First Responders, Investigators Provided with Vicarious Trauma Training

(Provided photo)

CLEARFIELD – Vicarious Trauma Training has been provided to local first responders and investigators of child abuse, announced District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr.

The training was made possible through the Northeast Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (NRCAC) in collaboration with the Child Advocacy Center of Clearfield County (CAC-CC) and the District Attorney’s Office.

According to Shaw, the training was designed by NRCAC to provide Multi-Disciplinary Investigative Teams (MDIT) throughout the northeastern states resources for team members who are working with child abuse investigations.

Vicarious Trauma is also known as compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and secondary victimization, Shaw explained.

He said when individuals are exposed to traumatic events through their work, it is vital that they are aware of the trauma so they can stay healthy.

When Vicarious Trauma is not managed effectively, he said it can lead to individuals experiencing “burnout,” a variety of health conditions and emotional concerns.

Continuously dealing with child abuse cases is extremely emotional and traumatic for professionals required to handle these situations,” Shaw said.

According to him, training participants were from the Sandy Township, DuBois City and Clearfield Borough police departments, Clearfield County Children, Youth and Family Services, Community Action Inc., The Crossroads Project, PASSAGES Inc., Clearfield County Victim Witness and the District Attorney’s Office.

Shaw thanked Sue Ascione, NRCAC’s project outreach coordinator, for visiting Clearfield County and providing the day-long training. He also thanked the CAC-CC for coordinating and hosting the training.

Shaw was especially grateful for the professionals for their participation.  He said, “We trained 25 professionals within Clearfield County who will now be aware of the signs of Vicarious Trauma in themselves as well as others.”

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