Florida Trauma Responsive and Caring Environment: Exploratory Factor Analysis of a Staff and Youth Trauma-Informed Self-Assessment Tools in Juvenile Residential Programs

• Author: Keller G. Sheppard
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/15412040221116057
• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Date: 01 January 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice

2023, Vol. 21(1) 44–71

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/15412040221116057

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Florida Trauma Responsive and

Caring Environment:

Exploratory Factor Analysis of a

Staff and Youth

Trauma-Informed

Self-Assessment Tools in

Juvenile Residential Programs

Keller G. Sheppard

1



Abstract

Trauma exposure is pervasive among juvenile justice involved youth. A growing appreciation for

the prevalence of trauma and the challenges it poses to successful treatment has prompted youth

serving organizations to adopt policies and practices that are consistent with traum a-informed

care (TIC). Despite increased interest in integrating TIC into service provision, research on

various TIC initiatives and juvenile outcomes is severely underdeveloped. Presently there are no

validated instruments that can measure TIC at the organizational level in criminal and juvenile

justice settings. To address this gap, the present study evaluates the internal structure and

psychometric properties of two self-assessment surveys—for youth and staff—intended to

measure organizational-level TIC in Florida Department of Juvenile Justice residential commit-

ment programs. Data from 2761 youth and 2781 staff survey responses from 59 programs

demonstrates that these instruments possess strong psychometric properties capable of mea-

suring several distinct aspects of organizational TIC in a juvenile justice setting.

Keywords

trauma-informed care, residential commitment, juvenile trauma, survey instrument

1

Off‌ice of Research and Data Integrity, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Keller G. Sheppard, Off‌ice of Research and Data Integrity, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, 2737 Centerview Drive,

Tallahassee, FL 32399, USA.

Email: Keller.Sheppard@f‌ldjj.gov

Introduction

Research on juvenile justice-involved youth has documented the prevalence of trauma exposure

among this group, revealing that up to 90% reported exposure to a traumatic event (Abram et al.,

2004;Dierkhising et al., 2013). Compared to the general population, these youth dispropor-

tionately experience or witness multiple forms of trauma that threaten their lives or bodily in-

tegrity, such as physical and sexual abuse, violence, life-threatening accidents, interpersonal

losses, and other events (Ford et al., 2012;Herman, 1992). Experiences of this nature have dire

consequences for the emotional, social, and biological development of youth that elevates their

risk for adverse behavioral outcomes. Mounting evidence suggests that trauma exposure is es-

pecially relevant for juvenile justice-involved youth, as it represents a signif‌icant risk factor for the

onset and continuance of delinquency (Kerig & Becker, 2010). Trauma exposure has been shown

to undermine coping mechanisms and trigger maladaptive behaviors that exacerbate delinquency

risk factors. Juvenile justice agencies—along with other organizations serving populations with

high rates of trauma—have sought to provide environments that are accommodating to the needs

of trauma-exposed youth and avoid further trauma exposure or “triggering”of traumatic

memories. While this includes mental health interventions intended to mitigate and treat the

effects of trauma (Zettler, 2021), there have also been increasing efforts to transform

organizations—and even entire systems—to better serve this particularly vulnerable population.

To this end, trauma-informed care (TIC) has gained considerable popularity as a guiding

concept for organizational reform. TIC represents a holistic approach to treating trauma-exposed

youth that goes beyond these specif‌ic treatment interventions, intended to permeate throughout all

levels of the organization. It emphasizes organizational-level changes that (1) improve awareness

and recognition of trauma’s impact on youth behavior, (2) enhance the quality and accessibility of

the treatment environment for trauma-exposed youth, (3) and prevent further trauma exposure.

Additionally, these organizational reforms are intended to improve the treatment environment for

staff. Individuals working in a juvenile justice setting are themselves directly exposed to trauma

through on-the-job victimizations, witnessing violence, and secondary trauma (Branson et al.,

2017;Hatcher et al., 2011;Kerig, 2019a). In practical terms, this involves organizational ad-

herence to several core domains of TIC and the implementation of specif‌ic policies and practices.

For example, universal screening of juveniles for trauma-related symptoms, staff training on the

impact of trauma, and fostering a physically and psychologically safe environment are all

commonly referenced in studies on TIC. However, there is no consensus on the precise orga-

nizational elements of TIC, as the def‌initions and implementation of TIC vary considerably.

Despite this growing appreciation for the role of trauma in youth delinquency and the potential

to mitigate it through organizational reform, research on various TIC initiatives and juvenile

outcomes is severely underdeveloped (Baetz et al., 2021;Elwyn et al., 2015). This may be

attributed, in part, to the lack of a validated measure with strong psychometric properties that can

systematically assess how various elements of TIC impact organizations. Instruments capable of

reliably measuring attitude towards TIC, degree of TIC adherence, and other TIC-relevant or-

ganizational factors can provide insight into how particular policies and practices affect TIC

within a program or organization (Lusthaus et al., 1999). Further, it enables agencies and re-

searchers the ability to directly assess the association between an organization’s degree of TIC and

outcomes for youth and staff members. Recently, several studies have attempted to validate TIC

survey instruments to guide research and reform for human service agencies (Bassuk et al., 2017;

Madden et al., 2017). However, no such instruments have been explored in a juvenile justice

setting.

The current study uses exploratory factor analysis to evaluate the internal structure and

psychometric properties of two self-assessment surveys—for youth and staff—intended to

Sheppard 45