The vision of the CLAS (culturally and linguistically appropriate services) workgroup is to reduce health disparities through the implementation of a statewide process for enhancing racial justice, cultural humility, and linguistic responsiveness within the children’s behavioral health network of care.
The CLAS workgroup aims to reduce health disparities across all behavioral health services at the local, regional, and state levels through partnering with local organizations, healthcare leaders, and families to increase racial justice competence, including adherence to the CLAS Standards.
Unaddressed trauma is a public health crisis. Experiences of psychological trauma can impede cognitive, social, and emotional development, which can impair youth academic achievement, behavior, interpersonal skills, and general success in school.
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC)
Being Trauma-informed means to:
• Recognize the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) / trauma among all
people
• Recognize that many behaviors and symptoms are the results of traumatic
experiences
• Recognize that being treated with respect and kindness – and being empowered with
choices – are key in helping people recover from traumatic experiences.
The goal of trauma-informed care is to avoid re-traumatizing someone. “Re-traumatizing refers to inadvertently recreating some conditions of a person’s previous trauma, causing them to relive it at the moment.” Trauma-informed care aims to help people find meaning and purpose in their lives, fulfill valued roles and engage in a life in a community of their choosing, see themselves as more than their trauma(s), help people identify and pursue avenues to reducing distress and problems in their lives and exercise personal autonomy and self-determination in making choices. Trauma-informed care means shifting from the medical question of “What’s wrong with you?” to the trauma-informed question of “What’s happened to you?”
Trauma-Informed Principles
While some trauma-informed principles are specific to clinicians, the overall goal and many of the principles can be adapted by anyone. Trauma-informed principles include:
• Promote trauma awareness and understanding
• Recognize that trauma-related symptoms and behaviors originate from adapting to
traumatic responses
• View trauma in the context of individuals’ environments
• Minimize the risk of re-traumatization or replicating prior trauma dynamics
• Create a safe environment
• Identify recovery from trauma as a primary goal
• Support control, choice, and autonomy
• Create collaborative relationships and participation opportunities
• Familiarize clients with trauma-informed services
• Conduct universal routine trauma screening
• View trauma through a sociocultural lens
• Use a strengths-focused perspective to promote resilience
• Foster trauma-resistant skills
• Show organizational and administrative commitment to TIC
• Develop strategies to address secondary trauma and promote self-care
• Provide hope and believe recovery is possible
The strength-based approach allows people to see themselves at their best in order to see their own value.