1. Take a Trauma-
Informed Approach

Perhaps the greatest barrier to Opportunity Youth’s long term success is the ongoing impact of trauma. Without support and assistance in processing them, stressful events and experiences can can remain stored in the body and affect how individuals respond to stress. When similar challenges are experienced in the present, the individual can become retraumatized, leading them to have trouble communicating, lash out at others or withdraw.

Ensuring your program uses a trauma-informed approach helps people navigate past challenges. It also improves health outcomes for everyone: your participants, your staff, and yourself.

Jump to: Takeaways

Who is this play for?

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Organizational Leaders

Direct-support Staff

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Marketing and Communication Staff

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Young Adult Employers

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A trauma-informed approach recognizes that many young adults have faced repeated adversity, stress, or loss that affects how they engage with programs and people. In a 2014 survey of adults by Shelby County, young adults (18 to 29) reported the highest rates of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) of any age group (My Voice, Our Choice: The Shelby County YPAR Preliminary Report, 2024 ). 21% reported four or more ACEs while growing up. Given all of the economic issues, social and community challenges, and the disruptions related to COVID-19 it is likely that this number has remained steady or increased.This play is about creating environments where staff understand how trauma shows up, avoid unintentionally causing harm, and build consistent, trusting relationships. Being trauma-informed isn’t about treating trauma—it’s about ensuring your organization doesn’t add to it.

Why this
matters:

Many Opportunity Youth live with chronic stress.

Experiences with violence, housing instability, and systemic racism all take a toll on mental and emotional well-being.

Trust builds long-term engagement.

Programs that respond to young adults’ needs with understanding instead of judgment are more likely to see consistent participation and completion.

Trauma affects behavior and participation.

Consider what how disinterest or noncompliance can often be a survival response to stress or distrust.

A trauma-informed culture supports everyone.

When care, transparency, and predictability become organizational norms, they benefit both staff and participants.

Staff also experience secondary trauma.

Supporting people in crisis can take a toll on frontline workers; being trauma-informed helps sustain staff health and retention.

Put it into action

While we recommend that everyone takes time to find an approach that works for them and get trained on being trauma informed, there are things you can start practicing within your organization that can quickly make a significant improvement:

Look for ways to build safety, consistency, and choice into every interaction.

Create predictable routines and clear communication so participants know what to expect. Explain why you collect certain information or enforce rules. Small actions—like following up when you say you will—signal reliability and build trust.Encourage participants to practice making choices that shape their experience in the program Making proactive choices helps restore a feeling of control. And feeling in control is one of the best ways to start to heal from trauma.

Use past experiences to plan ahead.

There’s no way to “trauma proof” a program. Anytime people interact there’s a possibility that someone might have a traumatic reaction to something. Work with your staff to think through times where people have experienced trauma and think through what could be proactively done if that happened again.

It can be as simple as having everyone take a break or having someone on hand to help someone experiencing a trauma reaction. It could mean having a plan in place for someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis.

Teach a shared de-escalation play.

Give all staff a 3-step script: (a) regulate (“Let’s pause and take a breath—do you want water?”), (b) validate (“This sounds frustrating and important”), (c) collaborate (“Here are two ways we can handle it—what’s best for you?”).

Tip: Consider training your participants on the same process and make practicing this an active part of your program.

Review your program, procedures, and materials for stressors and triggers.

It’s always a good idea to review your program and its materials to see if there are any areas that might be challenging for participants. For example, do your materials, interview processes, or programs require someone to discuss or relive past traumas? Ask yourself if that information is necessary or could be gathered differently. Or can you provide some additional support through that process?

Tip: Talk with staff about what points participants often begin to ghost your organization. Ghosting can be a mix of “freezing” and “flopping” and can be a sign that past traumas are surfacing. We’ll discuss this more in the “Getting your program ready” module

Takeaways:

Experiencing trauma is a natural human response to stressful situations.
Past trauma can resurface and trigger survival reactions (fight, flight, freeze, fawn, or flop) that can disrupt people’s ability to safely participate in the program.
Trauma-informed approaches help organizations, staff, and participants recognize and address trauma reactions. They ultimately make everyone healthier and successful.
There are many different trauma informed approaches, from more general ones like SAMHSA to more culturally specific.
Experimenting with small changes can lead to big rewards. Having a shared approach to conflict resolution can make a huge difference.

What's next

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2. Focus on Strengths and Assets

1. Take a Trauma- Informed Approach