Trauma-Informed Counties in Practice (TICP) is designed to provide guidance and support for local government workgroups in North Carolina in planning and implementing a trauma-informed approach, with two main goals:
- Stronger internal supports for staff
- Improved services for community members
Click the button below to apply. Applications are due by Friday, Aug. 16, 2024.
What is our goal?
Becoming more trauma-informed involves:
- Understanding the widespread impacts of trauma and potential paths of recovery
- Creating and sustaining partnerships to help prevent and treat trauma in the community
- Recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma among staff and community members
- Avoiding re-traumatizing or additionally traumatizing staff and community members
- Aligning policies, practices, strategies, and partnerships with the principles of trauma-informed care: safety, trustworthiness/transparency, peer support, collaboration/mutuality, empowerment/choice, and cultural, historical, and gender lenses
TICP builds upon NCACC’s Trauma-Informed Counties trainings, but local governments do not need to have attended a TIC training to apply. If you missed the TIC trainings, you can view online versions by clicking the button below.
What should you expect?
Kickoff and initial training » Participants will have an opportunity to:
- Demonstrate their commitment to becoming more responsive to trauma
- Discover the goals and processes of TICP
- Learn foundational information about trauma-informed care
Multi-layer assessment » NCACC will work with your workgroup to conduct an assessment to identify your local government’s specific strengths and areas for growth related to trauma-informed care. This will include:
- Online surveys and listening sessions with both leadership and staff
- Review of current policies and procedures
- Specific, actionable recommendations for your local government
Planning and implementation assistance » To support your local government in implementing the recommended trauma-informed changes, NCACC will provide up to 20 hours of expert technical support. Assistance will be responsive to your local government’s needs, and can cover various topics, such as change management, implementation plan development, staff and community engagement, or strategic planning support.
The Details
Application deadline: Friday, Aug. 16, 2024
Applications should be submitted by one or more North Carolina local government agencies within one county that are involved in opioid abatement strategies funded by opioid settlement funds in alignment with the NC Memorandum of Agreement. Cross-organization collaboration is strongly encouraged.Please submit only one application per county, even if multiple agencies are involved.
Applicants must have or agree to create a workgroup that will participate in TICP and coordinate and champion efforts to become more trauma-informed. The workgroup must include, at a minimum:
- At least two leadership-level staff members of local government organizations or departments who have the authority to make decisions about budgets, organizational policies, etc. (e.g., department heads, department leadership team members, governing board members, county or city managers). Leadership-level staff may come from one or more organizations that are involved in opioid abatement strategy work.
- A commitment to include direct service provider staff and managers/supervisors of direct service providers. These staff members do not need to be identified at the time of application, but must be involved in the regular operations of the workgroup once identified.
- Your local government’s Opioid Settlement Coordinator or Administrator, if applicable.
Required commitments
The workgroup must commit to seeking and incorporating input from people who use drugs (PWUD) to inform their work toward providing more trauma-informed services for community members. This may be through direct participation by PWUD in the workgroup, coordinating with advisory groups and/or private community organizations of PWUD, gathering feedback from PWUD who seek services from the county, etc.
Deep and lasting change takes time, and the process to become more trauma-informed will likely be ongoing. The trauma-informed work of the workgroup may take two or more years overall. The specific time commitments for this project are:
- Regular workgroup meetings or coordination to work with NCACC to schedule the kickoff training, schedule focus groups/listening sessions with leadership and with staff, disseminate and send reminders for surveys for leadership and staff, and review and provide input on NCACC’s analysis of assessment findings and recommendations. These activities will occur approximately from September 2024-January 2025.
Ongoing workgroup activities to:- Plan and coordinate implementation of recommendations generated from assessment activities;
Identify additional technical assistance needs and participate in ongoing technical assistance from NCACC, up to 20 hours, as needed by the local government (Technical assistance from NCACC through TICP will be available at least through June 30, 2025)
Continually champion trauma-informed approaches
Expand upon successes of initial Trauma-Informed Counties work in additional programs, strategies, departments, partnerships, etc
- Plan and coordinate implementation of recommendations generated from assessment activities;
Letters of support from relevant local government leaders who are not part of the workgroup, but whose support is necessary for successful implementation of organizational and/or local government-level change. Examples include county managers, heads of other county departments involved in opioid abatement activities, relevant program/service leadership, etc. Click the button below to download a template that can be used.