Front-line and case workers for the TANF program (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) are at high risk for compassion fatigue. They hear approximately 30 stories of trauma, abuse and hardship each day. Complaints from workers vary from “How many stories of torture will have to I hear.” “It feels like I am spitting at a forest fire.” “After 12 years in the field, I am now on blood pressure medication.”
This year the Cal WORKs Training Academy featured a workshop on compassion fatigue which was attended by over 100 supervisors of intake and case workers in the California TANF program. I am Carolyn Curtis, a member of Resilient SAC and I presented with Charles Stolzenbach. We emphasized the prevalence and impact of this work on front line workers. “We provide training for first responders in other professions, such as firemen, police, but we do not provide this type of training for the front-line responders in the TANF program.”
We reported on current innovations in addressing this problem from an organizational level and a personal self-care program. The San Francisco Public Health Model and the Montefiore Hospital demonstrated that teaching all employees within an organization about ACEs and its effects is a powerful intervention. Both programs included an on-going educational program on self-care.
Next, we discussed how the Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience curriculum that could be tailored to meet the needs of individual organizations. Included in this manual are lessons on ACEs science and self-care. It can be taught by paraprofessionals and be used for staff training and with people who have experienced adversity.
For a copy of the PowerPoint: https://www.dibbleinstitute.or...alWORKS-Dec-2017.pdf
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