Trauma-Informed Organizational Toolkit

Homelessness is devastating for families and children. By the time they enter emergency shelters, families are disconnected from their routines, relationships, social networks, and communities. Their stress is compounded by the extremely high rates of interpersonal violence in their lives. Most shelters are unaware of this traumatic stress or its long-reaching effects, and are unequipped to deal with it, often leading to homeless families being unwittingly re-traumatized while the root problems remain unaddressed.

The National Center has developed a Trauma-Informed Organizational Toolkit to help providers identify their programs' strengths and weaknesses related to the principles of "trauma-informed" services, and provide a blueprint for making specific, concrete changes in the way services are delivered. This multi-dimensional and interactive tool consists of two components. The first, an organizational self-assessment tool, is a checklist designed to help shelters measure their current status with regard to trauma-informed services. This checklist covers all aspects of program functioning, including physical space, staffing, knowledge, attitudes, services, policies and procedures, training, consumer participation, and cultural diversity. The second component is a companion guide that explains the nature of the organizational changes that must be made to become "trauma-informed." This guide provides background information related to trauma, case examples, exercises, specific strategies, and concrete recommendations to improve the shelter setting.

With support from the Daniels Fund, the toolkit is being piloted in Boston-area family homeless shelters.