Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance Provides Grant for Trauma-Informed Care Training
With increasingly fewer funding sources available for not-for-profits, it's become more important than ever in today's business world to explore community collaboration as a possible resource for grants.
Enter the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance, Inc.who is committed to delivering workforce solutions designed to improve staff skills, boost productivity and increase a business's efficiency. Through their Employed Worker Training (EWT) Program, they provide funding assistance to employers to train existing employees in order to improve employee retention and employee advancement within the company. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay Center, applied for, and received, an Employed Worker Training Grant, one that is available to any business - for profit and non-profit alike.
The Crisis Center was able to realize an unexpected opportunity for Trauma-Informed Care-related training with Robert D. Macy, Ph.D., the leading expert in trauma-informed care. He is the co-founder and director of the International Center for Disaster Resilience. With assistance from the Crisis Center's Human Resources Department and guidance and direction from Board Member Donna Harak of Harak Associates, the Crisis Center successfully secured a EWT grant with a $50,000 reimbursement limit.
From September, 2011 through May, 2012, 107 members of the Crisis Center staff took the TIC training with funds provided by the workforce grant. On numerous occasions during the last six months, Dr. Macy personally trained the Crisis Center staff in trauma-informed care, communications and culture, self-care and psychological first aid. He chose to work with the Crisis Center because of the excellent collaboration of resources that assist in this type of work. The Crisis Center's integration of counseling services, TransCare Medical Transportation Services, and the 2-1-1 crisis and information referral line allows for the most effective application of trauma-informed care.
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, which offers an array of program and services for those in need, have teamed up with Dr. Robert Macy, the leading expert in Trauma-Informed Care field, to give our community what it needs most - a network of trauma-informed care and response.
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, is assuming a leadership role by taking action to not only respond when these issues occur, but to be there to prevent these issues from ever occurring. The Crisis Center is also partnering with other community organization such as mental health facilities, law enforcement and government agencies to start implementing these TIC practices across-the-board. This is only the beginning, but with collaboration from community partners, we are guaranteed to see less violence, less mental health problems and less crime with proper implementation of these TIC practices.
