AIR’s Framework for Building Trauma-Informed Organizations and Systems

Record Description
This document by the American Institute for Research offers a process and curriculum for adopting organizational trauma-informed care to support organizations serving vulnerable children, adults, and families to become trauma-informed. The framework outlined includes a four-phased approach that can be applied to organizations and systems of various size and structure. Phases cover: the exploration of organizational needs; installation of the infrastructure needed to communicate, monitor, and evaluate progress; implementation of customized training and coaching to support trauma-informed care; and full adoption and sustainability of practices.
Record Type
Combined Date
2015-12-31T19:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
SFS Category
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2016-01-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Does Employment-Related Resilience Affect the Relationship between Childhood Adversity, Community Violence, and Depression?

Record Description
This article, which appeared in the Journal of Urban Health, takes data from the Building Wealth and Health Network Randomized Controlled Trial Pilot and examines the relationship between employment resilience and exposure to violence and depression for TANF families. The associations were found to be mixed, and implications for working with TANF families are given.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-01-19T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2017-01-20
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

The Opioid Epidemic and Socioeconomic Disadvantage

Record Description
This issue brief from the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison explores the connection between opioid abuse and economic disadvantage within the research. It highlights the statistics that show that the opioid crisis has grown over the last several years and offers several suggestions for future research.
Record Type
Combined Date
2018-02-28T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2018-03-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)
Innovative Programs

Building Wealth and Health Network

Mission/Goal of Program
The Building Wealth and Health Network pilots a trauma-informed approach to peer support and financial empowerment. Network cohort members meet regularly to discuss goal setting, financial management, and other topics that foster resilience and empowerment. The Building Wealth and Health Network pilots a trauma-informed approach to peer support and financial empowerment. Network cohort members meet regularly to discuss goal setting, financial management, and other topics that foster resilience and empowerment. The Building Wealth and Health Network (The Network) is a 5-year research study that began in July 2014. They plan to enroll a total of 750 TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) customers, and conduct a quantitative analysis looking at survey data results from the 750 TANF customers from their program (the intervention group) and 750 TANF customers that are in other mandatory Employment and Training programs (the control group). The long-term goal of The Network is to improve maternal and child health and family self-sufficiency among TANF customers.
Programs/Services Offered

The concept of peer support is paramount in the Network, which brings together a group of people who have shared experiences so they can tap into each other and stimulate resilience, personal growth, recovery, and well-being. What ties trauma-informed practice and financial empowerment components is the concept of SELF – Safety, Emotional management, Loss and letting go, and developing a sense of Future. Through the 16-session Financial SELF Empowerment curriculum, a SELF empowerment coach and a financial empowerment coach guide group discussion related to finances, employment, family, and community. 

In addition to learning money management techniques and problem-solving skills, Network members also share their knowledge, experience, and support with each other. They share information and opportunities, such as a diaper bank or a job fair that is occurring. There is also an asset-building component to the program: members save money each month towards their individual life goals, and their savings are matched $1:$1, which helps them build a nest egg for investment faster than they otherwise could. The matching funds come from grant funding. 

Addressing and healing individuals’ trauma is where the safety, emotions, and loss parts come in, and goal setting and building new financial opportunities is where the future is born. “People who have experienced trauma can have a hard time creating individual goals and being able to stick to them, or even to thinking that they have a future. The savings account is a future-oriented type of experience, and it's experiential, where people can start to invest in their future,” says Dr. Mariana Chilton, the Network’s founder. At the start of each cohort, they set group goals for saving and track their collective progress towards those goals, so everyone is invested in the group’s success. 

Local TANF offices refer potential participants to the Network program and their participation in the group sessions count towards their TANF work requirement. Participants are referred to as members and remain members of the Network even after they complete the sessions. The program hosts quarterly meetings of its Network member advisory council with members who have completed the program, who advise on programming changes, marketing and recruitment, and expansion.

