Observing Illinois’ First Trauma-Informed Awareness Day

Health & Medicine and the Illinois ACEs Response Collaborative are proud to join with others across the state in observing Illinois’ first Trauma-Informed Awareness Day. Today, our ACEs staff and partners are in Springfield meeting with legislators and speaking about this important legislation. This is a great milestone for building the trauma-informed movement in Illinois and we are pleased to work with all of you to make this a meaningful day.

In honor of Trauma-Informed Awareness Day, we’re pleased to release two new resources:

  • Our new Trauma-Informed Policymaking Tool outlines a policy approach to preventing and healing from trauma. The two-page Tool defines trauma-informed principles and describe their application to both the process of policymaking and its outcome.
  • How can you provide client-centered, trauma-informed services so that clients are treated with the dignity that all people deserve? Developed in partnership with Collaborative member Sarah Hess, Five How-Tos of Trauma-Informed Practice provides strategies you can use today to make your services more trauma-informed.

There is still time for you to get involved in Trauma-Informed Awareness Day. Here are five ways you can participate:

  1. Today, the Collaborative hopes to amplify the great work of our partners in Illinois and beyond. Be sure to use #TraumaInformedIL and tag @HMPRG on Twitter, @HMPRGChicago on Facebook. (Check out our toolkit for sample posts.)
  2. Invite your network to join the Collaborative’s email list. Click here.
  3. Build trauma-informed awareness among your community! Here is a list of resources developed by the Collaborative and more are available here.
  4. Spread the word and send an eblast to your networks! Sample text provided in the toolkit.
  5. Not in Illinois? Contact your state legislators and tell them you want them to work towards a Trauma-Informed Awareness Day in your state. Use the language in our resolution as an example.

Thank you for all that you do to promote healing and resilience and to strengthen our communities!