Trauma Informed Care & the Point In Time Count

This morning I finished the first day of the Homeless Point In Time Count as Mandated by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Our team has been assigned to an area from 900 West heading West to Redwood Road and from State Road 201 South to 3500 South. Part of the area includes the Jordan River. The three of us hiked along the Jordan River and did not encounter any individuals experiencing homelessness. We may hike along there tomorrow morning from 4 AM to 6 AM which are the hours for the PIT Count.

Part of the joy of doing this activity is our understanding of Trauma Informed Care. If you would like to understand what Trauma Informed Care is, here is a link to The Puppy Story on YouTube which illustrates Trauma Informed Care. The video is just over five minutes long.

We will be covering this same area Friday and Saturday Mornings from 4 AM to 6 AM. Part of the Point In Time Count is encountering people who are experiencing homeless and asking them survey questions which we have on our phones. This data is collected and is uploaded into the Utah Continuum of Care's HMIS database. This data is later reported to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

One of the benefits of this survey is that we can connect people experiencing homeless with local resources to get them housed first so they can work on their traumas they have experienced in their lives. The wonderful part of this is we get to connect with people without judgment and share our compassion and respect. If the people we engage with decline to answer a question, they can do that freely and we can  note that in the questionnaire. There is no negative consequence for not answering a question. We use an application that uses location services on our phones so Case Workers can locate these individuals and help them connect to services.

So now we are onward to the next two mornings, now. I will share a photo of our team on this blog post after Saturday morning. 

Trauma Informed Care is realizing some of us have experienced trauma of some form in our lives and we could have adopted ineffective coping mechanisms, e.g. Substance Use and other Behavioral and Mental Health Disorders. 

Utah has a wide array of services to people across the state. This is why I love to be in Public Service. Service is where it is at.

Have a wonderful life, Everyone!

Best and Kindest Regards!

~TommyJ~