Engaging through K.A.R.E: A Universal Approach to Supporting the Mental Well-Being and Resilience of Youth

Format

Individual Presentation

Presenters

Tameka TribbleFollow

First Presenter's Institution

Tameka Tribble

First Presenter’s Email Address

ttribble2235@gmail.com

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Born and raised in Buffalo, Tameka has been a Savannah resident since 2003. Tameka is the proud parent of two children daughter Ava and son Jay. She began her career in Early Childhood Education as a Director of a Childcare Center in 2006. She later continued her career in education including over 13 years with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School District. During her tenure with SCCPSS, Tameka obtained various positions including a Family and Community Liaison within the Exceptional Children’s Department, Special Education Teacher, Transition Specialist, and Instructor with the Professional Learning Department. Tameka currently serves as the Associate Executive Director of Community United Services Inc., the entity that manages Parent University. Tameka has an immense passion for the success and upward evolution of families. Prior to her role as Associate Executive Director, Tameka was an instructor providing parent-centric trainings to participants at Parent University. Ms. Tameka Tribble graduated from Savannah Technical College with an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Care and Education, from Ashford University with a bachelor’s degree in social science and Master of Education: Specializing in Family and Community Services, and from Armstrong State University with a Master of Arts Degree Teaching Special Education.

Location

Session Nine Breakouts ( Ballroom D)

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Home: Family & Community Engagement

Relevance

This session will provide strategies and professional/personal experience that is conducive to proactive and reactive advocacy for youth. These strategies are relevant to support students of all backgrounds and experiences, but particularly those who have experienced heightened levels of trauma.

The ‘heart’ will be represented by explaining the components of resilient individuals and how the component of “social support” assists with sustaining youth’s resilience.

The ‘home’ will be represented by introducing the audience to a local resource, Parent University, and the parent-centric model of empowering families, hence supporting youth’s overall success.

Brief Program Description

Sharing a lived experience testimony through the lens of trauma, will delineate the inspiration for the development of K.A.R.E: A universal approach to being a Kind, Active Listener and Resource to Empower. Learning strategies to actively K.A.R.E results in a continuum of engagement practices inclusive to all individuals. This creates a positive culture that develops relationships and trust for proactive and reactive mental health support. K.A.R.E is one way to create resilient families and communities.

Summary

This session begins with sharing relevant statistics pertaining to youth and trauma, then proceeds with engaging the audience in a conversation related to individuals and resilience in the face of adversity and trauma. Components of resilience (cognition, environment, & behaviors) will then be defined and explained. Following, participants will learn a universal approach to the human embrace which supports individual’s ability to have sustained resilience by implementing strategies to actively K.A.R.E. Each letter of the acronym will be dissected (as shown below) to include strategies for the practical implementation of K.A.R.E.

The first letter in the acronym is K which stands for Kind. Kindness at the least has the potential to increase profit, impart knowledge to others, and allow those in need to embrace resources. At its height, kindness encourages positive changes in behavior and the desire to be kind to others which has the capability to transform communities. Participants will learn the importance of implementing acts of kindness to begin establishing meaningful relationships. Intentional kind interactions with individuals such as positive communication (verbal & non-verbal), welcoming correspondence (letters, emails, in-person conversation), and cultural sensitivity (clothing, hygiene, traditions/religions, experiences) are essential components to building strong rapports.

The second letter is A which stands for Active Listener. The art of active listening entails the intentionality of listening to become informed versus listening to respond. Listening to become inform could breed endless knowledge, new perspectives, and perhaps provide clarity. Clarity could provide in-depth understanding as to the sometime complex needs of humans and subsequently compel one to embrace individuals beyond like minds and experiences. Displaying verbal and non-verbal signs of listening (observe cues to direct your conversation), maintaining eye contact to validate the messenger and embracing other’s perspectives are essential ways to actively listen.

The next letter is R which stands for Resource: Be the resource that encourages an individual to ultimately become resourceful. When providing a service, applying the three I’s, information (initial knowledge), instruction (how to apply the resource), and ingenuity (support that encourages innovation/resourcefulness) will be beneficial.

The final letter E stands for Empower: As you are providing resources, it would be most beneficial when done in a way that empowers the individual to take ownership in applying the resource. Providing autonomy-oriented support vs. dependency-oriented support, utilizing the strategy of earn vs. given, and cheerleading ongoing progress builds confidence in one’s ability to take a leadership role in their own life.

The session will also include a lived experience testimony (professional and personal) that supports the importance of environmental support which directly informs families/communities of their role in fostering the healthy social and emotional development of youth and children.

Closure: Participants will be provided with informational brochures, community engagement programs/resources and links to support families basic needs as a wholistic approach/support from Heart and Home.

Materials: Google Slides and informational brochures will be used to support the presentation.

Evidence

Resources and Research used to support this proposal includes:

-Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework (Center for The Study Of Social Policy [CSSP], n.d.)

-The Georgia Department of Education’s Response to Intervention (RTI) model of supporting student’s ability to learn at high levels and extinguishing the disproportionality of minority students placed in Special Education. (Adopted from National Center on Response to Intervention, 2010)

-Parent University Savannah, non-profit organization (Parent University, 2021)

Learning Objective 1

Participants will learn strategies to implement K.A.R.E as a universal approach to building positive and trusting relationships with youth and families

Learning Objective 2

Participants will learn how to navigate community resources to support meeting the basic needs of youth and families.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to name the characteristics resilient individuals possess and recognize their role within the construct of supporting sustained resilience

Keyword Descriptors

resilience, kind, active listener, resource, empower, trauma, families, communities, youth, support

Presentation Year

2023

Start Date

3-8-2023 11:15 AM

End Date

3-8-2023 12:30 PM

Recommended Citation

Tribble, Tameka, "Engaging through K.A.R.E: A Universal Approach to Supporting the Mental Well-Being and Resilience of Youth" (2023). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 29.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2023/2023/29