Trauma-Informed: In Practice, an FMF Lab (Repost from November 2024)

The objective of being a trauma-informed organization is to ensure that every family — and each individual — receives the right support to feel safe, heal, and thrive. To that end, FMF employs the 4 “Rs”:

Realize: Understanding the impact of trauma and how it affects people

Recognize: Identifying the signs and symptoms of trauma

Respond: Design, create, and implement policies, practices, and procedures with the knowledge of trauma and the goal of helping people feel safe and heal

Resist re-traumatization: Actively reduce situations that are stressful, harmful, or degrading to avoid re-traumatizing people

Families Moving Forward staff work diligently to ensure that the policies, procedures, and practices we use are trauma-informed. First and foremost, we try to provide guests with as much choice and agency as possible. This helps build trust, community, and empowers people who might otherwise feel they have diminished power. For example, we provide each family with their own private room. This personal space has proven vital in limiting the stress of families who might be uncomfortable or re-traumatized in a congregate space. This also allows the family agency over their space — they can choose the décor (often via our partnership with the amazing A Lotta Love team). In addition, they are able to leave their belongings to go to school & work with the knowledge that they are secure and will be there upon return. And they can stay together as a family.

We also prioritize keeping our facility safe and secure. We employ several security measures to limit access to our buildings, and we work to provide simple references — like a staff photo board and photo IDs — for guests to easily recognize staff and their roles.

Since we try to ensure that everything we do is trauma-informed, there is a lot to share with you! We look forward to sharing more about our trauma-informed practices and care in the future.