Jane's bid to help traumatised children

A Liverpool headteacher is being supported by LJMU’s Public Health Institute to research new ways to help people marked by childhood trauma.

Jane Pepa, who says that adverse childhood experiences can impact an individual for life, wants to help professionals who work with children to be better prepared.

As a teacher in a specialist mental health school, Jane has written and delivered training to people from nurseries, primary, secondary and special education, as well as police, housing and social workers and therapists.

And by studying for a PhD with LJMU’s Professor Zara Quigg, Nadia Butler and Dr Jane Harris, she is aiming to enhance the limited evidence base in how agencies can help youngsters with such backgrounds.

In 2020, a breakthrough came when she successfully obtained Winston Churchill Fellowship funding to learn more about what other countries are doing to develop trauma-informed practices, and to bring this knowledge back to the UK.

Now, following a four-year work programme including visits to meet partners from Norway (Oslo) and the USA (New York, San Francisco, Dallas), Jane has successfully completed the fellowship to become a Winston Churchill Fellow.

The Churchill Fellowship is a UK charity which supports individual UK citizens to follow their passion for change, through learning from the world and bringing that knowledge back to the UK.

The charity says that Jane’s research will aid the development and impact of trauma-informed practice training across the UK.

She says: “Together we are planning a conference to bring everyone, both professionals and parents, to continue to develop connections and ongoing discussion on how to bring the community together.”

LJMU’s Public Health Institute is a pioneer in the field of Adverse Childhood Experiences and their mitigation, led by Professor Zara Quigg and Professor Mark Bellis.

Read more about Jane’s fellowship work programme.