I recently spoke with Amber Wolfrom, former Deputy Director of ADAMHS Board of Hancock County.  Hancock County began an intensive focus in August of 2014 to create a trauma-informed community.  Working with the National Council on Behavioral Health, the group identified the following 5 goals as the targets of their year-long project:

1. Early Screening and Assessment of Trauma – To develop a respectful screening and assessment process that is routine, competently administered, culturally relevant and sensitive, and revisited over time.
2. Consumer Driven Care and Services – To involve and engage people who are or have been recipients of our services to play numerous roles (e.g., paid employee, volunteer, members of decision making committees, peer specialists) and meaningfully participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating our improvement efforts.
3. Trauma-Informed Educated and Responsive Workforce – To increase the awareness, knowledge and skills of the entire workforce to deliver services that are effective, efficient, timely, respectful, and person-centered, taking into consideration that service providers may also have histories of trauma.
4. Provision of Trauma-Informed, Evidence Based, and Emerging Best Practices – To increase the awareness, knowledge and skills of the clinical workforce in delivering research-informed treatment services designed to address the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, substance use, and physical problems associated with trauma.
5. Create a Safe and Secure Environment – To increase the awareness, knowledge and skills of the workforce to create a safe, trusting and healing environment as well as examine and changing policies, procedures, and practices that may unintentionally cause distress or re-traumatize those we serve.

I asked Amber how Hancock County has continued the trauma-informed message.  Realizing that the trauma lens is essential to providing quality services to people, it could not be forgotten after the year was up. 

Amber shared a variety of ways that trauma-informed care has been kept alive in Hancock County. Every agency has had yearly refresher trainings to continue to keep trauma-informed care at the forefront of their minds.  This also ensures that new staff are trained as they enter employment.  A “No Wrong Door” training is offered twice a year, which assists employees in areas of customer engagement, de-escalation skills, and includes a brief piece on trauma-informed care.  A Home Visitor Safety Training, put on by the police department, has been combined with a trauma-informed care training to help community-based workers keep themselves safe while meeting the needs of their clients in the field.  And the media is contacted and invited to various events which helps to make the community aware of the trauma-informed message as well.

The trauma-informed care movement is a continuous journey of educating, outreach, and maintaining the enthusiasm and dedication to this essential piece of service delivery to the individuals with whom we are privileged to work.