Trauma and Healing Informed Engagement in Transforming CalWORKs

Course Overview

This course helps CalWORKs Welfare-to-Work staff understand trauma, common trauma responses and how stress may influence participant trust, communication, decision-making, behavior and engagement. It emphasizes connections among trauma-informed practice, healing-centered engagement, cultural humility and collaborative action planning. Participants will have opportunities to practice asking curiosity-based questions and co-creating plans that reflect family priorities and available supports.

Learning Objectives

After attending this training, participants will be able to:

• Recognize and reframe how trauma and chronic stress may affect participant behavior, engagement and decision-making.
• Use curiosity-based, culturally humble, open communication to support safety, transparency, voice and choice.
• Co-create a realistic participant-led Welfare-to-Work plan that aligns family priorities with allowable activities, enabling supports and plan review.

How This Training Helps Transform CalWORKs

This trauma-informed course places a strong emphasis on trauma-responsive engagement to help move professionals from a compliance-based approach to one that centers family voice and choice and supports meaningful progress toward family stability.