Trauma-Informed Care Task Force

In February, 2020, Baltimore became the first US city to legislate trauma-informed care with passage of the Elijah Cummings Healing City Act.

In 2021, Baltimore convened its Trauma-Informed Care Task Force—a key component of the act—to lead the city’s efforts to ensure that delivery of services across all agencies is trauma-informed.

Over the last year, the Task Force members—who represent a broad range of experiences with trauma—have been meeting bi-weekly to explore and develop ways to prioritize the health and healing of our communities. The Task Force is co-chaired by Councilman Zeke Cohen, who sponsored the Healing City bill.

Increasing trauma-informed care for youth is one of the seven priorities of the Baltimore Children’s Cabinet.

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Watch #mybmore's next Trauma-Informed Care Task Force meeting at 5:30pm live on YouTube bi-weekly.

Task Force Meetings

All meetings occur at 5:30pm on the first and third Thursday of each month and are livestreamed and saved on YouTube.

Recent Meetings Upcoming Meetings

December 1 Agenda

July 21 Agenda

July 7   Agenda

June 16  Agenda

June 2  Agenda

May 19 Agenda

May 5 Agenda

April 7 Agenda

March 17 Agenda

March 3 Agenda

February 17 Agenda

February 3 Agenda

January 20 Agenda

January 6 Agenda

December 16 Agenda

December 2 Agenda

November 18 Agenda

November 4 Agenda

October 21 Agenda

October 7 Agenda

September 16 Agenda

September 2 Agenda

August 19 Agenda

August 5 Agenda

The task force is comprised of 10 city agency representatives and 16 community members (nine recommended by the Mayor and seven recommended by the Council President). Task force members include one or more representatives from each of the below categories:

  • Naturalized citizen or a resident alien

  • Representative from community organization, nonprofit or youth organization that has an expertise in trauma and healing

  • Representative of an organization with a focus on LGBTQ advocacy

  • Representative of an organization with an explicit focus on racial equity

  • Teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools

  • Youth representative from a youth-led advocacy group

  • City Council member

  • Individual between 14 and 25 years of age

  • Individual licensed to practice in Maryland as a pediatrician

  • Individual licensed to practice in Maryland as a social worker

  • Individual who recently exited from the Maryland correctional system

  • Individual with at least one child enrolled in Baltimore City Public Schools

  • Licensed clinician with expertise in trauma and healing

  • Member of the research community with expertise in trauma and healing

Regina Boyce
Maryland State Delegate

Delegate Boyce represents the 43rd District in the Maryland General Assembly House of Delegates and a member of the Taskforce on Reconciliation & Equity; prior to becoming a delegate, she was Deputy Director of Neighborhood Relations for Council President Scott and Director of Community Services for Strong City Baltimore.

Dr. Steven Czinn
University of Maryland Children’s Hospital

Dr. Steven Czinn is head of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, chair of the governor's task force on Maternal and Child Health and the Associate Editor of Pediatric Research.

Dr. Tara Doaty
Sage Wellness

Dr. Tara Doaty is the founder and CEO of Sage Wellness Group, a consulting firm that uses a trauma-informed approach to improve the lives of children and families.

Monica Guerrerro-Vazquez
Centro SOL

Monica Guerrero Vazquez is Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Salud/Health and Opportunity for Latinos who led one of the first suicide prevention responses in Spanish in the Southeast area.

Nneka Nnamdi
Fight Blight Baltimore

Nneka Nnamdi is the founder of Fight Blight Bmore, a social and environmental justice tool for residents to identify, report and track blight in Baltimore, and Director of Community Development for The Living Well Center for Social and Economic Vibrancy, a community development and social health incubator.

Colby Sangree
Youth Empowerment Society (YES)

Colby Sangree is a co-founder of the Survivors Support Network, a multicultural student group where survivors of sexual assault consult peers; through their work with the Youth Empowered Society Drop-In Center, they create a trauma-informed, safe and welcoming environment for unhoused youth.

Young Elder
HeartSmiles MD

Young Elder is a Coppin State University student, recording artist, youth leader, member of Heartsmiles MD and Healing Youth Alliance Ambassador who advocates for better mental health for young people across Baltimore.

Erricka Bridgeford
Cease Fire, Baltimore Community Mediation Center

Erricka Bridgeford has been involved in community mediation for more than 20 years and now serves as the Executive Director of the Baltimore Community Mediation Center; she is also one of the grassroots organizers of Baltimore Ceasefire and was named 2017 Marylander of the Year for her peacemaking work.

Dr. Kevin Daniels
Morgan State University

Dr. Kevin Daniels is a faculty member in Morgan State University's School of Social Work, Chair of Civic Action for the Ministers’ Conference of Baltimore & Vicinity and activist for healing in many Baltimore communities through his work with BUILD.

Dr. David Fakunle
Johns Hopkins University

Dr. David Fakunle is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, serves on the board of directors of BHSB and is a member of both the Maryland Arts Recovery Task Force and the Research Advisory Group for Creating Healthy Communities: Art + Public Health in America.

Lydell Hills
Truth to Power

Lydell Hills is a recent graduate of Goucher College, a Baltimore Community Mediation Center volunteer and founder of Truth to Power, a youth development program to provide trauma-responsive care and social-emotional learning activities that develop young participants into community leaders.

Brenden McFadden
Baltimore City Public Schools

Brenden McFadden is a secondary math teacher, teacher mentor and School Climate lead who has nationally presented his work on improving school climate.

