Theorizing Safety Informed Settings: Supporting Staff at Youth Residential Facilities. Issue 3 (13th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sichel, Corianna E.; Burson, Esther; Javdani, Shabnam; Godfrey, Erin B.
• Other Names: Cappella Elise guestEditor.; Godfrey Erin guestEditor.; Chacko Anil guestEditor.; Tebes Jacob guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: American journal of community psychology. Volume 63:Issue 3/4(2019)
• Page Start: 405
• Page End: 417
• Publication Date: 2019-02-13
• Subjects: Youth -- Trauma‐informed care -- Juvenile justice -- Theory -- Settings -- Workforce; Community psychology -- Periodicals; Community mental health services -- Periodicals; Community psychiatry -- Periodicals; Community Mental Health Services -- Periodicals; Community Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 155.905
• DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12307
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0091-0562

Abstract

Highlights: We outline the understudied challenges and needs of the Youth Residential Facility (YRF) workforce. Integrating trauma‐informed care and settings theory, we describe YRFs as trauma‐organized settings. We critique the person‐mediated emphasis of current trauma‐informed approaches. We make recommendations to shift problematic YRF regularities by focusing on safety, relationships, and YRF workforce well‐being. Abstract: Each year approximately 48, 000 youth are incarcerated in residential placement facilities (YRFs) in the United States. The limited existing literature addressing the workforce in these settings paints a complicated picture. The YRF workforce is highly motivated to work with legal system involved youth. However, YRF staff report high rates of burnout, job fatigue, and work‐related stress. The current paper proposes solutions to persistent problems faced by staff in these settings by integrating literature from criminology, organizational psychology, trauma‐informed care, and community psychology. In doing so, we highlight previously overlooked aspects of intervention for trauma‐organized settings and respond to recent calls for community psychologists to take a more active role in the adaptation of trauma‐informed care in community settings. We conclude by advancing three recommendations, drawn from setting‐level theory and inspired by the principles of trauma‐informed care, to transform YRFs.