AQW 2123/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 14/02/2020
Answered On Date: 27/02/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health how his Department is adopting a trauma-informed approach when developing policy and legislation.

Answer:

My Department is leading on a number of trauma-informed initiatives and working to raise awareness of the impact of trauma among policy makers.

Under the cross-departmental Early Intervention Transformation Programme, led by my department, £1.4million has been invested in a Trauma Informed Practice Project, which is being taken forward by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland. The Project aims to deliver systems change by embedding a better understanding of adverse childhood experiences and trauma informed thinking across the health, education, social care, justice and voluntary sectors. Within this Project, a range of workforce development modules have been established including the Be the Change Leadership Programme in which my officials participate.

In addition, Signs of Safety, which is a strengths-based approach to children’s social work services, is being rolled out across Northern Ireland over a five year period. It aims to improve the safety of children by working with families to identify strengths, manage problems and agree solutions to keep children safe, whilst improving outcomes for both children and families.

My department is also developing a regional framework for integrated therapeutic care, which will be applied to all settings in which looked after children are cared for. This new therapeutic framework is underpinned by research and current best practice in trauma-responsive service design. A key component of the new framework will focus on building caring and purposeful relationships with children and young people, based on a shared understanding of the impacts of trauma on child development. The aim is that the application of a regionally consistent, trauma-responsive therapeutic approach will lead to improved outcomes for looked after children on a number of levels.