{"id":26862,"date":"2020-08-31T19:18:07","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T23:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2020\/08\/31\/new-certificate-program-trains-professionals-to-deal-with-childhood-trauma\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:51:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:51:57","slug":"new-certificate-program-trains-professionals-to-deal-with-childhood-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/08\/31\/new-certificate-program-trains-professionals-to-deal-with-childhood-trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"New Certificate Program Trains Professionals to Deal with Childhood Trauma"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Woman<\/a>

Amy Ackroyd, Merrimack Valley area director for Children’s Friend and Family Services, and a member of the college’s human services advisory committee.<\/p><\/div>\n

Working with children and families who have experienced trauma is extremely sensitive and challenging, and there\u2019s an incredibly high demand for professionals with those specialized skills.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Northern Essex Community College is launching its new Children’s Behavioral Health Specialist certificat<\/a>e, a 19-credit Human Services program. The certificate, will equip students with\u00a0the skills needed to work with children and families who are experiencing family violence, divorce\/separation, parental incarceration, mental health issues, substance use, poverty, bullying, or physical, mental, or sexual abuse. The first courses in the program will be offered this fall.<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s genesis began with a real community need, which was brought to the college\u2019s attention by Amy Ackroyd, LICSW. She\u2019s on the college\u2019s human services advisory committee and is the Merrimack Valley Area Director for Children’s Friend and Family Services, a division of the nonprofit agency\u00a0Justice Resource Institute.<\/p>\n

Ackroyd approached the college about developing a certificate program that would help students move into one of two roles within the agency:\u00a0therapeutic mentor and family partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really are filling a gap,\u201d says\u00a0Brian MacKenna-Rice, coordinator of the human services programs and associate professor at NECC.<\/p>\n

This kind of community partnership fits exactly with NECC\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a community college,\u201d says\u00a0MacKenna-Rice. \u201cThat, by definition, means we should be serving the community as best we can, and community partnerships are really a living example of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because there\u2019s a 150-hour internship built into the certificate program requirements\u2014and many students will do their internships with Children’s Friend and Family Services or other agencies in need of people with this kind of training\u2014the program will provide a pipeline of qualified employees who will likely get hired upon its completion.<\/p>\n

In addition, the program offers an opportunity for local agencies to bolster their existing employees\u2019 skills and credentials.<\/p>\n

The certificate program also has to potential to be the catalyst for students to pursue a human services education.\u00a0MacKenna-Rice says that it was intentionally built to be\u00a0fully\u00a0transferable into an associate\u2019s degree program, and that the majority\u2014upwards of 80%\u2014of NECC students who earn their associate\u2019s degree in human services go on to receive their bachelor\u2019s or master\u2019s degrees as well.<\/p>\n

In addition, he says the certificate program gives students \u201caccess to school, a starting point.\u00a0A solid, fixed foundation to begin an education,\u201d which is especially helpful for students who are new to the United States. Since employees who are bilingual and bicultural are already such an asset for agencies in communities like Lawrence and Haverhill, such a program can open the door to even more opportunities.<\/p>\n

Ackroyd agrees, saying that the program can start people on a rewarding career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just creating that momentum of hope for those who never thought they would go to school, who never thought there would ever be an opportunity,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Northern Essex offers an Associate Degree in Human Services<\/a> as well as certificates in alcohol\/drug abuse counseling,<\/a> children\u2019s behavioral health specialist, community support human services practitioner,<\/a> and direct support<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To learn more, contact MacKenna-Rice at bmackennarice@necc.mass.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers\u00a0approximately\u00a060\u00a0associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.\u00a0 Each year,\u00a06,000\u00a0students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and\u00a0another 2,000\u00a0take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.\u00a0 For more information, visit the website at\u00a0www.necc.mass.edu\u00a0or call 978-556-3700.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Northern Essex is launching a new certificate program to prepare professionals to deal with childhood trauma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":26864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Certificate Program Trains Professionals to Deal with Childhood Trauma - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/08\/31\/new-certificate-program-trains-professionals-to-deal-with-childhood-trauma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Certificate Program Trains Professionals to Deal with Childhood Trauma - 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