Every odd month the San Diego Trauma Informed Guide Team (SD-TIGT) meets to share and disseminate best practices within the San Diego region. A key component of the meeting is the Trauma Informed Journey which allows an agency to share the progress they have been making to become more trauma informed and to promote resiliency with their staff and consumers. This month Stephen Carroll, ASW, Director of Homeless and Transition Age Services presented San Diego Youth Services’ (SDYS) Trauma-Informed Journey.
SDYS is one of the largest youth serving agencies within San Diego. Each year they serve 20,000 youth and families. They employ a staff of 200 and have a revenue of $14 million to $15 million each year. SDYS offers a continuum of transitional housing, drop-in centers, and a storefront emergency shelter.
In 2006, program managers within SDYS started to look for new ways to better serve their consumers; this search led them to discovering the trauma-informed framework. In 2009, Mental health staff and shelter staff consulted with Gabriela Grant, Center of Excellence for Trauma Informed Care and they were able to create a protocol where staff and youth could challenge any policy or regulation to be more trauma informed. SDYS formed a learning collaborative, that included family support partners, to become an agency wide champion. In 2010, there was an agency-wide commitment to trauma informed care and in 2011 SDYS became a National Council Trauma Informed Learning Community. All staff were trained in becoming trauma informed and after a year they were able to develop their own training. In 2013, they began to train other community partners such as the San Diego County Office of Education. This has led to an increase in community awareness about the importance of becoming trauma informed.
SDYS followed the following steps to achieve change within their organizations:
- Formulated a cohesive, universal treatment philosophy
- Decided to make TIC the “culture” of SDYS not just another initiative
- Identified key leadership, named champions within their staff, and trained the board of directors
- Chose a focus area to start - Staff Development
- Formed and sustained a workgroup focused on advancing Trauma Informed Care
SDYS continues to learn how they can be more trauma informed so that they can continue to provide consumers with the best care possible.
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