Trauma-informed and relational approaches to service provision: building community-based project capacity to respond to interpersonal violence through a national initiative

BACKGROUND: Community services that engage and service marginalized families can act as an important entry point for mothers and children experiencing interpersonal violence. The purpose of this study was to use an initiative that included training, implementation, and evaluation of an interpersonal violence intervention to understand changes in the capacity of service providers in community-based organizations to use trauma-informed and relational approaches to support mothers and children experiencing violence in relationships. METHODS: Participants (N = 27) were service providers from 14 community-based organizations across Canada, who had been trained to implement an interpersonal violence intervention with mothers in their communities. Using a phenomenological approach, participants engaged in an open-ended interview in which they were encouraged to reflect on their experiences in the intervention initiative, with prompts relating to the ways in which their work and their organization may have changed as a result of their participation. RESULTS: Findings indicated that participants were able to identify changes in four key areas related to trauma-informed practice: awareness (e.g., attitudes toward interpersonal violence), competency (e.g., application of trauma-informed knowledge), collaboration (e.g., working with other organizations to provide services to children and families), and safety (e.g., organizational policies to ensure safe, welcoming spaces). Further, participants identified these areas of change at the level of themselves as facilitators of the interpersonal violence intervention, their organizations, and their communities. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that, through training, implementation, and evaluation of an interpersonal violence intervention, service providers in community-based projects were able to extend trauma-informed and relational principles not only to the intervention itself, but also to their own work, as well as that of their organizations and communities. With some additional support, leveraging the existing capacities within community-based projects may be an effective means to support mothers and children experiencing interpersonal violence and other challenges. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-020-09960-3.