Trauma informed care is an approach or framework related to delivering services that acknowledges the impact of trauma and attempts to create a sense of safety within the program. Trauma-informed transformation is a cultural shift, a move toward safety-focused, strength-based, consumer-driven, empowerment-rich programming that allows consumers to take charge of their recovery, addresses unsafe behaviors and prioritizes safety as a platform for recovery.

Trauma informed programs train and support staff to understand the effects of trauma broadly on the population being served and over the lifespan. They assess their program design and policies to ensure that safety is at the core and that potential for re-traumatization is reduced. They also approach critical incidents and problems from a trauma informed perspective to see how to change approaches, such as rules or responses, to prevent escalation, drop-outs, removals, seclusion, restraint and other behaviors that traditionally have been understood as single problems in need of punishment or elimination. Trauma informed programs value consumer input, participation, and inclusion in decision making and staffing. Trauma informed programs recognize that information and choice are the key to empowerment, rather than experts telling people what they should be doing and then deciding if people have passed or failed.

All publicly funded programs can be trauma informed. This is especially true for social services, such as programs addressing mental health, substance abuse, child welfare, foster care, domestic violence, sexual assault, homelessness and criminal justice, but also schools, hospitals, libraries, public transportation, environmental health and animal control. Where public money is spent, higher rates of trauma and trauma-related behaviors are more likely to compromise safety and behavioral change. Therefore, understanding the impact of trauma improves programming and services and makes them more cost-effective for taxpayers.

Trauma specific services have the primary task of addressing the impact of trauma and facilitating trauma recovery. Any agency can choose to become trauma specific. However, if an agency is conducting trauma specific interventions without assessing itself for trauma informed practice, the likelihood of that intervention working is reduced considerably.