Youth STAR

A program for leaders, teachers and caregivers working with youth in challenging times.

Review new youth training materials, made available through grant funds, to be used at STAR Youth sessions like the one pictured above in New Orleans.

The Youth STAR program provides training and materials for those who work with 14- to 18-year-olds who have experienced violence and trauma. Developed with input from trainers who work with youth in post-disaster settings in the U.S. and around the world, the program includes information and materials on trauma awareness, conflict transformation, and restorative justice.

These topics are presented as strategies for breaking the repetitive cycles of violence in individuals and communities and building resilience.

Youth STAR aims to enable adults to increase youth’s knowledge in these areas and enable young people to engage in building peace in their immediate environment as well as in their larger communities.

This program provides training for adults who work with youth and those who wish to become trainers in the Youth STAR program. This training provides a framework that:

• Identifies causes of trauma
• Explains trauma responses
• Enables youth who have experienced trauma to connect with their feelings and identify ways of healthy coping
• Provides support in moving towards healing from trauma
• Identifies ways to build resilience
• Teaches violence-prevention, thus helping break the cycle of re-traumatization [or “of further trauma”]
• Shows approaches to building healthy communities after traumatic experiences

For more information about the Youth STAR program or to explore training opportunities, contact the director of STAR, Elaine Zook Barge at bargee@emu.edu or (540) 432-4694.