Dr. Jeremy Richman, his wife, Jennifer Hensel, and Nelba Marquez-Greene, all of them parents of children murdred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, share their insights and requests for future protocols to Gov. Dannel Malloy’s appointed Sandy Hook Advisory Commission. The commission consists of law enforcement, mental health and education professionals attempting to develop responses and care for victims of tragedy
Three Sandy Hook Elementary School parents of children murdered in the school 23 months ago gave riveting testimony, complete with videos of their dancing, smiling six-year-old daughter’s faces, before the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission established by Gov. Dannel Malloy soon after the tragedy occurred.
The panel of 16 law enforcement, mental health and educational experts were clearly moved by the call to create a “triage protocol” intended to protect other families who might incur other acts of violence, or even natural catastrophe, so that victims’ families are considered first and foremost throughout whatever investigations and responses follow. Chairman Scott Jackson, the mayor of Hamden, assured the parents that their final reports will take into account the wishes of these families, and that their testimony throughout their proceedings has had a great impact on what proposals they will make.
A final report is not expected to be completed until late December or early January, he said.
The chaos of Dec. 14, 2012 left the families without the necessary supports and communication, and they were also besieged by unscrupulous media because there were no formal boundaries that would have allowed for privacy, the parents said.
The outpouring of care from the community was clearly appreciated, but some of the coordination of those efforts, and the voices of the families, was not considered as they should have been. Even the best intentions can go awry when victims and survivors’ needs are not considered, or at the very least are not solicited, parents said.
Be it the generous financial donations, sch0larships, grants, as well as delivery of therapeutic and other community services, these parents said the first voices that should have been consulted were the families most impacted.
Dr. Jeremy Richman, and his wife, Jennifer Hensel, whose daughter, Avielle, was killed that day, said they learned only two weeks ago that a case worker was assigned to them soon after the shootings occurred. Somehow that information was lost in the midst of their grief, and his wife stated the despair that comes with these situations requires more than well-intended emails and phone calls. Those assigned to help, and they should be trained trauma personnel, need to be knocking on the doors and helping the families navigate the systems and organizations in place to benefit them, she noted.
The long-term mental health care of these families, and their surviving children, needs to continue to be a part of all community conversations, and trained professionals need to be deployed to manage what will be long-term needs, said parent Nelba Marquez-Greene, a licensed therapist, mother of victim Ana Grace.
The mantra of these families was that though this tragedy reverberates through the community, the parents, siblings, spouses and children live this every day. Their wishes, and ongoing needs, should drive the community response, and this experience should help inform local, state and national policies in the future.
“We own this tragedy first,” Greene declared.