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The Sanctuary Institute is now the core training program for organizations adopting the Sanctuary Model. The Sanctuary Institute is comprised of a five-day training institute and then an implementation plan that extends over several years and can be supported by on-site consultation. Below are some notes from the initial implementation of the Sanctuary Model at Andrus Children's Center who now partner with Dr. Bloom to provide the Sanctuary Institute. The quotations below are from the staff members who comprised the initial Core Team at Andrus at the end of the first year of consultation.
Initial Implementation of Sanctuary at Andrus Children's Center (quotes from staff members who were part of the original Core Team) Process
Commitment to Sanctuary Principles GOALS: Developing understanding of the process of change OUTCOME:
MEASURES: Buy in of Board, Leadership critical I think some people think, “It’s been two years and this thing still hasn’t gone away” and now they will have to change. Initiatives have previously not worked because there is change resistance, always. Chief Operating Officer
Defining the Sanctuary Model GOAL: Development of a coherent, shared theoretical and practical framework for treatment OUTCOME:
MEASURE: Curriculum implemented across institution
I feel like I was lost in the woods and the Sanctuary Model helped me find my
way out.
We are
looking more at the child’s history and connecting past to the present. When I
started we were just told what to do by the social worker. Now we are using the
information more effectively. Our philosophy used to be that history doesn’t
matter, that we should have structure that can hold everyone. Now there is an
expectation that we will use the information. I also think we are more democratic than we were. And oddly enough we have become more democratic, more flexible and far more rigid at the same time – clear about what does and doesn’t fit. As much as we have become more flexible we have become more clear about what is important. Chief Executive Officer Use of Sanctuary Concepts and Language GOAL: Practical evidence of changing social norms OUTCOME:
MEASURE:
Parents are hearing the SELF language from the kids and in treatment planning Clinical Director It is so cool when I watch the kids and hear a six year old says he is working on “emotional management”. Program Manager The kids are talking about Sanctuary and safety all the time. Now they look at restraints as being a sign they are not safe and that it is their responsibility as well, not just the responsibility of the adults to keep them safe. School Manager Culture of Nonviolence GOALS: Development of non-violent methods of crisis management and healthier responses to stress OUTCOMES:
MEASURES:
Crisis management is changing across the board – people are seeing when things are escalating and trying to defuse the crisis rather than letting it go until it is already out of control. Social Worker Used to have 30-40 restraints a month and this year I think we have had four for the whole year. Now the visits to student support are to resolve a problem when it used to be used as crisis control. It’s ok now if the visits go up because they are more constructive visits. School Manager Student support is seeing kids more for peer reasons of the moment than for the issues they used to come for. They are also sharing more positive things as the reason for coming in. Student Support Culture of Emotional Intelligence GOALS: Development of affect management skills, good communication skills, more integration, better judgment and decision-making skills, increased responsibility. OUTCOMES:
MEASURE:
If you walk
through the school now and you hear yelling, it grabs your attention. Two or
three years ago you wouldn’t even blink because you were hear it so much. Now
you rarely hear adults yell. It has changed dramatically. The whole place is
calmer. You just don’t hear the high shrill screaming and yelling. That’s
remarkable because I forget what it used to be like. I feel like everyone’s discrimination about what is right and wrong is clearer – so as managers we don’t always have to be policing. Residential Manager The big thing for me is the integration – therapists and social workers are making more of an effort to really integrate knowledge. Residential Counselor We are working together more as a team. School Manager Communication and integration of the clinical work in the cottages is so much better. Everyday the social workers are there, available. It has really improved treatment and continues to evolve. Residential Counselor I intervened in a situation and felt bad because I offered some suggestions and the person may have thought I was judging her, but I wasn’t. What was nice is that she responded and told me, rather than have it come the back way. Chief Operating Officer Culture of Social Learning GOALS: Development of better cognitive skills, leadership, inclusiveness, diversity OUTCOME:
MEASURE:
