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Health Department outlines 'Trauma 101' training and regional 'healing organization' effort
Summary
The Department of Public Health described a trauma‑informed 'Healing Organization' initiative that has trained more than 3,000 staff, aims to train the full workforce (described as roughly 9,000 employees), and has received recognition from SAMHSA as a regional model to be shared across six counties.
Lynn Dolce, director for Foster Care Mental Health and a member of the department’s curriculum team, presented the Health Department’s Trauma 101 curriculum and a broader plan to transform the department into a “healing organization.” Dolce said the approach pairs trauma‑informed care with cultural humility and leadership development and is intended to change how staff understand and respond to trauma in patients and co‑workers.
"Trauma and toxic stress have been clearly linked to many adverse health outcomes," Dolce said, outlining connections to chronic disease and behavioral health. She said the department has taught the training to more than 3,000 employees to date and plans to extend the curriculum to the entire departmental workforce, which she described as "all 9,000 of us." The training is a three‑hour course that covers basic neurobiology, cultural humility, communication tools (including a PIRLS technique adapted from the American Medical Association), and self‑assessment and follow‑up evaluation.
Dolce told commissioners the curriculum is being embedded with other departmental initiatives — including LEAN process improvement and a racial humility component — and stressed the need for leadership buy‑in and policy changes to make the work sustainable. "We have to create this change and embed it into our policy and procedure," she said. The department’s work has been recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and is being adapted as a regional model across six counties, Dolce said.
Commissioners asked how the training would translate into day‑to‑day work and how the department will measure adoption. Dolce described competency frameworks and climate surveys as primary tools for tracking progress and said the department will follow up with trainees two months after sessions to assess whether they applied changes. Commissioners and staff discussed barriers including initiative fatigue, staff fear of speaking up, and the need to target middle management and succession planning to sustain reforms. One commissioner flagged the program’s potential long timeline, with Dolce saying cultural change could take roughly a decade.
The commission requested follow‑up reporting on the initiative’s progress in the coming year.
