The saying goes, “time heals all wounds.” But that amount of time is different for everyone, and sometimes some wounds aren’t mended completely, though the individual has learned to deal with the lingering effects of a tragic, emotional event through counseling and therapy.
The 20 young students who were on the school bus of Charles Poland, Jr., the day he was fatally shot by an intruder experienced something no one ever really thinks could ever — would ever — happen to them. They witnessed the fatal shooting of a person they grew close to, their school bus driver, who was feet away from them while the shooting occurred on the bus, and fearing for their own lives. That’s a lot trauma even for an adult.
The circumstances during this incident were extraordinary, which is why the counseling and therapy services provided to these students, and their families, also were extraordinary. Though extensive counseling services were provided to a group who was most impacted by the incident, this process also helped heal the ripple effect wounds in the small rural community of Midland, Ala. If those students could heal and/or learn how to deal with their experience and move on, then so could the community.
A YEAR OF COUNSELING
On the night of the Jan. 30, 2013, incident, a fire department representative talked with Donny Bynum, superintendent of Dale County Schools, about trauma intervention for the students, and how school employees would also need counseling. That rep gave Bynum a contact that ended up providing the initial counseling. The district set up a time for the students, their parents and relatives.
“The first counseling happened two days after the incident in a very private meeting. The students met for two hours with a professional trauma debriefing team,” Bynum explained, and noted that this initial meeting was “monumental.”
The trauma debriefing team also met with Bynum, administrative staff and school counselors to form a plan on what to look for in students and others as well as the community on what to assess. Then the bus drivers were brought in for counseling.
At this point, Bynum said he was bombarded with counseling agencies that could provide further, extended and regular counseling to the students and their families.
“I was just dumbfounded at the number of emails and contacts [we received]. We didn’t know which way to turn,” Bynum said.
Having a strong local district attorney’s office in the area, a representative from that office as well as from the FBI directed Bynum to the Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center, which has an extensive background in crisis and trauma counseling.
Once the center was involved, the first directive was preparing a safe place for the kidnapped boy, Ethan, once he was rescued, said Executive Director Sheryl Walker. “We were on standby,” she added. Her concern didn’t end there. After meeting with Bynum and law enforcement, they began working on a plan for when the students would return and had counselors on staff to answer questions.
COMMUNITY EFFORT
The agency officially entered the scene the week following the incident, and began in-depth counseling to students and their families a week after that. The team consisted of three professional counselors, with Walker as the supervisor. The affected students attended three different schools; so one counselor was assigned to each school.
The team provided individual and group counseling, which began at night, but wasn’t a good scheduling situation for all the families involved. So Walker and the counselors decided to visit the schools one day in the week for the remainder of the school year.
The counseling meetings continued throughout the summer and into the new school year. The agency’s counselors went into schools for group counseling sessions, utilizing trauma-focused and cognitive-based counseling.
Walker noted that the counseling was based on each student’s needs and his or her past experiences. “Some of these children already had difficult situations going on in their lives even before this event,” said Walker.
She mentioned as an example one girl who had experienced another traumatic event while on a school bus years before this incident. The girl, when she was in the fifth grade, was riding a school bus — on the same route — when the bus flipped over.
“The little girl had a meltdown,” said Walker. “She and her mother came in every week. She had flashbacks on the past experience. We’re trying to help these children understand they did a great job.”
Without funding, the agency would not have been able to counsel the students for the entire year. But thanks to a grant from the Office of Justice Programs, it was able to offer its services through the 2013 fiscal year. The Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) for Crime Victim Assistance Program, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, offers funding streams for timely relief for immediate and ongoing victim assistance services to qualifying applicants. Crisis counseling is one example of community uses for AEAP funding, as is emergency transportation and travel.
“We also provided some in-service for teachers and some trauma-focused techniques with children. Also some in-service for the children,” she said.
As the agency offers training, it brought into the schools national trainers to talk about trauma. Trauma-focused techniques were also taught to parents on how to help their children deal with the aftermath.
POSITIVE OUTCOMES
Bynum said the agency’s counselors had a roundtable session during the summer to brief him on the students’ progress. They reported they were happy with what they saw, Bynum explained. In addition to formal, structured counseling, the counselors also took the students and their families on outings and held special events for them — a lot of out-of-the-box practices to help bring back some normalcy into their lives.
Bynum said one of the female students later in the year became the county’s spelling bee winner. He also said Ethan, the boy who was kidnapped, was “doing great” and “is flourishing.” And the 15-year-old boy who made the 911 call while on the bus moved back to Jacksonville, N.C., and is also doing well, according to reports Bynum received from his grandparents who live in Midland.
“Our main focus was to get the message out there that we are here and we want to assess the needs of the students, staff and community,” Bynum said.
