Episode 36 - Pioneering Trauma Informed Care & Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

This episode is sponsored by Deb Crowe, Executive Coach. Looking for a new executive coach? 

Known for her contagious enthusiasm, Becky Haas is a seasoned presenter on the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study and is nationally recognized for her pioneering work in developing a trauma-informed region throughout Northeast Tennessee. Her seasoned presentation experience includes trips to Delaware presenting to state leadership at the invitation of their First Lady, as well as training Juvenile Justice systems in Virginia and Tennessee. She has developed training content for a diverse group of professional sectors including Trauma-Informed Policing training which is certified in two states for officer in-service credit and she has delivered it to the Oklahoma City Police Department, as well as precincts within Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. Currently, she is working with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to implement a plan to make this training available to all members of law enforcement in Tennessee. Becky is a highly sought-out trainer for educators often working directly with school Superintendents to impact entire school districts in beginning their journey to create trauma-sensitive schools.

She is experienced in working with city governments in several states providing the leadership the tools to advance cities in becoming trauma-informed. Since 2016, she has authored numerous articles in the global online publication ACEs Connection. In 2019 Becky co-authored the Building a Trauma-Informed Community toolkit for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Service which is also featured in the global online publication, ACEs Connection Growing Resilient Communities 2.1. Her work has also been published in John’s Hopkins, Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action; and the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Becky served as the Trauma-Informed Administrator for a regional healthcare system providing training development and delivery to healthcare staff in multiple hospitals as well as was instrumental in raising awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as a social determinant to poor health and addiction within rural Appalachia. Prior to working in healthcare, she was the Director of a grant-funded crime prevention program for the Johnson City Police Department which is credited for reducing drug-related crime in one neighborhood by 40% and creating a first probation program of its kind in Tennessee which now serves as a state model for reducing recidivism. She also assisted in strengthening relationships between police and community including culturally diverse populations which resulted in launching the first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. unity march in 2015. Under her leadership, these crime prevention efforts were awarded the Outstanding Crime Prevention Program of the Year for the southern region by the National Criminal Justice Association in 2014 and are listed by the U.S. Department of Justice as a success story.