First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney, along with members of the Family Services Cabinet Council and community, deliver the state’s 5th Trauma Informed Care Report.
In 2018, Gov. John Carney signed Executive Order 24, establishing guidelines to turn Delaware into a trauma-informed state.
The order requires all state agencies that provide services for children and adults to integrate trauma-informed best practices into their efforts.
At Thursday’s roundtable discussion, agency leaders explained how they’ve progressed over the last five years — implementing staff-wide training, using trauma specific language and promoting resilience and self-care strategies.
“Everything from a desk manual that our workers use working with families, to the policies that dictate how our HR practices work are trauma-informed. You know, we need to make sure, as a department, that we’re presenting an environment that is safe and supportive," said Steven Yeatman, Secretary of the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families.
But all agency leaders say there is more work to be done.
“Really what I hope this looks like in the state is that we empower those who have been doing this work and continue to talk about it broadly so that people understand ‘I’m hurting,’ but there is help out there, and the help looks different, and you can find something that works for you," said Alonna Berry, leader of the Family Services Cabinet Council and Delaware’s first Statewide Trauma-Informed Care Coordinator.
Berry hopes trauma-based work will continue beyond Gov. Carney’s administration and Delaware will proceed to track and evaluate its progress toward becoming a fully trauma-informed state.
