Trauma-Informed Evaluation Half-Day Workshop

There has been a growing awareness of the ways that people can be impacted by traumatic experiences, and with that, an increased focus on ensuring that programs, agencies, and communities are sensitive to these experiences. As evaluators, it is important that we also understand what it means to be trauma-informed. Trauma-informed evaluations are designed to enhance participant safety and comfort throughout the evaluation process.

This half-day workshop is a deep-dive into applying trauma-Informed principles to the evaluation process. We will explore the common phases of evaluation (from design/inception through collecting data and reporting findings) through case studies and identify opportunities to make each stage trauma-informed. This will be dedicated time for discussion and application of trauma-informed evaluation with relevant examples – please bring your own if you have a project you would like to workshop. Small and large group work will support participants to champion trauma-informed evaluation practices and processes in their organizations. 

It is strongly encouraged that participants have previously attended the trauma-informed evaluation session (either in-person or via webinar) or review the webinar link in the registration confirmation email so that everyone comes in with a base-level of knowledge. 

Participants will leave the training with practical tips and examples of how to:

·         Build trusting and transparent relationships between evaluators and communities

·         Promote authentic community engagement in the evaluation process

·         Ensure that evaluation approaches are aligned with organizational or community frameworks for being trauma-informed

·         Design evaluation approaches to maximize participant safety and comfort

·         Identify and address vicarious trauma within the evaluation team

·         Infuse trauma-informed principles through the analysis and reporting process

MNEA thanks our presenters and Youthprise for co-sponsoring this workshop .  

·         Blair Harrison is a Senior Research Scientist and Evaluator at the Minnesota Department of Health. In her current work she aims to, along with her team, approach evaluation and data-driven projects through a trauma-informed, inter-sectional lens. Blair has worked at the cross-section of data and trauma for over a decade with work experience in hospice, Huntington’s disease, substance use and severe persistent illness, pediatric emergency rooms, and military sexual trauma.

·          Jill Lipski Cain is a Managing Consultant and The Improve Group, an evaluation firm in St. Paul. She works to make evaluation inclusive and meaningful. Her background in gender violence prevention has helped her evaluation work to be trauma-informed. Jill has led projects in Minnesota and North Dakota that explore organizational and statewide efforts to be trauma-informed.

·         Cheryl Holm-Hansen, Ph.D. is an independent consultant. Previously, Senior Research Manager at Wilder Research, she has more than 25 years of experience conducting evaluations and other applied research. While her work encompasses a wide range of topics, she specializes in the area of child and adolescent mental health, including early childhood mental health, school-based mental health, mental health systems development, and recovery from trauma.  She is a former MN Evaluation Association board member.

Workshop sponsors

Please note, this session will only run if there are enough people registered by Monday, September 16 at 12:00 p.m. (midnight) Central Time. We will confirm if this event will happen with all registered participants and provide a full reimbursement should the event be canceled.