RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS EMPLOYING CREDIBLE MESSENGERS & OTHERS WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE

This curriculum was created in collaboration with United Way, the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, NYCJA, and a steering committee of experts with vast personal and professional experience in the community violence prevention field.

Before the curriculum was developed, researchers from NYCJA conducted a comprehensive needs assessment to accurately capture their perspectives and experiences regarding what key stakeholders were seeing on the ground. Through in-depth interviews, the steering committee members and members from United Way and DYCD shared their perspectives on the challenges, barriers, and opportunities for improvement in developing and implementing trauma-informed workplaces – where credible messengers feel supported and uplifted in their roles and duties.

Below, please find a series of recommendations that emerged from the needs assessment:

INVEST IN BUILDING A TRAUMA-INFORMED ORGANIZATION

By building a trauma-informed foundation, community-based organizations (CBOs) can create supportive and empowering environments for credible messengers, promote fair employment practices, challenge stigmas and misconceptions, and ultimately enhance their ability to effectively interrupt cycles of violence and promote lasting positive change within communities.

If organizations are not proactive in developing trauma-informed workplaces, they risk facing organizational trauma, a phenomenon that refers to the collective impact of traumatic experiences on an entire organization and its staff. It can stem from direct exposure to traumatic events, vicarious trauma from working with traumatized populations, or systemic issues like toxic leadership or discrimination within the organization itself.{*}[Vivian, P., & Hormann, S. (2013). Organizational trauma and healing. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.]{*}[Kahn, W. A. (2003). The revelation of organizational trauma. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,39(4).]

This trauma can manifest through high turnover, low morale, conflicts, avoidance of difficult conversations, and normalization of trauma as "part of the job.”{*}[Hormann, S., & Vivian, P. (2005). Toward an understanding of traumatized organizations and how to intervene in them. Traumatology, 11(3), 159–169.] It can produce high rates of burnout and secondary traumatic stress,{*}[Bloom, S. L., & Farragher, B. (2010). Destroying sanctuary: A crisis in human service delivery systems. Oxford University Press.] perpetuate unhealthy coping mechanisms,{*}[Handran, J. (2015). Trauma-informed systems of care: The role of organizational culture in the development of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction. Journal of Social Welfare and Human Rights, 3(2).] and be passed down intergenerationally.{*}[Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, 45, 109-119. ]{*}[Diamond, M. A. (1993). The unconscious life of organizations: interpreting organizational identity. Quorum Books/Greenwood Publishing Group.]

These issues can be exacerbated by a lack of diversity, inadequate support structures, and a failure to prioritize employee well-being.

Addressing organizational trauma requires acknowledging its existence, implementing trauma- informed practices, fostering a supportive and resilient culture, and actively dismantling systemic contributors to the trauma. This comprehensive approach is crucial for creating a healthier, more effective work environment, especially for credible messengers in violence interruption roles.

To be more trauma-informed, organizations that employ credible messengers should strive to:

Invest in multi-year contracts: This financial security reduces stress and fosters a sense of safety for credible messengers who may have experienced financial instability due to past involvement with the criminal legal system.
Ensure fair and equitable employment practices: By prioritizing fair employment practices, community-based organizations that hire credible messengers can uphold their integrity, build trust within the communities they serve, and create a supportive and empowering environment for staff. This should include reasonable work hours, sufficient time off, adequate pay (comparable to other first responders), ample professional growth opportunities, and staff support.
Promote organizational health and wellness: Organizational health and wellness refers to a workplace culture that normalizes self-care and provides mental health resources, stress management training, and work-life balance - fostering stronger community relationships built on trust. Proactively investing in practices supporting employee well-being is vital for sustainable, impactful violence prevention efforts. Organizations can do this through conducting collaborative supervision, establishing norms around appropriate boundaries in the workplace, selecting strong candidates for credible messenger positions and supervisors, and educating supervisors on the principles of trauma-informed leadership, peer support values, and signs of trauma.

Moreover, organizations can consider assessing organizational trauma with validated tools. These scientifically developed, reliable tools provide data on factors like vicarious trauma, burnout, and workplace well-being. Potential instruments include the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessment (ORCA), which evaluates an organization's readiness to implement trauma-informed practices and assesses factors like motivation, resources, staff attributes, and organizational climate. Additional resources include the Trauma-Informed Organizational Assessment (TIOA),{*}[The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (n.d.). NCTSN trauma-informed organizational assessment.] created by the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS), which assesses policies, procedures, practices, and culture through a trauma-informed lens.

