Through a federal grant, Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, is seeking pilot sites to be part of a national-scope project to implement and evaluate a Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT). The VTT will be an online repository of resources collected, assessed and selected as the best resources being used thus far in the field. The toolkit will be a major contribution to the field that is hungry for resources to address vicarious trauma. Pilot sites have the opportunity to test-drive this toolkit, and ensure that it meets its purpose: to be a state of the art resource for victim assistance providers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical services (EMS) providers, and other first responders to learn about and respond to vicarious trauma.
Four pilot sites will be selected from around the country. Each pilot site will have an eight member team, with two representatives from each of these disciplines: law enforcement, firefighters, victim assistance and emergency medical services providers. The VTT resources will be assessed for their relevance to these disciplines and other first responders who may also participate in the pilot.
The overall time commitment for each member of the pilot team is approximately 45 hours over the five month period of the pilot which starts in early 2015 and ends in July.
Tasks for selected pilot sites include:
- Conducting an organizational assessment of agency’s readiness to address vicarious trauma.
- Identifying gaps and challenges in current policies, procedures, practices, and programs .
- Developing an action plan that outlines the steps needed to implement the VTT to address gaps and build on existing efforts.
- Evaluating the VTT and its usefulness in addressing vicarious trauma.
The National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) is a partner in the project which is funded through a two-year grant to Northeastern from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
Full instructions on how to become a pilot site are available on http://www.northeastern.edu/iuhrp/projects/current/vicarious-trauma-toolkit-vtt/
The deadline for applying to be a pilot site is October 22, 2014, by 11:59 EST.
For more information about the project or the pilot itself, direct inquiries to: [email protected]
