12 youth- and family-serving organizations participated in the National Council for Behavioral
Health’s year-long Trauma-Informed Care Learning Community. The National Council identified
seven domains of trauma-informed care, and each of the organizations in the Learning
Community were encouraged to pick two to three domains to make internal improvements.
The seven domains of trauma-informed care are:
1) Early Screening & Assessment: Develop a respectful screening and assessment that is
routine, competently done, culturally relevant, and sensitive
2) Consumer Voice Choice and Advocacy: Involve and engage people who are or have
been recipients of our services to play numerous roles, and meaningfully participate in
planning, implementation and evaluation
3) Workforce Development: Increase awareness, knowledge, skills of the entire workforce
to deliver services that are effective, efficient, timely, respectful, and person-centered
4) Evidence-Based and Emerging Best Practices: Increase awareness, knowledge and skills
of the clinical workforce to deliver research informed treatment services that address
effects associated with trauma, including cognitive, emotional, behavioral, substance
use, and physical problems
5) Safe and Secure Environments: Increase the awareness, knowledge, and skills of the
workforce to create environments that are safe, trusting, and healing. Examine and
change policies, procedures, and practices that may unintentionally case distress and retraumatize those we serve.
6) Community Outreach and Partnership Building: Recognize that the people we serve are
part of and affected by other systems including housing, corrections, courts, primary
health, emergency care, social services, education, and treatment environments
7) Performance Monitoring and Evaluation: Ensure a system is in place to measure
performance in each domain; Track, analyze, and review data to address challenges
and/or reinforce progress; Empower a standing work group of key stakeholders to
sustain a continuous organizational focus on trauma-informed care.
The organizations in the Learning Community conducted an Organizational Self-Assessment ©
(OSA) at the beginning of the Learning Community and at the end of the Learning Community.
Per the National Council, the OSA is designed primarily as a performance improvement
resource to increase an organization’s awareness of the key components of a trauma-informed
care organization and to engage in a self-reflective process that assists them in identifying what
they need to: 1) keep doing and reinforcing, 2) stop doing and, 3) start doing, in order to
advance their efforts to become a continually improving trauma-informed care organization.
Scoring the OSA is based on a five point scale, ranging from 0 to 4:
0 = we don’t meet this standard at all
1 = we minimally meet this standard
2 = we partially meet this standard
3 = we mostly meet this standard
4= we are exemplary in meeting this standard (we have much to offer other grantees)