Contact: Communications@thenationalcouncil.org or 202.684.7457

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (National Council) announced the 21 organizations chosen to participate in the first National Council Learning Community for Adoption of Trauma-Informed Practices (see list below). The learning community is a group of healthcare organizations committed to creating environments and services that address the needs of individuals who have experienced significant trauma. The learning community is supported by an award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

“We can’t begin to address the totality of an individual’s healthcare, or focus on promoting health and preventing disease unless we address trauma,” said National Council President and CEO Linda Rosenberg. “The greater the trauma, the greater the risk for alcoholism and alcohol abuse, depression, illicit drug use, suicide attempts, and other negative outcomes. Trauma-informed care will soon be seen as the expectation, not the exception, in behavioral health treatment systems,” she added.

Trauma is pervasive — and now considered to be a near universal experience of individuals with behavioral health problems. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health, 55 to 99 percent of women in substance use treatment and from 85 to 95 percent of women in the public mental health system report a history of trauma, with the abuse most commonly having occurred in childhood.

“Understanding what happened to us, not what is wrong with us, sometimes takes a lifetime" says learning community participant Gayle Bluebird of the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. “Hopefully focus on trauma will allow us to talk about our histories and be understood so that we can move on and have meaningful lives.”

The 21 organizations chosen to participate in the National Council Learning Community for Adoption of Trauma-Informed Practices are:
A New Leaf, Inc., Mesa, AZ
Advantage Behavioral Health Systems, Athens, GA
Beech Brook, Cleveland, OH
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Denver, CO
Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Philadelphia, PA
Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (DSAMH)-State of Delaware, New Castle, DE
Easter Seals Michigan, Auburn Hills, MI
Family Health Centers, Inc. Phoenix Health Center, Louisville, KY
Gateway Healthcare, Inc., Pawtucket, RI
Hill Country Community MHMR Center, Kerrville, TX
Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, Inc, Omaha, NE
Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc., Cleveland, OH
On Our Own of St. Mary's Inc., & Prince George’s County Wellness & Recovery Center, Leonardtown, MD
Presbyterian Hospital, Charlotte, NC
Refugee Services, Minnesota Council of Churches, Minneapolis, MN
Region 3 Behavioral Health Services, Kearney, NE
Salvation Army Haven, Los Angeles, CA
San Diego Youth Services, San Diego, CA
Santa Maria Hostel, Inc., Houston, TX
Seminole Behavioral Healthcare, Fern Park, FL
Truman Medical Centers, Kansas City, MO

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) association of 1,800 behavioral healthcare organizations that provide treatment and rehabilitation for mental illnesses and addiction disorders to nearly six million adults, children and families in communities across the country. Learn more at www.TheNationalCouncil.org.