Description: This resource from Rose Brooks Center (the largest domestic violence agency in Missouri, USA) is a sample of key practices in 10 areas used to "engage staff, build strength, collective resilience, and at the same time improve services for survivors" (pg. 1).
The headings for the key practices are as follows:
1- Hiring process
Organised and thoughtful hiring process
Staff onboarding and new hire training
2- Staff/employee performance evaluation
3- Support to address trauma exposure (secondary trauma)
Staff wellness
Organisational response to vicarious trauma
Flexibility/work-life balance
4- Compensation
Salary
Leave time
Benefits
5- Staff development
Meaningful and challenging development plans
Training
6- Leadership strategies
Integrate staff retention into agency policy, formal practices, and resource development
Staff involvement and feedback to inform staff retention strategies
Leadership conducts annual evaluation of factors impacting staff retention, quality of services, and sustained agency operations
7- Workplace environment and culture
Space
Employee feedback/input
8- Communication
Management transparency
9- Organisation staff meetings
10- Clear mission and values
Sense of purpose in the workplace
What's the evidence base for this resource: This resource is a sample of Rose Brooks Center's policies and procedures, and does not provide any evidence itself. However, the agency is recognised by accrediting bodies as adhering to best practice standards and has won awards for its services.
Potential uses and limitations: This resource is a useful high-level map of organisational strategies to enhance employee support/engagement and address vicarious trauma. It does not provide detailed guidance for any particular issue, but may serve as inspiration or generate ideas on organisational and workplace strategies.
Where it comes from: This resource was presented as a handout within the webinar 'Strategies to Enhance Employee Resilience and Engagement within Survivor-Serving Organizations' hosted by Futures Without Violence in May 2020. Rose Brooks Center's Chief Operating Officer was one of three presenters in the webinar.
Rose Brooks Center is the largest domestic violence agency in the American state of Missouri. The agency has 100 employees and reaches approximately 15,000 individuals annually.
Description: Created specifically for the US Vicarious Trauma Toolkit, this resource provides succinct guidelines for supervision in organisations where employees are exposed to vicarious trauma. Its recommendations for vicarious trauma-informed supervision fall under the following categories:
What's the evidence for this resource: The resource was developed by the Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice (now the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research) at Northeastern University, a reputable university in the United States. References are provided, though not every recommendation has a citation.
Potential uses and limitations: This resource provides brief, clear guidelines for supervision in a vicarious trauma-informed organisation.
Due to its brevity, this resource does not give instructions on how to achieve its recommendations. For example, one guideline is to "Design a workplace that is safe, fosters collaboration, demonstrates respect for diversity, and acknowledges the importance of addressing VT on a regular basis" (p. 1). Managers and other readers may need to find other resources for further guidance on achieving these recommendations.
Where it comes from: The resource was developed for the US Vicarious Trauma Toolkit by Northeastern University's Institute on Urban Health Research and Practice (now the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research), in collaboration with the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.
The CPSU gratefully acknowledges the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, for allowing us to reproduce. in whole, the Supervision Guidelines for a Vicarious Trauma-Informed Organization. This article was prepared by the Office for Victims of Crime.