Blair County non-profit looks to help kids going through trauma with county funding

BLAIR COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — New statistics show kids experiencing trauma in Blair County is increasing.

“Our Pennsylvania Youth Survey of 2021 shows increases across all areas of children not feeling worthy or that they’re a failure or having depressive symptoms, anxiety,” Judy Rosser, Executive Director of Blair Drug and Alcohol Partnerships said.

She added that Blair County is also above the state average.

That’s why the non-profit is requesting $10,715 from the county commissioners to provide two new programs to help those kids.

Rosser requested the funding at Tuesday’s Commissioner’s meeting, which would come from the first block of funds the county is receiving from the 2021 National Opioid Settlement, which Commissioner Bruce Erb said could provide up to $4.6 million for the county in the next 20 years.

The first program, called CBIT, would help train school therapists on how to deal with trauma through observation and treatment.

The second program, called SSET, would take a different approach.

“That’s for prevention specialists or liasons who are working with these children in a non-clinical setting, or even teachers who can be trained on this material,” Rosser said. “It provides a multi-system tier approach to trauma in the schools.”

Rosser also said the programs would provide assistance for kids who are exposed to substance abuse at their home.

She said it’s two pieces to the pie that is the state’s Student Assistance Program, which is used to remove barriers to learning and identify students who may be struggling.

The Commissioners are set to approve the funding at their business meeting on Thursday. Commissioner Amy Webster said she’s glad for the new programs and feels trauma is something that’s been swept under the rug.

Rosser said, if approved, the new programs are set to start this upcoming school year.