In 2022, the Trauma and Grief (TAG) Center continued its core work but pivoted in May to take a lead role in the state’s Health and Human Services Commission response to the trauma and grief in the Uvalde community. 

The TAG Center’s core work focused largely on training school clinicians and leaders in evidence-based therapies and techniques to effectively respond to students who have experienced trauma and bereavement, impacting thousands of children, young people, and the adults supporting them, including the development of a new Virtual Learning Library.

Even when school officials are trained, however, knowing when a student might need special attention is crucial to catching potential problems early. That’s why the TAG Center initiated the Handle with Care program, in partnership with Galena Park ISD and the Region 4 and Region 11 Education Service Centers, with funding support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Under this program, when a police officer encounters a child at a potentially traumatic scene, the officer sends a notification to the child’s school that this is a “Handle with Care” student, and the child’s primary teacher is trained to look for certain signs that the child is in need of mental health care. The TAG Center trained over 2,000 Galena Park ISD school counselors, nurses, teachers, administrators, assistant principals, and ancillary staff and created a recorded training for local law enforcement officers serving the Galena Park community.

In North Texas, the TAG Center partnered with Dallas ISD on a two-year project to implement a system-wide, evidence-based, trauma- and grief-informed assessment and intervention program designed to help meet the mental health needs of students who have experienced trauma and bereavement, including COVID-related deaths. Over the program’s span, it will impact up to 8,000 children and youth who have experienced trauma and loss.