Daniel Parsons
Baltimore City Public Schools

Daniel Parsons is a secondary English teacher at Frederick Douglass High School who supported the youth who called on the Baltimore City Council to draft the Elijah Cummings Healing City Act; he has presented at a national conference on Independent Reading as self-care for highly traumatized youth and created an AP program for gifted students.

A'niya Taylor
The Youth

A'niya Taylor is a Baltimore City College High School student who is also the Director of The Youth, a Baltimore-based, youth-led initiative dedicated to revolutionizing education in impoverished communities, a Baltimore Ceasefire 365 youth ambassador, a Youth Leader with Students Demand Action Baltimore and a nominee for 2020 Marylander of the Year.

Donna Bruce
Department of Social Services, Family Service

Donna Bruce is a legislative advocate, community volunteer, human trafficking survivor and former addict who now supports addicts and victims of human trafficking while working for the Department of Social Services as a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with a focus on families.

Elijah Davis
Upton P.R.I.D.E. Initiative Mentoring

Elijah Davis is a returning citizen who served a 20-year prison sentence; since his release, he has mentored Baltimore youth and helped them see the way that trauma impacts their lives.

Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos
Medicine for the Greater Good

is the Co-Director and Co-Founder of Medicine for the Greater Good at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is co-chair of health equity for the Johns Hopkins Health System and was the principal investigator for the Together-in-Care project to reduce re-hospitalizations for elderly patients.

Mark Jews
Bert’s Place

Mark Jews has worked as a crisis counselor, coached youth athletics, served as the PTA president at Hamilton Elementary Middle School and, for the past 15 years, worked with youth in the foster care system through Challengers Independent Living at Bert's Place.

Dr. Tamar Mendelson
Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Tamar Mendelson is Director for the Center for Adolescent Health at Johns Hopkins University, member of the Wellcome Strategic Advisory Board with a focus on Mental Health Priority Area and member of the Committee on Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Development among Children and Youth, under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Destini Philpot
Ceasefire Youth Ambassador

Destini Philpot is Co-Founder and Co-Leader of Good Kids Mad City, a Baltimore-to-Chicago organization focused on shifting the narrative around gun violence and pursuing restorative practices, speaker and student leader for Students Demand Action Baltimore and a Youth Ambassador for the Baltimore Ceasefire Movement.

Fareeha Waheed
Baltimore Teachers Union

Fareeha Waheed is a lead math teacher and special educator in West Baltimore. She also serves as a Vice President in the Baltimore Teachers Union and is a Doctoral Candidate studying Urban Leadership at Johns Hopkins University. Fareeha has facilitated local and national conversations and workshops on trauma-informed care, data-driven decision-making, and education for liberation.

Theresa Bruce
Baltimore City Public Schools

Theresa Bruce teaches Social Studies in Title I Schools, works to reduce and address the symptoms of trauma in her students, serves on her school's social and emotional learning (SEL) team and advocates for system-wide improvements to the way trauma is addressed.

Desyree Dixon
Bolton Therapy and Wellness

Desyree Dixon is a clinical social worker who has worked with the Sheppard Pratt Health System, the Family Center at Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Promise Heights Community and other initiatives through the University of Maryland’s Ruth Young Center for Families and Children.

Dr. Lindsay Gavin
Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

Dr. Lindsay Gavin is a clinical psychologist in pediatric psychology at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital whose clinical area of expertise is in the prevention and treatment of the psychological effects of trauma in children, adolescents, and their families.

Dr. Phil Leaf
Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Phil Leaf is Director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, member of the Governor's Commission on the School-to-Prison Pipeline, and co-chair of the Steering Committee Promoting Student Resiliency who has studied adolescents and mental health for more than 40 years.

Shawna Murray-Browne
Kindred Wellness LLC.

Shawna Murray-Browne (LCSW-C) is Founder/Ex. Director of Kindred Community Healing & Principal Consultant at Kindred Wellness. An award-winning community healer, national speaker, mind-body medicine practitioner & integrative psychotherapist, she makes life-changing, community-based sacred spaces to equip Black women, youth & change-makers with self-healing tools. A fierce advocate for racial equity in mental health care, Shawna helps individuals & organizations nourish cultures of mindfulness, anti-racism & impact.

Odette Ramos
City Council Member

Odette T. Ramos is the Baltimore City Councilmember for Baltimore's 14th District and founder of Strategic Management Consulting.

Corey Witherspoon
Seeds of Promise

Corey Witherspoon is a Senior Mentor with Seeds of Promise who co-developed a cohort-retention mentoring model to support young men of color in middle and high school.

Task Force Committees

  • Decolonizing Trauma Frameworks and Interventions—Co-Chairs: Shawna Murray Brown and Monica Guerrero Vazquez

  • Developing Citywide Trauma Informed Care Policies—Co-Chairs: Fareeha Waheed and Nneka Namdi

  • Developing Trauma-Responsive Practices Across Medical Institutions—Co-Chairs: Lindsay Gavin and Panagis Galiatsatos

  • Training, Assessment and Evaluation for Agencies and Community—Co-Chairs: Desyree Dixon and Corey Witherspoon

  • Youth Programs: Determining Supports for Young People Across Baltimore to Address Trauma—Co-Chairs: Destini Philpot, Lydell Hills and Young Elder

Committee Presentations

General Information & Resources