TRAUMA INFORMED CARE

AT OUR CHILDREN’S TRUST

Our Children’s Trust is committed to utilizing trauma-informed care in every aspect of our work. Our unique trauma-informed model addresses climate anxiety and institutional betrayal by giving youth agency through litigation and advocacy.

What is Climate Anxiety?

In a 2024 climate emotions survey, 85% of people age 16-25 identified as being ‘moderately worried’ about climate change, with 57% identifying as very or extremely worried. 

This is climate anxiety: stress or worry due to climate change. Young people everywhere are feeling this, whether they’re anticipating natural disasters near their home, watching nature deteriorate around them, considering whether they want to bring children of their own into this world, or even fearing whether their own future is viable.

This worry is compounded by “institutional betrayal” — youth feeling that adults and government systems have failed them by failing to act in response to climate change.

Climate Action: The Solution to Climate Anxiety

A variety of mental health approaches are necessary for wrap-around care of an individual. Our model approaches from a new angle: addressing systemic causes.

We give youth a platform to not only have their worries seen and heard, but to become a catalyst of change in lasting, systemic change through the judicial system.

Meaningful participation in litigation is healing.

While most interventions treat symptoms after harm. We embed mental health into systemic advocacy—proving that civic engagement can be therapy

We empower youth to directly challenge the systems that cause their distress through constitutional litigation

Win or lose, youth participating move from helplessness to agency while receiving trauma-informed support throughout the process

Allows youth to become co-creators of solutions

Our model is not a replacement for therapy, but an evolving solution for a growing problem

Trauma-Informed Care

We provide trauma-informed care with our partner, Alvarado Consulting & Treatment Group.

MEET JULES

Jules is an internationally recognized healing expert in the area of trauma, relationship, employee well-being and organizational success. Her work has been taught in more than 15 countries, and to 10s of 1000s people. As the president and Sr. Clinical Consultant of Alvarado Consulting and Treatment Group, she offers neuroscience and mindfully based consultation for state departments, judicial branches, agencies, and families internationally.

Jules works with Our Children’s Trust staff, youth plaintiffs, and their families on a regular basis.

Trauma-Informed Care in Every Aspect of Our Work

In partnership with Alvarado Consulting and Treatment Group, Our Children’s Trust integrates sustainable, trauma-informed tools and practices that support youth, their families and staff in building lifelong resilience, strengthening emotional regulation, and cultivating healthier ways to cope and heal, individually and collectively. We embrace trauma-informed care at every level.

Youth Centric Services

  • Tailored cohort sessions for youth plaintiffs to foster a trauma-sensitive relationship between plaintiffs and their legal team

  • On-site trauma-informed support at trial locations to address the unique needs of plaintiffs and their families

Staff Centric Services

  • Periodic staff coaching sessions addressing secondary trauma, stress management, and staff well-being

  • Individual coaching to support staff resilience, with crisis response availability and onboarding for new staff

  • Leadership coaching for our executive team, enhancing their capacity for change management and long-term organizational health

Organization Centric Services

  • Trauma-Informed Care training sessions for staff, focusing on secondary trauma relief, trauma-sensitive communications, and law practice foundations

  • On-site and virtual training to ensure consistent application of trauma-informed principles across the organization

  • YOUTH PLAINTIFF TESTIMONIES

    “Activism is my medicine. It is the tool that lets me feel okay about the state of the world. It is taking action, exactly like solving this root cause. Like we can learn these grounding techniques. We can learn regulation, and those are so important—I am so grateful for regulating my emotions and being able to calm my climate despair and my climate anxiety. But the only real solution to my emotions is climate justice.” - Olivia Vesovich, Held v. Montana

  • YOUTH PLAINTIFF TESTIMONIES

    "Being on the stand was really empowering -- telling my story, getting it out into the world like that was almost healing." - Jorja McCormick, Lighthiser v. Trump

  • YOUTH PLAINTIFF TESTIMONIES

    “When we were sitting in that conference room in the hotel in the circle, that was really nice and we shared our feelings about the case and why we were doing it, and I felt powerful.” - Jeff,  Lighthiser v. Trump

The Tow Foundation has awarded Our Children’s Trust with a three-year grant to advance our unique mental health support for young people. We are honored to receive this grant from the 2025 Innovation Fund, and are looking forward to continuing to support and heal the climate anxiety of youth through climate action.

We are Innovation Fund grant recipients

RESOURCES