Item 08 - Trauma Informed and Responsive Strategy 2025-28
West Dunbartonshire Council · 20 February 2025
Back to Community Planning West Dunbartonshire Management Board — 20 February 2025 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANNING EXECUTIVE GROUP 20 January 2025 Report by Margaret-Jane Cardno, Head of Strategy and Transformation Subject: Trauma Informed and Responsive Strategy 2025-28 1. Purpose 1.1. The purpose of this report is to raise awareness of the West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy 2025-28. 2. Recommendations 2.1. Note the West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy 2025-28 (Appendix 1). 2.2. Note the Delivery and Improvement Plan 2025-28 (Appendix 2). 2.3. Note the completed Equality Impact Assessment (Appendix 3). 3. Background 3.1. The Scottish Government and COSLA have a shared ambition to make services and workforces across Scotland Trauma-Informed and Responsive. £50,000 has been allocated to each Local Authority or HSCP to support this work since 2021/22. 3.2. Psychological trauma refers to a wide range of events, both singular and reoccurring, that are experienced as negatively impact our wellbeing, physically harmful or life threatening. Experiencing Trauma is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including negative health outcomes, increased contact with the justice system and reduced employment opportunities. 3.3. A Trauma-Informed and Responsive organisation can respond to these outcomes by reducing barriers for those seeking support. 3.4. Taking a Trauma-Informed Approach within West Dunbartonshire includes working in ways that: Realising the prevalence of trauma and adversities on our communities Recognising the impact of trauma across the life course Resist re-traumatisation and further harm Realising resilience of individuals Reduce and address inequalities to improve lives Recognises the importance of relationships ITEM 8
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3.5. This strategy outlines the key activities required for West Dunbartonshire Council and HSCP to become Trauma-Informed and Responsive and aligns with the wider National Trauma Transformation Vision. 3.6. The strategy focuses on 4 key strategic areas of: Staff Wellbeing, Trauma- Informed Systems and Processes, Community Involvement and Leadership and Culture. 4. Main Issues 4.1. The West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy aims to ensure all services are working towards being Trauma-Informed to support our community and workforce. What this looks like for every service will be unique and the approval of this strategy will support a co-ordinated approach to implementation. 4.2. Across West Dunbartonshire, there exists a high level of support for this work which is evidenced by pockets of good practice relating to Trauma- Informed Practice. Evidence suggests a visible commitment to embedding Trauma-Informed Practice is required to ensure sustainable change across the organisation. 4.3. To support the coordinated effort to embed this work, the West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Steering Group was established which includes operational and strategic representation. The input from this group has ensured that this strategy is relevant to services across the organisation and aligns with relevant existing priorities. 4.4. The work to become Trauma-Informed and Responsive supports and is aligned to the wider West Dunbartonshire Community Planning Goal of making West Dunbartonshire a: ‘A great place to live, work and visit'. 5. People Implications 5.1. The strategy highlights the importance of increasing staff wellbeing and having access to appropriate Trauma Training. The outcomes from this strategy will have a positive impact on staff but may also have challenges relating to capacity for training for example. 5.2. Staff across our services have experienced an increase in demand for services. This can impact staff wellbeing by increasing the occurrence of moral injury and feelings of guilt. The strategy includes a focus on increasing staff wellbeing. 5.3. As part of the National Trauma Transformation Programme, many training resources exist for staff to access. However, services may struggle to allocate protected time to this due to the pressures on services. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications
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6.1. There are no associated costs or procurement implications because of the strategy. The work for this programme has been funded by the government with £50,000 per year. This has funded a Programme Lead for Trauma Informed Practice to work across West Dunbartonshire hosted within the HSCP on a fixed-term basis. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1. Delays to the approval of this strategy lack of co-ordination of and support to the current work in this area and absence of strategic oversight and accountability. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1. An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed and can be found in Appendix 3 for noting. 9. Consultation 9.1. To support the development of the strategy, a Trauma-Informed and Responsive Steering Group was established with members from across West Dunbartonshire Council, Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. 9.2. The Programme Lead for Trauma-Informed Practice also took learning from other Trauma Lead Officer colleagues in other local authorities and feedback from staff sessions to develop this strategy. Through these sessions, the need for visible Trauma-Informed Leadership is important and clearer access to staff wellbeing resources are key starting points for this work. 10. Strategic Assessment 10.1. Many of our existing strategies will be empowered or supported with the work to become Trauma-Informed, including: Local Outcome Improvement Plan 2017-27 (LOIP 2017-27) West Dunbartonshire Council Strategic Plan 2022-27 West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan 2023-26 Improving Lives Together 10.2. The strategies above either have a specific mention of the commitment to becoming Trauma-Informed and Responsive or share the vision of West Dunbartonshire being a place that supports the needs of our community and enhances resilience. Name: Margaret-Jane Cardno
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Designation: Head of Strategy and Transformation Date: 04 February 2025 Person to Contact: Margaret- Jane Cardno Head of Strategy and Transformation West Dunbartonshire HSCP Margaret-jane.cardno@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendices: Appendix 1 - West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Strategy 2025-28 Appendix 2 – West Dunbartonshire Trauma-Informed and Responsive Delivery and Improvement Plan 2025- 28 Appendix 3 – Equality Impact Assessment
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