I delegate more now than I ever did as a supervisor, I let people do more things Program Manager Once the expectation changes that people should be included, offense is taken if they are not included – What they say is, “That’s not Sanctuary” Social Worker A large part of this work was becoming more flexible in our jobs – the one thing about Sanctuary is that you have to be open to jumping in here and there and I have had to do things very differently. Social Worker People are getting it, that the buck stops with me, not just sloughing it off onto someone else. Social Worker Culture of Equity and Shared Governance GOALS: Development of leadership skills, constructive use of power, exercise of social justice OUTCOMES:
MEASURES:
At a community meeting on Friday, one of the kids called out a staff on their emotional management – and the staff had to respond to it – awhile back it would have been all put on the kid and bickering between staff and child. It was talked about and worked out. Program Manager
A lot of
people are communicating better and we are realizing that democracy is messy,
it’s hard, and people say things we don’t want to hear when they are asked to
speak. We won’t like it all. Some people thought Sanctuary meant everybody being
happy – but that’s not what it’s like. Sanctuary doesn’t mean everybody gets
what they want – it means everybody is going to be heard. Culture of Open Communication GOALS: Development of conflict resolution and conflict transformation skills OUTCOMES: Team approach
MEASURE:
We are more willing to confront each other now. Program Manager The difference now is that we are talking about issues, we are talking about problems. And we are responding much more flexibly to problems because we are taking a look at things and thinking about it rather than just responding. Social Worker
Conflicts
don’t stay underground as much – they have to be dealt with – that’s a big
change. It used to be that if something arose, I would just bypass it, not deal
with it. Now, when something isn’t working and I say so but I have not been
heard, I will put a meeting together with the person and their supervisor – and
that brings about change instead of just letting things fester for six months. Last week I had an issue with a parent who asked to speak to the supervisor and I handed it off to him and he handled it for me. And then he gave me some good suggestions for how to handle things better the next time. Residential Counselor Culture of Social Responsibility GOALS: Development of shared accountability, shared responsibility, social skills, mutual respect, enjoyment of others. OUTCOMES:
MEASURE:
We need to be more supportive of staff around listening to and understanding these stories – the impact it has on them – and become more conscious of secondary trauma. Social Worker With TCI, for example, we practice it with the kids, but not with the staff. Sanctuary is the same thing. We have to apply the same principles to the staff as to the kids – we have to not blame them, but see the resistance on their part as problems they are having and address those problems. Teacher We need more recognition for staff. The criteria are not consistent enough. There needs to be a place for regular recognition. It isn’t enough to just have an annual dinner. Some people need that kind of boost in order to improve. Teacher Culture of Growth and Change GOALS: Development of trauma resolution skills, flexibility, creativity, ability to deal with complexity OUTCOMES:
MEASURES:
As far as the agency, the training is very important. I would like to see that
new people who are hired are more interested than just seeing it as a job or a
stepping stone. I think it would be a good idea to assign mentors to new staff. It would be nice if they had one person to go to. Teacher
There is a
big difference now between staff and interactions with the families. Something
happened at Andrus and a staff had made an error with a child and then took it
upon themselves to call the family and resolve the issue and didn’t shove it off
on me as the supervisor. I think there is just a lot more interaction with the
families and feel closer to them that I have ever felt before. It isn’t just our
social worker who is having an interaction with the families. There is more of a
feeling they can talk to anyone on the staff.
I had a
professor in college who told me that it is good to change your job every five
days. Sanctuary has changed me so that I feel like I am at a different job,
doing something totally different. The fact is there is no restraint, we are not
yelling at the kids, we are using the same language, we derail crises.
Restraints with children now rarely happens and if it does, you look at it as
something very unusual and out of the ordinary. It even makes me a better person
at home – I joke more, have a community meeting with my kids. I am looking at
them differently. I wonder more about the impact I have on my own kids. Another thing that I think is remarkable is that none of you left. This is residential treatment in New York state and not a single person here has left the agency and you are 20% of the campus programs. I don’t know why. I am happy you are still here. That’s very cool. Chief Operating Officer
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