Breaking Down Silos to Promote Trauma-Informed Approaches

Federal staff and national experts gathered in Washington, DC, May 6 for a convening on trauma-informed approaches and future work needed to spur results for children and families.

The convening emerged from a project spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) to help prevent and address childhood trauma and build resilience. Awarded to JBA and Education Development Center (EDC), the project seeks to break down silos among trauma-informed efforts to help stakeholders learn from—and build on—each other’s work.

JBA and EDC worked closely with ASPE to identify event attendees who could speak to challenges and opportunities implementing trauma-informed efforts in community settings, the impacts of these efforts, and areas of future need. Participants received a research summary recapping the current knowledge base and a set of profiles highlighting promising approaches at the federal, state, and local levels.

“Thanks to the experience and expertise of our attendees, we walked away with a mountain of information to supplement the research that went into planning the convening,” said Project Director Erin Ingoldsby. “We now face the challenging but satisfying task of summarizing key findings into an issue brief and webinar to be shared later this year.”