EQ2: Staff Support

The EQ2 app provides real time support and coaching to staff working with trauma-impacted youth in residential care, juvenile justice, or other out-of-home placements. Working in these settings can be extremely challenging, and secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and turnover are common, particularly for staff with their own trauma histories or who do not receive adequate training and supervision. The app includes a range of tools to inspire, train, and expand the knowledge and skills of those working with children and adolescents who have experienced significant adversity. The app includes a daily emotional check-in to increase staff awareness of their mood and stress level. Based on the valence of the user's response, the app sends curated responses with the goal of helping staff become calmer and more regulated prior to engaging with youth. The daily check-in feature also reinforces the understanding that emotions are contagious and how staff emotionally "show up" impacts their fellow staff, the youth they serve, and the larger emotional climate of the agency. The app also allows staff to select weekly work-related goals from a list of research-based behaviors shown to support the social and emotional well-being of trauma-impacted youth. Once a staff selects a goal, a list of tips, strategies and learning resources is generated to help staff achieve those goals. Goals are tracked over the course of the week and feedback is given based on user report of whether the goals were achieved. Users are also given the opportunity to set an "intention for the day." These intentions reflect qualities and characteristic linked to fostering positive relationships with youth. Users are then given a daily quote that reinforces key themes, concepts, and skills from the EQ2 program. These quotes, reflecting best practices in youth-centered care, are designed to support and motivate users prior to their shifts. Embedded in the Practice Section are a wide-range of guided visualizations, mindfulness meditations, and relaxation exercises – some specifically designed to address the unique aspects of working with trauma-impacted youth and others focused on more global aspects of stress-reduction and self-care. Mindfulness has been shown to help individuals manage high-stress environments more effectively, thereby reducing burnout, turnover, and secondary traumatic stress. The mindfulness features on the app also provide scaffolding for supervisors needing additional support in facilitating these practices with staff. The Learn Section of the app offers instructional videos that that correspond to the 6 modules of the EQ2 program. These includes content on how to become an effective emotion coach; understanding the impact of trauma on the youth brain and typical trauma responses; building reparative relationships and exploring our own default patterns of caregiving; preventing crisis; and repairing relationships with youth and co-workers. The animated instructional videos also reinforce key staff self-regulations skills. The app also contains 4 animated videos for staff to watch with youth that are designed to teach youth key concepts and skills from Lionheart's evidence-based youth program, Power Source. Lastly, the EQ2 app is designed to be used as a resource to provide high-quality, structured supervision to direct care staff. The animated videos depicting coaching skills, concepts, or strategies can be played during group or individual supervision or given as "homework" to reinforce skills outside of supervision. The app also offers a vehicle to "onboard" new staff both in terms of skills acquisition and the qualities associated with the role of direct care workers. As the EQ2 app is available on demand, staff can learn at their own pace and review information as needed. Additionally, the app provides learners with the opportunity to mark skills as "favorites," allowing users to curate material that supports their learning most effectively.