A “trauma-informed approach” puts students' behavior and performance in the context of their home lives and the trauma. Experts say it's part of the answer to reduce high rates of chronic absenteeism, which occurs in schools everywhere but is especially prevalent in rural areas.
The state's highest rates of chronic absenteeism are in rural areas.
Harm reduction seeks not to shame people who use drugs into giving them up, but simply to provide them with the tools and support to improve their health.
This story was produced as a project for the 2018 California Fellowship, a program of the Center for Health Journalism at USC Annenberg.
