SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – Local organizations have been working to educate the community about what signs to look for when it comes to childhood trauma.
The USC Upstate Child Protection Training Center offers a mock house setting to show social workers, teachers and even camp counselors what to look for and how to help children who live in touch environments everyday.
Behind the walls of USC Upstate building sits “The Mock House” in the training center that could save a life. Inside of the mock house, you’ll find a sofa and television in the midst of dirty dishes, dirty diapers and drug paraphernalia.
USC Upstate Child Protection Training Center Executive Director Dr. Jennifer Parker explained how the mock house can be used.
“We set this up in a milder stage to help home visitors coming into a home be able to look for what are healthy signs of child development and then what are some risk factors that we need to be concerned about,” said Parker.
Inside of The Mock House you’ll find a typical house set-up and filled with what could be considered tell-tail signs. The house is the only one of its kind in the area, but if you take a closer look at things in peoples homes, what you see, tells a story.
This home training center covers what to look for in every room in a house, from things to pay attention to in rooms like the kitchen, all the way to child and adult bedrooms.
The training is open to anyone, especially those around children, socially and professionally.
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People like Emily Miller, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center in Spartanburg, step in when a child is being taken out of a home.
“We know that when we turn 18 we don’t just enter into adulthood with a clean slate but we bring our childhood experiences with us, and they shape us,” Miller said.
The Child Advocacy Center provides counselors and medical treatments if necessary for children who need it.
The mock home provides training for those on the front lines advocating for children’s safety.
“Bringing this awareness to improve our system, to improve our community awareness, then we can put the prevention in place,” Parker said.
All Spartanburg school districts send their staff through training at the center, so they’re able to recognize what’s going on with their students.
Children respond to traumatic situations in different ways.
When they come into the classroom, they bring their experiences. Sometimes kids are hungry, sometimes they’re sleepy, sometimes they’re scared or lonely.
That is when adults should ask the child questions instead of punishing the actions. Asking a few questions, instead of punishment could go a long way to finding a resolution and helping that child.
