Get Educated

We offer in-person and online trainings on being trauma-informed. Trauma-informed means asking: “What happened to you?”, rather than “What’s wrong with you?” 

There are many resources available to support your healing in the City of Chester and Delaware County. Get help to apply for financial compensation for costs of a crime– medical expenses, loss of earning, loss of support. People over 55 are eligible for special assistance from Victims Services. Widener University, Crozer Keystone Behavioral Health, Omni Behavioral Health all provide individual therapy.

Curious about trauma?  Interested in how to support someone who is grieving?  Read through some of the information we have provided to get started. Learn, for example, about the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study and how childhood trauma can affect health outcomes across the lifespan.

How have other cities reduced violence?  From In Pursuit of Peace: Building Police-Community Trust to Break the Cycle of Violence.

In 2012, Camden had the fifth highest homicide rate in the nation. Under the direction of Police Chief J. Scott Thomson, Camden’s police department undertook a concerted effort to infuse community policing and trust-building efforts throughout all of its officers’ work. While these efforts are still very much underway, the city has already seen pronounced results: In 2012, Camden experienced 67 homicides. In 2018, there were 22.

Cure Violence, which treats gun violence as a communicable disease and works to interrupt its transmission, is beginning to be implemented in Chester. Read how it worked in Chicago, where homicides in targeted areas decreased 38% compared with “control” areas, in Healing Communities in Crisis: Lifesaving Solutions to the Urban Gun Violence Epidemic.