Trauma is an emotional and/or psychological response to any distressing event. Trauma Informed Care (TIC) is the recognition, understanding and response to the impact of trauma on individuals.
In August 2018, Center of Hope Foundation, Inc. started a Trauma Informed Care Initiative. The agency created a work group to address how to create and promote an environment of safety, empowerment and healing. This group consisted of staff from various facets of the agency. After being trained in TIC the group assessed the agency and created an action plan using 6 domains of the Fallot and Harris Scale (2009). Program procedures and settings, formal service policies, human resource policies, trauma screening and assessment, administrative support and trauma training and education were integrated into the action plan.
In February 2019 at the annual Professional Development Day, all agency staff were trained in TIC and self-care. TIC has been added to new staff orientation.
The TIC work group has since expanded to include more staff throughout the agency. The group meets on a consistent basis to assess and further develop our TIC services.
Trauma Informed Care is at the heart of our agency. We seek to treat all people with respect and dignity, and to help people to live the most meaningful lives possible.
Trauma Informed Care Contacts
Kelly Hutton 508-764-4085 ext 654
Trauma Informed Care Resource Guide
- Riverside Trauma Center -SARU- (Sexual Abuse Response Unit)- Contact 617-727-6465 x301
- Impactability- Boston MA- triangle-inc.org www.impactboston.org
- SANE and CAC Programs –A.N.E hospitals and nurses. Thirty hospitals in Massachusetts are S.A.N.E. (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) designated and have a nurse available/on-call, 24/7, to conduct these very sensitive exams. These nurses are highly trained professionals who have expertise in conducting a forensic examination while also addressing the emotional needs of the traumatized person. https://www.mass.gov/infodetails/designated-sane-site-hospitals
- William James College- Referral Service Helpline- 888-244-6843
- Whole Yoga -Central Massachusetts WholeYoga.org is led by Anne Parsons Marchant, a yoga facilitator trained in the Raja tradition and certified in both Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) and in Traumatic Stress Studies
- Monarch Yoga– Worcester MA https://monarchyoga.org/
- Sue Stevens, TCTSY-F, E-RYT – As a Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) Certified Facilitator and an E-RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, she teaches at several locations in Massachusetts
- Preventing Sexual Assault webinar: https://youtu.be/ify8vmtxiNg
- Reporting Allegations of Sexual Abuse– All DDS and provider agency staff have a legal responsibility to report any incident, condition, or occurrence where there’s a reasonable cause to believe that an individual has been abused, harmed, exposed to risk, or been subjected to mistreatment due to the actions, the inaction or the negligence of a caregiver or provider. Call the Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC)
- 24-hour hotline to report: 1-800-426-9009.
- Power Points for Families and Providers:
- Collaborating with the Disability Service System to Prevent Sexual Assault and Support Survivors with Disabilities- Presented at The National Sexual Assault Conference: http://impactboston.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Collaborating-with-the-Disability-Service-System-to-Prevent-Sexual-Assault-and-Support-Survivors-with-Disabilities.pdf
- Working with Survivors with Disabilities- Presented to local rape crisis centers through funding from The Massachusetts Office of Victim’s Assistance: http://impactboston.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Working-with-Survivors-with-Disabilities.pdf
- Jane Doe – For People Living with Disabilities-While all survivors of sexual and domestic violence experience a range of responses to abuse, you may have some specific concerns as a person living with a visible or invisible disability. Common concerns range from figuring out if programs will have what you need to access services to worrying about whether people will believe you. You are not alone, and it’s not your fault. People with disabilities may be twice as likely to experience sexual or domestic violence than non-disabled adults. Because sexual and domestic violence are always about the abuse of power, people with disabilities are especially vulnerable to abuse. http://www.janedoe.org/find_help/for_people_with_disabilities
- Massachusetts: Domestic Violence Safelink (a 24 hour multilingual statewide hotline)
- 1-877-785-2020 TTY: 1-877-521-2601
- For support outside of Massachusetts: National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (800-799-7233).
