Public Servants: Utah Resources

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Utah’s Children's Justice Centers (CJCs) promote a multidisciplinary response to child abuse. The centers serve children 17 years of age or younger who have allegedly been victims of sexual abuse, serious physical abuse, or other crimes involving children, such as domestic violence, drug endangerment, and Internet exploitation.

1-855-323-3237

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Learn the Process: How does the Children's Justice Center Model Work?

Helpful for clients, consumers, and the general public, this resource from One With Courage Utah outlines functions of both the CJC and CPS and the joint investigation and coordinated case review processes.

Journey of Hope utilizes gender responsive case management to help women choose a safe path of success while living in the community. Here at Journey of Hope, we encourage, but never force, clients to seek trauma informed treatment services to lessen the impact of past trauma. We provide further support to our clients through mentoring and case management as they navigate their recovery. Often, pathways to criminal behavior start with trauma, but can end when women’s needs are holistically met. Journey of Hope's website features of a list of community resources as well as a useful list of terminology and definitions.  

Voices for Utah Children works to make Utah a place where all children thrive. We start with one basic question: "Is it good for kids?" At Voices for Utah Children, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. The website lists issues relevant to children in Utah, such as: child welfare and safety, CHIP & Medicaid resources, family economic success, tax and budget, children's health, early care and preschool, education, juvenile justice, two generation, and Kids Count. The Legislative Center explores state and federal policy impacting Utah children.

The mission of the Campaign for Trauma Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) is to create a resilient, trauma-informed society where all individuals and families have the opportunity and the supports necessary to thrive. Our goal is to advocate for public policies and programs at the federal, state, local and tribal levels that incorporate up-to-date scientific findings regarding the relationship between trauma across the lifespan and many social and health problems. In addition, work in collaboration with communities, cities, states, and tribes to develop trauma-informed and prevention-focused policies and practices that reflect experience in the field.

This 10-page document published by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) outlines for law enforcement officers responding to domestic violence calls what traumatic stress is, responses to traumatic events, why it's important to identify and intervene with children who have been affected by trauama, how intervention helps children, and resources.

This Resource Guide to Trauma-Informed Human Services is published by the Administration for Children & Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and is a "Trauma Toolkit" for human services agencies. Sections include: Concept Papers, Guiding Questions & Answers, Q&A: Trauma, Q&A: Adverse Childhood Experiences, Q&A: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Q&A: Trauma-informed Services, Q&A: Staff Capacity Building, Trauma Resources for Specific Human Services Programs or Populations, and Community Spotlights.

Published by the Administration for Children & Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, this section on Secondary Traumatic Stress is a part of the ACF's Trauma Toolkit and includes an explanation of secondary traumatic stress, common cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms of compassion fatigue, a section on why secondary traumatic stress is important for human services agencies, relevant interventions and approaches, individual prevention & treatment strategies to consider, organizational prevention strategies to consider, resources for further learning, and references. 

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network's (NCTSN) introductory page on secondary traumatic stress has sections on understanding who is at risk, strategies for prevention and intervention, strategies to build resiliency and address secondary traumatic stress, worker resiliency in trauma-informed systems, and NCTSN resources on secondary traumatic stress.

Highlighted resources for public servants:

• The 12 Core Concepts for Understanding Traumatic Stress Responses in Children and Families (2011): Provides foundational knowledge to better understand The 12 Core Concepts for Understanding Traumatic Stress Responses in Children and Families. This course provides information on each of the core concepts that form the theoretical foundation and act as guiding principles for The Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma.
• Cultural Implications of Secondary Traumatic Stress (2012): Addresses the influence of culture on mental health providers coping with secondary traumatic stress (STS) and the choices that clinicians make to seek, or not seek, support. This webinar explores how cultural background, including immigration history, informs clinicians' work with children and families who have experienced trauma; illustrates the relationship between culture and STS through a personal case example; and introduces the concept of vicarious resiliency.
• Emotional Challenges and Self-care for Those Working with Young Traumatized Children (2012): Discusses the importance of identifying and implementing effective strategies for self-care in dealing with the emotional challenges of working with infants, young children, and their caregivers who have been traumatized.
• Organizational Secondary Traumatic Stress (2012): Addresses the impact of Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) in organizational settings. This webinar offers information on risk management and workforce development as they are related to STS, as well as strategies to reduce the impact of STS in an organizations. including training, assessment, case-load management, self-care practices, and supervision.
• Secondary Traumatic Stress: A Fact Sheet for Child-Serving Professionals (2011): Offers child-serving professionals information about secondary traumatic stress (STS). This fact sheet describes how individuals experience STS, understanding who is at risk, how to identify STS, strategies for prevention and intervention, and essential elements to address STS.
• Secondary Traumatic Stress ... What is it? (2012): Discusses child welfare caseworkers' response to Charles Figley's definition of Secondary Traumatic Stress, outlines assessing for Secondary Traumatic Stress through instruments and self-examination, and discusses strategies for coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress at the supervisor and worker level.

Published by the Office for Victims of Crime, the Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT) was developed on the premise that exposure to the traumatic experiences of other people—known as vicarious trauma—is an inevitable occupational challenge for the fields of victim services, emergency medical services, fire services, law enforcement, and other allied professionals; however, organizations can mitigate the potentially negative effects of trauma exposure by becoming vicarious trauma-informed.