About the Task Force
The statewide, multiyear Trauma-Informed Care Task Force was created by the 2021 Hawaiʻi State Legislature with the passage of House Bill 1322, becoming Act 209. The task force will propose recommendations for the state’s child-serving agencies and organizations to become collectively more trauma-informed to better serve Hawai’i’s children and families, and improve the health of our communities. The task force will report its findings and completed framework before the convening of the Hawai’i State Legislature’s 2024 regular session.
The Trauma-Informed Care Task Force members include representatives from the state’s major family-serving agencies, as well as those from important nonprofit and community organizations serving families across our islands. Tia L. R. Hartsock, project director of Data to Wisdom within the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division, serves as chair.
Meetings are held every last Tuesday of the month, from 10 a.m. to noon. Details for each meeting are published on the state’s public meetings calendar.
The task force is creating a framework for trauma-informed and trauma-responsive practice for statewide adoption. The framework will include, but not be limited to:
- Definitions of what constitutes trauma-informed care and response practice that can be applied to any school, health care provider, law enforcement agency, community organization, state agency, or other entity that has contact with children/youth;
- Clear examples of how individuals and institutions may implement trauma-informed and responsive practices across different domains, including organizational leadership, workforce development, policy and evaluation;
- Strategies for preventing and addressing secondary traumatic stress for professionals and providers;
- An implementation and sustainability plan, including a coordinated data collection/evaluation plan with metrics for assessing framework progress;
- Best practices, including those from native Hawaiian cultural practices; as well as regarding research and strategies from local trauma-informed care practitioners.
Meeting Materials
All meeting materials, including meeting recordings, minutes and handouts, are available by year and then month:
Newsletter
If you’d like to be added to our mailing list, please send an email with your contact information to Lyndsey Anderson, a task force member, at [email protected] with the subject line Re: Task Force List.
Contact
Questions? Want to get in touch? Email Scott Shimabukuro, a task force chair person, at [email protected], or Casey Park, a task force member, at [email protected].