When Systems Fail with Paula Yost

Paula Yost joins TraumaTies to discuss her journey as an attorney and court advocate for children. She speaks about her speciality in intersectional legal and social work and how, without effective systems, it takes a community to support children. Paula intertwines her personal experience and the many challenges children face under our current systems with her trauma-informed practices.

Key Takeaways

• Personal experiences influence how we see the world; for Paula, her family history led to her wanting to support children and future generations.
• Learning about trauma and mental health is critical for attorneys to understand their clients’ needs.
• System failures mean becoming fiercer advocates for children, even if others don’t share the same belief in the child as their communities.
• Legal and social workers have the power to re-align meetings and processes to better support children; disruption can be a powerful tool for creating successful foundations.
• Changing outcomes for a child to heal from trauma should always be the goal in legal and social work.

Resources Mentioned

• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Tumbleweeds: How to be an Advocate for Your Children and Yourself in a Failing System by Paula Yost

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Brought to you by Volare, TraumaTies: Untangling Societal Harm & Healing After Crime is a podcast that creates space and conversations to dissect the structural and systemic knots that keep us from addressing trauma.

Rooted in a belief that survivors of crime deserve respect for their dignity in the aftermath of victimization, Volare seeks to empower survivors by informing them of all of the options available and working to transform existing response systems to be more inclusive of the diverse needs that survivors often have after crime.

Volare also provides free, holistic, and comprehensive advocacy, therapeutic, and legal services to survivors of all crime types. Visit our website to learn more about how to access our trauma-informed education training and how to partner with us to expand survivor-defined justice.