Assessing Alignment Between Intellectual and Developmental Disability Service Providers and Trauma-Informed Care: An Exploratory Study.

Presnell et al. (2022) asked staff at IDD agencies how well their work lines up with SAMHSA’s six trauma-informed care principles. They used an online survey. The team looked for gaps between what providers do and what trauma-informed care says they should do.

Staff showed only partial alignment with trauma-informed care. They scored best on safety and trustworthiness. They scored lowest on peer support and cultural humility. The study calls this a good start, not a finish.

Nevin et al. (2005) saw the same pattern seventeen years earlier: nurses felt eager to help adults with IDD but lacked targeted training. Jade’s team shows the training gap is still there, just framed around trauma.

Holingue et al. (2020) found caregivers unhappy with mental-health crisis care. Jade’s audit helps explain why: if staff miss parts of trauma-informed care, crisis moments feel unsafe.

Finke et al. (2017) reported high burnout and weak team vision in community ID teams. Jade adds that low alignment with peer-support and empowerment principles may feed that burnout.

You can copy the authors’ quick gap check. List SAMHSA’s six principles on one page. Ask your staff to mark where they feel strong, shaky, or missing. Schedule micro-trainings for the shaky spots. Five-minute huddles on peer support or cultural humility add up fast and may lower burnout.