Social Work Practice With Families and Children

Trauma-informed practice goes beyond the skills and techniques used by an individual social worker. Organizations and communities can unintentionally retraumatize clients through their policies and procedures. Social workers have a responsibility to advocate for change.

In this Assignment, you use the knowledge you have gained about trauma-informed practice to evaluate the organizational and operational structure of a setting with which you are familiar. You also make recommendations for changes needed to apply core trauma-informed principles.

The Assignment

In Week 4, you explored the concept of trauma-informed services through six principles and 10 implementation domains (SAMHSA, 2014). Now, choose a setting in which you have worked providing social work services (e.g., current/previous field placement, employer, etc.) and explore the principles and implementation domains of trauma-informed services in the setting you have chosen.

By Day 7

Submit a 5- to 7-page paper in which you address the following four areas:

• Describe the agency setting. Is it public or private, non-profit or for-profit? Is the agency’s primary goal to serve trauma survivors? Approximately what percentage of clients would be defined as trauma survivors?
• Explain how the setting demonstrates each of the 6 key principles. Provide examples.
• Using the sample questions on page 14-16 as a guide, assess each of the 10 implementation domains at the agency and explain which key principles are evident in each domain.
• Provide specific recommendations for improving each of the principles that are not well implemented. Be specific about (1) organizational, (2) environmental, (3) programmatic, and/or (4) administrative changes that would need to occur for your agency to implement a trauma-informed approach.
• Explain potential barriers to creating trauma-informed services in this setting and how you might address these barriers.

The paper should be presented in a clear and coherent manner and reflect critical thinking and a clear understanding of trauma-informed services. It should adhere to APA guidelines.