Trauma-Informed Care

Chicago neighborhoods, aerial view

Our Vision

Our vision is to become a city that is educated about trauma, prevents transmission of harm, and positively impacts the lives of others. Our approaches are embedded in prevention, aiding & supporting healing rather than contributing to ongoing experiences of trauma.

Building trauma-informed environments and practices is a way to address the trauma that we all face as Chicagoans and to build a more resilient future.

Healthy Chicago

In September 2014, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), in collaboration with the Partnership for Healthy Chicago, launched a comprehensive community health assessment to collect, analyze and make available health equity data to partners and community members. As part of the community health assessment, approximately 1,000 public health stakeholders and community residents were engaged and more than ten million data sets were analyzed and shared publicly,  focusing on both traditional and non-traditional health issues in order to identify where health gaps continued to persist. 

Healthy Chicago 2.0 proposed those goals and overarching objectives:

  1. Increase life expectancy.
  2. Reduce obesity.
  3. Reduce preventable hospitalizations.
  4. Reduce perception of discrimination.
  5. Improve perception of overall health.
  6. Formalize ‘Health in All Policies’ as a standard across City agencies.
  7. Establish Chicago as a Trauma-Informed City.

Healthy Chicago 2025 is Chicago's five-year community health improvement plan that focuses on racial and health equity to meet our goal of reducing the Black-White life expectancy gap. 

CDPH's commitment:

  1. To close the racial life expectancy gap, people affected by inequities must have power to decide how we measure and monitor city's progress.
  2. Share resources, credit, results and knowledge as we identify community needs and assets, conduct research and analyze data.

Organizational Transition to Trauma Responsiveness

source: Trauma Matters Delaware

7 C's Model of Resilience

source:  From Burnout to Well-Being: A Focus on Resilience

Information & FAQ

To become a city that is educated about trauma, prevents transmission of harm and positively impacts the lives of others. Our approaches are embedded in prevention, aiding & supporting healing rather than contributing to ongoing experiences of trauma.

Policymakers, educators, and health professionals increasingly recognize trauma influences outcomes related to wellbeing. By incorporating trauma-informed approaches to an organization, across health care systems and embedded within communities, we can more effectively address root causes of trauma, strengthen resilience thereby improve the health, safety and vitality of all Chicagoans.

It involves five key universal elements: SAMHSA’s  4R’s and a 5th-R (resilience) developed through local  partners.

  • Realizing the prevalence of trauma;
  • Recognizing how trauma affects all individuals, communities, organizations, and systems;
  • Responding by putting this knowledge into practice;
  • Resisting retraumatization; and
  • Restoring resilience by supporting healing for all.

Resource: SAMHSA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach

  • Trauma Understanding
    Through knowledge and understanding of trauma and stress, we can act compassionately and take well-informed steps towards wellness.
  • Safety & Security
    Increasing stability in our lives and having core physical and emotional safety needs met can minimize our stress reactions and allow us to focus on wellness.
  • Cultural Humility & Responsiveness
    When we are open to understanding cultural differences and respond to them sensitively, we make each other feel understood and wellness is enhanced.
  • Compassion & Dependability
    When we experience compassionate and dependable relationships, we re-establish trusting connections with others that foster mutual wellness.
  • Collaboration& Empowerment
    When we are prepared for and given real opportunities to make choices for our care, and ourselves we feel empowered and can promote our own wellness.
  • Resilience & Recovery
    When we focus on strengths and develop clear steps we can take toward wellness, we are more likely to be resilient and recover.

Resilience is the capability of individuals to cope successfully in the face of significant change, adversity, or risk. The capacity changes over time and is enhanced by protective factors within the individual and environment.

Because toxic stress and adversity may change the trajectory of people’s lives,  for many, resilience really means creating a ‘new normal.'  When we do our best to prevent adversity from occurring as well as support people’s capacity for resilience, we create conditions under which everyone can thrive. One way in which to help create resilient conditions is through the Seven C’s of Resilience.

Reference: (APA Health Center, 2004).