MONDAY MEMO #63

nwarner12
3 hours ago
5 min read

Happy Monday! This week’s Memo highlights education and legal supports, resources for parents and caregivers and parent-serving professionals, professional development and training opportunities, and support for youth. But first, here are some reminders and highlights from the Resilient Georgia team:

RG Highlights

February Lunch & Learn: Join us on Thursday, February 12 from 12–12:45PM for a virtual Lunch & Learn featuring Jesse Kohler of the Center for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP). This session will highlight practical strategies and resources to help coalitions and community partners advance trauma-informed workplaces across sectors, including nonprofits, schools, courts, local government, and employers. Participants will be introduced to CTIPP’s Trauma-Informed Workplace Toolkit and learn actionable ways to foster healthy organizational culture, staff wellbeing, and trauma-responsive policies. Email Alex English to request an invite at aenglish@resilientga.org.

YPN Teen Drug Safety Survey Results: The Youth Drug Safety Survey, completed by 100 teens and young adults across the state, highlights key gaps and opportunities to inform the Youth Prevention Network’s program focus. Findings highlighted stigma, fear of getting in trouble, and lack of trusted adults as key barriers to youth seeking help, with over one third of respondents reporting they would not know how to respond to a drug overdose. While many participants had received prior drug safety education, youth still perceived substance use as common among their peers and frequently relied on social media for information. Youth also emphasized that trust plays a significant role in decision making and that prevention efforts are most effective when they include real stories from people their age and acknowledge the stress youth experience. These insights are guiding the YPN’s focus on youth informed, skills based, and stigma reducing prevention strategies.

Coalition Highlights

Resilient Communities of East Georgia will host the following events:

A full-day Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) training for educators and professionals who work with children in educational settings. The training will take place on February 3, 2026, from 8:30AM – 3:30PM in Augusta, Georgia, and will focus on building trust, supporting emotional regulation, and responding to challenging behaviors through trauma-responsive, connection-based strategies. Register here!
A free Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training on February 11, 2026, from 10AM – 1PM in Waynesboro, Georgia. This interactive session introduces six foundational wellness skills that help individuals understand how stress affects the brain and nervous system and build regulation and resilience. The training is open to community members and professionals across sectors, with priority for residents and professionals from Burke, Jefferson, Jenkins, and Screven Counties. Space is limited to 50 participants, and participants will receive a $100 giftcard. Register here!

Resilient Coastal Georgia: Front Porch A.C.T.S. is offering a two-day ACTS (Trauma Drama) Facilitator Training for educators, counselors, social workers, caregivers, and others seeking creative, trauma-informed tools to support youth wellbeing. Trauma Drama is an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach that uses improvisation and experiential, play-based activities to promote emotional expression, regulation, resilience, and connection. Led by the only Georgia-based certified providers of the Trauma Drama curriculum, this interactive training equips participants with hands-on curriculum and facilitation strategies that can be integrated into classrooms, school communities, youth-serving organizations, and home settings. The training will take place February 25–26, 2026, from 9:30 AM–3:00 PM

at Front Porch Improv in Savannah.

Resilient Middle Georgia will host four in-person coalition meetings in 2026, held in

March, May, September, and December on the second Wednesday of the month from 10:30AM – 1:00PM, providing opportunities for deeper connection, shared learning, and cross-sector collaboration. In addition, monthly virtual coalition check-ins will be held during months without in-person meetings on the third Thursday of the month from 10:30 –11:30AM to support ongoing connection, relationship-building, shared learning, and implementation conversations related to trauma-informed practices. View the 2026 coalition calendar with all meeting dates and links.

Education

Georgia Education Climate Coalition (GECC) Updates: Georgia schools are integrating Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) with Positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) under broader, statewide prevention efforts. The GaMTSS initiative is a data-driven, multi-level prevention system designed to support the “whole child,” recognizing that academic performance, behavior, and wellbeing are interconnected. Check out the slides here.

Legal Supports

Appleseed Network Deportation Preparation Manual for Immigrant Families: The Deportation Preparation Manual is a practical resource designed to help immigrant families plan for the protection of their children and finances in the event of deportation. The manual includes guidance on child custody planning, financial protection, and setting up powers of attorney, and can be explored by topic, tool, or chapter. Users can also answer a few questions to receive a personalized roadmap tailored to their situation.

The complete manual is available as a downloadable PDF and is offered in both English and Spanish.

The Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta has been a longtime partner of Resilient Georgia, providing invaluable legal guidance and support. PBPA offers free business legal resources and services to Georgia nonprofits, including a learning center with webcasts, podcasts, articles, and direct legal services for qualifying organizations. This is a great resource for coalitions navigating day-to-day nonprofit legal needs.

Parents and Families

Family support is key for people with mental illness but caregivers need help too: This NPR article highlights the often-overlooked role of family caregivers as essential partners in supporting individuals with serious mental illness, describing them as the “first and last line of defense” in recovery. It also highlights efforts to better support caregivers, including peer-led education and support networks, caregiver coaching models, and crisis planning tools including 988.

Sound It Out Together is the online home of Sound It Out, a campaign and resource hub designed to help parents and caregivers support their children’s emotional wellbeing through open, honest communication about feelings and mental health. It offers expert-vetted tools, guides, conversation starters, music activities, and a supportive podcast series to make it easier for families to listen, talk, and connect with kids about emotions in healthy ways. The campaign is led by the Ad Council in partnership with Pivotal Ventures and uses creative, culturally relevant strategies—like music and guided activities—to break down barriers around emotional conversations with youth. The website and resources are also fully offered in Spanish.

Professional Development and Training

Protective Factors - PCA Georgia: PCA Georgia supports the statewide implementation of the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework, a research-informed approach to preventing child abuse and neglect by focusing on family and community strengths. The organization provides trainings for parents and professionals, resources for embedding the framework in organizations, and hosts Quarterly Member Networking Meetings via Zoom. These gatherings are open to all staff from family-serving organizations and include guest speakers, mini-trainings, breakout discussions, and opportunities for peer learning and networking. Trainings are offered in-person, online, and self-paced to accommodate a variety of learning needs. Learn more!

2nd Annual Co-Responder Teams Professional Development Conference: The Georgia DBHDD Office of Adult Mental Health will host its 2nd Annual Co-Responder Teams Professional Development Conference from February 25–27th in Peachtree City. The conference is free to attend with required registration and is open to law enforcement, Fire and EMS, behavioral health and criminal justice professionals, community service boards, legislators, and others interested in co-responder models. Registration is open through February 13th.

Resources and Workshops for Parenting Practitioners from GGSC Berkeley: The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley offers a science-based workshop series and family wellbeing workbook designed to support the well-being of parents and caregivers and the clinicians who serve them. Centering practitioner well-being as essential to effectively supporting families, these resources are designed for educators, social workers, healthcare providers, counselors, and community-based practitioners working with parents and caregivers from preschool through high school.

Youth

Virtual Group Therapy for Sexual Trauma Survivors: This virtual group therapy series from Survivor Counseling provides a safe and intentional space for female-identifying survivors ages 14 to 17 to receive counseling, build community, and access supportive resources. The program focuses on helping participants find their voice and inner strength, learn healthy ways to cope with stress and triggers, and strengthen self-esteem. The group meets on Zoom for eight weeks starting March 2026. Insurance and self-pay options are available. Please share with your youth-serving and mental health professionals!

THANK YOU FROM THE RESILIENT GEORGIA TEAM!