Although working at a Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) puts direct service providers at risk for secondary traumatic stress (STS), there are resilience-building strategies that can mitigate the impact of STS so that it does not impair providers’ functioning professionally or personally.
Resilience can be defined as positive adaptation and functioning in the face of adversity. Resilience involves the interaction of individual characteristics and environmental circumstances. For those who work at CACs, resilience-building activities are those that help them cope and thrive in the face of trauma exposure and other workplace stressors.
While it is important for CAC staff to be proactive in addressing their STS, they need organizational support and resources to help them adopt, use, and sustain resilience-building practices. Because staff are being exposed to trauma as part of their work, it is an ethical mandate for CAC leadership to attend to staff health and wellness to mitigate the effects of STS.1 Organizations have an ethical responsibility to protect the well-being of workers, which requires organizational-level responses.2
CAC staff who are exposed to indirect trauma on a daily basis will likely experience some level of STS reactions even if they have resilience-promoting characteristics, and they practice adaptive coping skills. However, CACs can help prevent STS from impairing their staff’s professional and personal functioning by creating conditions, resources, and supports that enhance their resilience.
CACs also need to consider how STS may differentially impact staff who are Black, indigenous, people of color, or who hold other marginalized identities; CACs need to promote resilience-building strategies that are inclusive and culturally relevant for all staff. There can be cultural differences in coping styles, and it is important for organizations to ask staff what resources and activities would help them cope with STS rather than making assumptions or implementing a one-size-fits-all approach.
When CACs fail to promote and support resilience-building practices among staff, they are more likely to experience negative outcomes related to STS as described in the introduction to the STS Blueprint. However, implementing health and wellness programs has been shown to mitigate turnover intention among child welfare workers.3
A good place to start is to assess your CAC on this domain by clicking on the Rating Tool link to identify areas of strength as well as those that may require more attention. Following the rating tool is the Strategies and Implementation Resources page that corresponds to each rating tool item and includes concrete guidance and resources on how to enhance staff resilience. The Considerations for MDTs link in this domain provides additional guidance for team members, and the General Resources link includes additional resources related to staff resilience and well-being.