La Crosse County Human Services holds discussion about children’s security

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — Children were the focus of a community discussion at the Black River Beach Neighborhood Center in La Crosse.

The ‘Circle of Security’ discussion was hosted by La Crosse County Human Services.

The focus was to train professionals who work with children how to be more empathetic and how to reinforce behaviors without punishment.

Some of the speakers also talked about how some children are often labeled in negative ways when they may be having trouble dealing with personal problems.

“How can we figure out whether the kids are actually suffering from these diagnoses and they’re true or whether they’re just misdiagnosed because they’ve gone through all these traumatic experiences and a secure parent attachment is not there,” said Sarah Smith, a volunteer with the CASA program.

Practitioners were also being trained to teach others in the La Crosse area how to be resilient and how to raise children who are resilient.