Trauma-Informed Organizational Assessment: Understanding …Org... · 2018-11-02 · Organizational...

Trauma-Informed Organizational

Assessment: Understanding Where to Start

Hello!I am Denise MoodyDirector of Resilience Impact LLC

denisemoody.org

You can find me at @resilienceimpct on Twitter

Email at denise@resilienceimpact.com

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Define what is trauma-informed

What does trauma-informed look like in practice?

What are the different levels of impact in implementing trauma-informed practices?

Outline

Elements of a Trauma-Informed School

Overview of the Trauma-Informed Organizational Assessment

Case Example

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1.What is

trauma-informed?The importance of a shared

understanding

“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; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatization.

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SAMSHA, 2014

In a trauma-informed school, the adults in the school community are prepared to recognize and respond to those who have been impacted by traumatic stress. Students are provided with clear expectations and communication strategies to guide them through

stressful situations. The goal is to not only provide tools to cope with extreme situations but to create an

underlying culture of respect and support.

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Treatment & Services Adaptation Center

“A trauma-informed school realizes the

prevalence and impact of trauma and

responds by building resilience,

relationships and safety for students,

families and staff.

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Tabletop Exercise

What have you seen schools do to

become trauma-informed?

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dropoutpreventioncenter.org

At what level are the things you listed?

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Trauma-Aware

Trauma-Awoke

Trauma-Sensitive

Trauma-Responsive

Trauma-Informed

practices

policies

mindsets

Becoming trauma-informed

is about the journey

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Which level are the

activities you listed at?

Stages of Implementation(Fixsen & Blasé, 2005)

Stages of Implementation(Fixsen & Blasé, 2005)

Impacting Change

DISTRICTSCHOOLCLASSROOMSTUDENT

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Why Start with Assessment?

Assessment as Intervention

The work is urgent and that can often cause schools to jump immediately implement programming. Assessment is the first stage of intervention and will provide valuable data that will assist in focusing resources.

Starts the Conversation

Starting with an assessment is an excellent way to start staff thinking and reflecting on current practices in the building.

Includes all voices

Being part of the process about decisions helps to motivate staff and helps to develop shared goals and vision.

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Why Start with Assessment?

Engages the opposition

It is crucial to have those individuals voice's hear and part of the conversation at the beginning. They often will be the ones that will voice what others are thinking and will provide valuable insight.

Helps you identify easy wins

Too often schools are guilty of starting over with new initiatives every year. Your school is already doing some great things and bolstering those areas of strength may give you some early momentum in the work to become trauma-informed.

Narrows your focus.

You can't focus on all seven areas and do them all well in your first year of implementation. Completing a needs assessment will help you know where to start.

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Elements of a Trauma-Informed

School

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Trauma Prevalence & Awareness

● Do students, staff and families know about the prevalence of adverse

childhood experiences and the impact it has on cognitive and

behavioral development?

● Private logic of student: When a student behavior occurs, is the private

logic of that student considered? Do school staff seek to understand

the interaction from the perspective of the child?

● Compassion for those with a different story than our own: How do we

respond differently to staff, students and families when we know that

they likely have had adverse childhood experiences as part of their

story?

● Regulation: Do opportunities exist for students to learn and practice

regulation of emotions and modulation of behaviors?

Engaging & Affirming

Instruction

○ Student voice & choice: Do students have voice and choice to

make decisions that impact them throughout their school day?

○ Culturally Responsive: Are instructional practices responsive

and affirming to the cultures of students and families?

○ Universal Social-emotional learning: Are universal

social-emotional skills being addressed through direct

instruction?

○ Behavior Expectations: Are behavioral expectations taught

proactively and retaught when expectations are not met?

○

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Reason To Be

○ Purpose & meaning in work (staff): Do staff feel a sense of

calling and/or passion for their work?

○ Future orientation (students): Do students have an

understanding that present learning impacts their future goal

attainment?

