Building a Trauma Informed System of Care Toolkit

Building a Trauma Informed System of Care Getting Started

It only takes one professional who is passionate about reducing the devastating effects of ACEs in your community to begin the work of creating a trauma informed system of care. Certainly, adding more voices to this number will accelerate your efforts but someone has to set this conversation in motion. The main ingredients for success are to do what you can, where you are, with what you have. Becoming trauma informed as a community or as a single service provider is a journey, not a destination. No beginning is too small nor is any amount of progress insignificant. It matters not if you are one schoolteacher, police officer, social worker, or the Mayor of the city. Each of these roles has existing partnerships and its own sphere of influence. As you read this toolkit, you will see that it is organized around three key steps – advocate, educate and collaborate, in that order. Each step is equally as important. Each step will organically flow to the next one. You might be thinking, “Is that all there is to creating a trauma informed city?” It has been in Johnson City. We are now coaching other nearby cities as they create trauma informed systems of care using this same roadmap, and it seems to be working well. This project received funding from the Tennessee Building Strong Brains Program for the purpose of assembling a toolkit that describes the steps we took and subsequently what happened in Johnson City that in 2018 brought national recognition to the system of care as a model other cities should follow. The message of trauma informed care is not one that is “taught” but rather it is “caught.” Start by asking yourself, “Am I infectious?” Understanding the connection between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and future life and health disparities, as well as the significant risk ACEs predict for addiction and risky behaviors – are vital truths every community must embrace. How will you help your community do this? After creating a system of care in Johnson City and now launching systems in other cities by using this replicable model, we can assure you that it will quickly become apparent who will join in as your ACEs champions.

No beginning is too small nor is any amount of progress insignificant.

The message of trauma informed care is not one that is “taught” but rather it is “caught.”

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