benefits too. Through this effort, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona was able to reach more people while still providing the same relatable, understandable, and useful information as our in-person trainings.
- “Our team always walks away feeling valued and with an increased knowledge bank.“
- “I rarely go to a training that was worth every minute and left me wanting more – this was one of those!”
- “I will use the skills taught to help me build a strong attachment to my adopted son.”
- “I now have some new tools to teach parents about the importance of attachment and how to build a stronger attachment with their child.”
- “This presentation really opened my eyes. I am a foster parent, and I didn’t realize that some of the signs I was seeing were due to trauma as far back as in utero.”
- “I now understand my adopted son a little better and can be a more empathetic.”
- “I will use this every day when working with survivors of trauma.”
- “It really hit home that self-care and self-regulation of parents is what helps the children the most.”
- “I now have a deeper understanding of trauma’s effects on brain development, and ways to help families struggling with ACEs and overall stress.”
- “We currently have a foster child who has experienced several if not all the ACE factors in his life. This gives us tools to use when trying to console him or to understand his reactions.”
We seek to respond to community needs, such as one attendee’s plea to “continue with the educational and much needed webinars.” As the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath continues to affect Arizona families, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona will continue to adapt its in-person trainings to online formats in order to reach more professionals and caregivers. However, we can’t do it alone. We are seeking financial support and opportunities to reach new participants, which we hope to accomplish through webinar sponsorships. If you are interested in learning more about sponsoring a webinar or webinar series, please reference our sponsorship documents below and contact Development Director Rebekah Prieto at rebekah@pcaaz.org.