Hi all & happy 2018!

Our Greater Richmond TICN formed a Trauma-Informed Legal/Courts Committee two years ago with the intention of bringing a focus to professionals within the disciplines related to legal/courts (law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, sheriffs, judges, clerks, probation/parole officers, detention center staff).  We know that these professionals are exposed to primary, secondary and vicarious trauma on a regular basis and acknowledged that training and supports related to this exposure were minimal. Our committee began with an initial goal to assess trauma-informed practices in these areas in hopes of bringing awareness, creating recommendations, providing support for recommendation implementation and ultimately building resilience.   

Our initial searches for resources led us to the the National Council for Juvenile and Family Courts Judges (NCJFCJ) website. We found their publications, Preparing for a Trauma Consultation in Your Juvenile and Family Court and Lessons Learned from Developing a Trauma Consultation Protocol for Juvenile and Family Courts (published in the Juvenile & Family Court Journal in Volume 67, Issue 3, September 2016) to be invaluable in guiding our work (a BIG thank you to Shawn Marsh who generously provided time and resources to us!).  We've also done extensive research on other efforts in the U.S., received great leads from many of you on ACEs Connection and have connected with people who are doing amazing things within the legal and courts areas.

The primary focus of our committee has been on an assessment phase.  Although it may seem like a long time for assessing (over a year!), we believe determining what is needed and honoring what is already in place is imperative. For our assessment,  we led focus groups within the police department, prosecutors offices and probation/parole offices.  Our plans for this spring are to complete the assessment phase (within juvenile detention centers, our J&DR court - with judges, sheriffs, clerks and defense attorneys) then to compile & compare all of the data and then create a document that outlines trauma-informed recommendations for legal/courts disciplines.  In this document we will share our focus group questions, examples of recommendations for each discipline and provide overall recommendation guidelines.  Stay tuned for this info within the next several months.

If you are leading an initiative or have any resources related to this work, please share in the comments or with the Becoming Trauma-Informed & Beyond Community!!

Wishing you all a peaceful 2018.  Lisa