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Sheriff's Office expands trauma‑informed wellness program, court approves two positions
Summary
After a presentation on trauma‑informed work for inmates and staff, the court approved funding for two full‑time positions to expand peer support and wellness work in the Sheriff's Office; countywide rollout discussed with county attorney and HR.
Travis County Sheriff’s Office officials briefed commissioners on a trauma‑informed approach to inmate and staff wellness and the court approved two full‑time positions to expand peer support and wellness programming.
Karen Raynes, the Sheriff’s Office trauma‑informed administrator, described the office’s strategy as a culture‑change effort that blends environmental improvements, training, prevention and responsive services for both incarcerated people and staff. She highlighted facility refurbishments (for example, a repurposed women’s unit and a refreshed booking area) intended to improve privacy and reduce stress, and described a county‑wide “badge” and QR code linking staff to a consolidated resource page and a recent direct mail outreach with a refrigerator magnet containing the same resources.
Raynes described the Sheriff’s Office partnership with the Samaritan Center for Counseling that provides the POWER (Professional Officer Wellness Reset) program: up to 10 free, anonymous therapy or acupuncture sessions per participating staff member. The Sheriff’s Office said more than 40 employees have used the service for roughly 150 sessions so far. The court heard that the Sheriff’s Office also retrained peer support volunteers, is expanding peer support training and will require trauma‑informed online training for all staff starting June 1.
The court unanimously approved a BATS request to create a social services program coordinator (1.0 FTE) and a law enforcement deputy senior (1.0 FTE) to direct peer support and critical incident teams and expand wellness programming; the Sheriff’s Office indicated it will fund the positions from internal vacancy savings this fiscal year. Commissioner Gomez moved and Commissioner Shea seconded the motion.
Commissioners and staff discussed making programs available countywide and noted County Attorney and HR work is underway to explore countywide wellness supports for other departments. The court asked for broader coordination and shared next steps to study countywide options.