Start Date
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Type of Agency/Organization
University
City
Philadelphia
State
Pennsylvania
Geographic Reach
Onesite
Clientele/Population Served
Work-mandatory TANF participants
Topics/Subtopics
Family Strengthening
Two-Generation Approaches
Asset Building
Individual Development Accounts
Supportive Services
Health/Behavioral Health Referrals and Supports
Special Populations
Domestic Violence Survivors
TANF Program Administration
Collaborations and Partnerships

The Unprecedented Opioid Epidemic

Record Description
Prepared by the Police Executive Research Forum, this report looks at the opioid epidemic from the perspective of police, sheriffs, and health agencies and how these agencies can step up their response to the crisis. City law enforcement officials detail specific actions that police chiefs and sheriffs across the country can take. The report looks at the role of the police in getting addicted people into treatment; identifies how to teach communities about addiction risks; and looks at a New York City data-driven collaborative model that brings together multiple agencies to look at specific opioid crisis issues and determine resolution for those issues with the ultimate goal of reducing drug overdoses.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-08-31T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2017-09-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

ACF Family Room Blog: Rising to the Opioid Challenge

Record Description
This article, from the director of the Office of Family Assistance (OFA), discusses OFA’s response to the opioid crisis. OFA is targeting the hardest hit communities and focusing on the economic impact on low- income families. They are hosting workshops on community-based solutions, collaborating with other agencies, and meeting with workforce development partners to help alleviate the barriers to family self-sufficiency that can be caused by opiate use and addiction.
Record Type
Combined Date
2018-03-21T20:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2018-03-22
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Trauma-Informed Care and Why It Matters

Record Description
This web article from Psychology Today looks at how we are falling short in treating trauma victims and what we can do to fix it. The article addresses how coping mechanisms for post-trauma are poorly understood even by those in the best situation to provide assistance, and that it is important to understand that victims of trauma might not always react or behave as one might expect. It further suggests that many factors including public education, early identification, and effective trauma treatment are necessary to break the cycle of violence, and that we need to intensify and expand the availability of trauma-informed care. Various examples of trauma are illustrated, along with how victims react differently and often unexpectedly to trauma, and that just because someone might not show a lack of emotion, it does not mean they have not been abused. Without shattering the myths that limit the understanding of trauma victims, providers will not be able to deliver assistance effectively.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-07-05T20:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
SFS Category
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2017-07-06
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Transformational Relationships for Youth Success

Record Description
This brief by the Center for the Study of Social Policy and supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation is based on more than 80 interviews with organizations, their workers, and the youth that they support. The intent of the brief is to generate and share knowledge that is useful in dealing with youth that face serious challenges. Findings include that when youth face serious adversity, the relationship they establish with a worker is often incremental. The report looks at these “transitional relationships,” what workers actually do to forge successful relationships with the youth, and what their organizations do to create a culture for the workers to succeed. Interviewees for this report are between 16-25 years old and have faced serious challenges including child welfare involvement, substance abuse, and homelessness. Workers interviewed are leaders of organizations noted for their exemplary work and who have repeatedly formed bonds and relationships with such youth.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-12-31T19:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
SFS Category
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2018-01-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

OFA Webinar: Opioid Use Disorder, Treatment, and Barriers to Employment Among TANF Recipients

Record Description
The Office of Family Assistance hosted a webinar entitled “Opioid Use Disorder, Treatment, and Barriers to Employment Among TANF Recipients” on March 29, 2018. Opioid use disorder in the United States has skyrocketed since 2010, yet little contemporary research has been conducted on this surge’s effects on the TANF population. Existing research about the opioid crisis primarily focuses on its impact on the general population, while TANF-centered studies almost exclusively examine general substance use. Moreover, research shows opioid and substance use disorders pose significant barriers to employment for low-income individuals. Such an information gap makes it difficult to properly address TANF recipients’ needs for effective opioid use treatment. This interactive webinar explored how opioid use disorder affects TANF recipients and TANF-eligible individuals, as well as emerging strategies for assessing and treating these populations.
Record Type
Combined Date
2018-03-29T10:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

The MOMS Partnership™

Record Description
The New Haven Mental Health Outreach for MotherS (MOMS) Partnership™ is a collaboration of agencies across the city of New Haven, Connecticut that work together to support the well-being of mothers and families living in the city. This partnership created a social media application called “MoMba™,” which connects new mothers locally to promote healthy mother-infant interaction, social connectedness, and community engagement. New mothers may feel socially isolated after giving birth, thereby making it more difficult to form a healthy mother-infant bond with their baby. The application focuses on promotion of social support and capital, maternal-infant attachment, and skill building related to parenting. Representatives of the collaboration shared an overview on how this application harnesses technology to enhance social capital among low-income mothers at the September 2015 OFA Gateway to Opportunity convening.
Record Type
Combined Date
2017-12-31T19:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2018-01-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)