C3: Evaluating Programmatic Trauma Responsiveness and Adherence to Neuroscience Principles

Related COA Accreditation standards: Service Standards

This workshop will equip participants with the knowledge and tools to create trauma-responsive organizations and programs by integrating SAMHSA’s guiding principles for a trauma-informed approach, Bruce Perry’s neuroscience framework, and effective evaluation strategies. Through hands-on activities, group discussions, and case study analyses, participants will learn how to enhance safety, trust, collaboration, and cultural competence in their practices while addressing systemic inequities and promoting healing.

Key components of this session include:

• Understanding Core Principles: Explore SAMHSA’s six guiding principles for a trauma-informed approach and Bruce Perry’s neuroscience insights to understand trauma’s impact and how to promote healing
• Application to Programs: Analyze case studies to identify gaps in trauma responsiveness and develop strategies to improve programs with trauma-informed and brain-friendly practices
• Evaluation Framework: Learn how to assess trauma responsiveness using an evaluation framework that emphasizes safety, trust, cultural competence, collaboration, and measurable outcomes
• Organizational Culture: Develop action plans for fostering trauma-sensitive organizational policies, supporting staff wellness, and building leadership that prioritizes safety and inclusion
• Integrating Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI): Consider how trauma intersects with systemic inequities and how to embed culturally relevant and equitable practices into trauma-informed care

Participants will leave with practical tools, including:

• Trauma-informed care principles cheat sheets
• Program evaluation templates
• Action plans for trauma-sensitive organizational change
• EDI and trauma-informed integration checklists

This session will offer an engaging, application-focused approach to strengthening trauma responsiveness and advancing equity in organizations and programs.

Learning Objectives

• Foundational trauma-informed principles
• How to apply trauma-informed and brain-friendly practices
• How tools can be utilized to evaluate the trauma responsiveness of programs, focusing on areas like safety, trust, cultural competence, and emotional outcomes
• How systemic inequities intersect with trauma and strategies for embedding EDI principles
• Create actionable plans for cultivating a trauma-sensitive organizational culture, including leadership development, staff wellness, and sustainable policies

Presenters

Rebecca Moore
Residential Clinical Director
Thornwell

Jeffrey Moore
Professor
Anderson University

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