The purpose of this grant program is to support community-based organizations that have experienced a negative economic impact as a result of the COVID pandemic. Because these impacts so often resulted in CBOs prioritizing spending on direct services and staffing, and because the pandemic resulted in widespread collective traumas, this program emphasizes the development of trauma-informed spaces.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) concept of a trauma-informed approach, “A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed:
- Realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery;
- Recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system;
- Responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and
- Seeks to actively resist re-traumatization.”
A trauma-informed approach can be implemented in any type of service setting or organization and is distinct from trauma- specific interventions or treatments that are designed to address the consequences of trauma. A trauma informed approach reflects adherence to six key principles rather than a prescribed set of practices or procedures. These principles may be generalizable across multiple types of settings, although terminology and application may be setting or sector specific:
- Safety
- Trustworthiness and transparency
- Peer support
- Collaboration and mutuality
- Empowerment, voice and choice
- Cultural, historical, and gender issues
From SAMHSA’s perspective, it is critical to promote the linkage to recovery and resilience for those individuals and families impacted by trauma. Consistent with SAMHSA’s definition of recovery, services and supports that are trauma informed build on the best evidence available and prioritize consumer and family engagement, empowerment, and collaboration (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) series 57. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4801. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014).
As health, housing, and human services agencies in Fairfax County move towards a trauma-informed approach to service delivery, several have taken on formal organizational assessment processes to help guide the work at the agency level. An organizational assessment is a strategic and systematic examination of policies, procedures and practices, and an important component of any organizational assessment is the thoughtful examination of the physical spaces that we use to deliver our services.
In 2016, the Fairfax County Trauma-Informed Community Network (TICN) developed the Trauma-Informed Spaces Facility Review Checklist to assist TICN member organizations in examining the facilities used to deliver services using a trauma- informed perspective. Since that time, several agencies and organizations have used the tool and the recommendations generated by the process to make improvements to their spaces. Organizations have approached the work in different ways—using a combination of coordination with internal facility management staff, partnerships with business sector partners, agency dollars, and staff passion and creativity to modify spaces. The TICN is now presenting this opportunity to supplement those strategies to make targeted improvements to priority spaces for county agencies, community-based organizations, small businesses, and others serving the Fairfax community.
We want our facilities to:
- Promote a sense of safety, calming, and de-escalation for clients and staff;
- Recognize that there may be aspects of the physical environment that are re-traumatizing, and work to develop strategies such as policies, procedures, and practices to manage that;
- Provide space that both staff and clients, consumers or participants can use to practice self-care;
- Keep the safety of both staff and clients, consumers or participants in mind; and
- Tightly guard client, consumer, or participant confidentiality.
