One of the primary tenants of creating a "Trauma Informed System" is examining what exactly "Trauma Informed" means. Although a universal definition hasn't been uniformly accepted, there are some core competencies and areas of focus that emerge when examining current literature. A starting point for many agencies/systems is to begin by taking an Trauma Informed Agency Assessment. Attached is a link to the Trauma Transformed Trauma Informed Assessment Grid.
The grid includes a sample of the different Agency Assessments that currently exist. These can be used to examine where an agency/organization currently falls on the continuum of trauma informed care, what areas are areas of strength, and what areas of weakness or focus may be most salient for an organization looking to become trauma informed.
Trauma informed care is not a model, it is not a certification (currently), it is not a fad. It is a way of being, a way of working, and a way of integrating our ever changing service populations and workforce, into a cohesive whole in much the same way that we assist a traumatized child into becoming a cohesive whole.
http://t2bayarea.org/resource/grid/
