Going Beyond Trauma Informed Care (TIC) Training for child Welfare Supervisors and Frontline Workers: the Need for system Wide Changes Implementing TIC practices in all Child Welfare Agencies

Abstract

This article reviews current efforts to train child welfare workers in trauma informed practices and argues that trauma informed care adaptation and training must transcend case workers and supervisors in order for true systemic change to occur. This means establishing an agency vision, mission, policies, and procedures that result in the manifestation of trauma informed care in the agency’s environment and in the practices of the administration and the staff. This article asserts that trauma informed care agencies will result in better outcomes for children and families served while preventing vicarious traumatization of agency staff. Additionally, within a trauma informed care setting, social workers and other advanced generalist practitioners are given the opportunity to search for opportunities to understand clients in the context of their lived experiences and join with clients and their families to empower them in a collaborative partnership focused on recovery.