○ Shared vision: Are there shared vision, goal and strategies that

the school staff are collectively working to accomplish?

○ Trauma stewardship/self-care (staff): Do staff recognize the

impact their work has on their own well-being and actively seek

to care for themselves and colleagues?

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Protective Factors

○ Belonging: Do staff, students and families feel a sense of

belonging and positive connection?

○ Sleep, exercise & nutrition: Are students and staff getting

recommended amounts of sleep, exercise and nutrition as

needed for their development?

○ Mental health: Is there access to trauma-competent services

for prevention, early intervention, treatment, and crisis

intervention from mental health providers?

○ Mindfulness: Is mindfulness being taught, practiced and

encouraged as a way to build resilience in the school day?

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School Climate

● Well-defined/Consistent Behavior Expectations: Are behavior

expectations well-defined and consistent across school

settings?

● Physical Environment: Is the physical school environment safe,

welcoming, well-kept and clean?

● Safe & Predictable: Does the school have routines and practices

that are predictable and

● promote a sense of safety?

● Behavior Response: Is there a system-wide plan for how to

respond to student behaviors in a consistent and restorative

manner?

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Multi-Tiered Systems of

Support

● MTSS for Academics: When students struggle academically, are

there well-defined systems of support available that guide how staff

and families will provide support?

● PBIS Tier 1: Are staff implementing Tier 1 interventions that support

all students? Examples: 4 to 1, positive greeting at the door, morning

meeting, peace corner

● PBIS Tier 2 & 3: When students struggle emotionally and

behaviorally , are there well-defined systems of support available

that guide how staff and families will provide support?

● Data based decision making: Are there systems that identify

students in need of support early? Is an appropriate intervention

identified that matches the student need? Is progress monitoring in

place? Are interventions working?

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Family & Community Engagement

● Family Engagement: Does the school create strong school-family

bonds that support learning in a culturally relevant manner?

● Family Connection: Do families feel connected to the school and

support their child's learning?

● Community Partnerships that support learning: Does the school

have strong collaboratively partner with community agencies

that foster learning?

● Partnerships with community agencies that meet student and

family needs: Does the school have strong collaboratively

partner with community agencies that meet student and family

needs?

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Turn & TalkWhich element would

your school be the strongest? Which element

needs the most growth?

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Using data

Types of DataStudent data

Discipline

Suspension

Attendance

Intervention data

Surveys

Students

Staff

Community Partners

Families

Teachers

Fidelity data

School Culture

Bullying reports

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Questions to Consider

● What changes do staff/administration prioritize in

their vision for the future of their school? How

motivates staff/administration to do things

differently in the future?

● What things have been identified, that with

minimal effort, could have an impact on the school

functioning and culture?

● Who needs to be at the table to make this work

happen?

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In two or three columns

Yellow

Is the color of gold, butter and ripe lemons. In the spectrum of visible light, yellow is found between green and orange.

Blue

Is the colour of the clear sky and the deep sea. It is located between violet and green on the optical spectrum.

Red

Is the color of blood, and because of this it has historically been associated with sacrifice, danger and courage.

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Turn & TalkWhat data could you collect and analyze in your

school?

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Where to Start

Beginning the journey of being trauma-informed

Universal Approach

A trauma-informed approach does is not a targeted intervention for “trauma kids”

Everyone benefits from the elements of a trauma-informed school being in place

Build on Strengths

Your school already does some things well….start with building and celebrating those things

Consider how this work could augment current initiatives

Prioritize Reflection

Without cultivating the right mindset and being able to consider other possibilities, trauma-informed approaches will be executed in a punitive way.

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Questions to Ask ○ Where are the quick wins?

○ What is staff motivated to do first?

○ What aligns with current initiatives?

○ Where can you get other

stakeholder buy-in: students,

families, district office?

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Case Example

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Thanks!Any questions?You can find me at @resilienceimpct & denise@resilienceimpact.com

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