RECOGNIZE AND SUPPORT THE WORK OF CREDIBLE MESSENGERS

Credible messengers confront distinct challenges that organizations must proactively address. Their backgrounds and shared experiences with those they serve require adequate training, support, and guidance on professional boundary management and appropriate self-disclosure. Credible messengers come into this role at varying levels of personal healing from past traumas, which necessitates tailored support. Comprehensive skill-building training on trauma-informed care, emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution are vital for effective violence prevention efforts while avoiding re-traumatization.

To address the unique challenges and needs specific to the credible messenger role, organizations should:

EXPAND THE CREDIBLE MESSENGER DEFINITION: Virtually all steering committee members discussed a need to expand the definition of a credible messenger, as well as diversify their roles and responsibilities. When asked how they define credible messengers, our steering committee members stated:

“Individuals who support others who are experiencing a similar situation or problem.”
“Not merely sharing your experience but creating a sense of relatability for the person being supported.”
“[There is] unparalleled value and equity in one person supporting another, not through a lens of their own expertise, but through that other person’s expertise.”
“In the early days it was someone who had been a victim or perpetrator of gun violence, mostly folks who had carried guns or had been arrested or had served prison time. That has evolved. Folks who have now taken on those roles have a bevy of experience. They may be adjacent to those experiences. Maybe the brother or sister of someone who was the victim of gang violence."

INVEST IN CREDIBLE MESSENGERS: Establishing credible, sustainable violence interruption services requires investing in the roles themselves and the individuals filling them. There must be clear distinctions between job titles and delineated pathways for advancement that are accompanied by pay increases. This formal structure promotes workload management and role clarity. However, given the high-stress nature of this work, it is equally as important to provide supportive resources like critical incident debriefing. Violence interrupters require holistic and comprehensive support - from defined career trajectories to mental health provisions - to be effective in their role and to make a lasting impact in the community.

TAILOR HIRING AND ONBOARDING: Tailoring hiring and onboarding processes for credible messengers is crucial given their unique backgrounds and the nature of violence interruption work. Standardized practices may overlook nuances in assessing relevant lived experiences, trauma exposure, and resilience, which are critical in this role. Develop hiring practices specific to this role. This allows for evaluating motivations, potential triggers, and emotional intelligence to ensure appropriate candidate selection while tailored onboarding and significant orientation training provide support in making this career transition, offer trauma-informed training, and establish healthy boundaries. Additionally, implement hiring and onboarding practices that prioritize cultural humility, awareness, and inclusivity that go beyond basic cultural sensitivity, encouraging openness to learning and self-reflection.

PROVIDE BOUNDARY MANAGEMENT TRAINING: Equip credible messengers with strategies to navigate personal boundaries, handle disclosures from both clients and peers and manage the psychological toll of their work. Credible messengers are hired for their deep connections and ties to the community they serve. The specific qualification that makes them credible, however, also presents challenges in establishing boundaries and often provides opportunities to re-engage in old norms that can be harmful.

INVEST IN CREDIBLE MESSENGERS’ SELF-DISCOVERY AND GROWTH: Offer opportunities for personal development, including self-discovery and understanding of grief and trauma. This empowers credible messengers and enhances their effectiveness. Organizations must also be mindful that their credible messengers arrive at varying levels of personal healing and recovery. Credible messengers are brought into violence interruption roles precisely because of their lived experiences with crime, violence, or the criminal legal system. However, those same formative experiences that lend them credibility are also sources of significant personal trauma. While some have found empowerment and motivation in connecting to their past experiences, many are in varying stages of their own healing journeys. We cannot assume that surviving adversity equates to having processed and resolved the deep emotional wounds it inflicts. Providing wraparound supportive services tailored to everyone’s needs is essential for both well-being and the long-term efficacy of the violence interruption work.

STRENGTHEN COLLABORATION AND EVALUATION

Organizations can do this by:

Cultivating strong collaborative community relationships, specifically with community leaders, provides vital insights into neighborhood dynamics, emerging conflicts, and residents' most pressing needs. Their guidance ensures interventions are culturally resonant and respectful of local values. Involving community groups like faith-based institutions, youth programs, and advocacy collectives amplifies messaging and mobilizes broader support for violence reduction efforts. Transparent two-way communication builds trust and accountability with those directly impacted by this work.

Ensuring effective collaboration among peer organizations is paramount despite understandable territoriality over funding, contracts, and staff retention. A siloed approach undermines the collective mission of reducing community violence and its root causes. Sharing best practices, data, and resources exponentially increases organizational learning and refines successful interventions. Coordinating efforts can avoid duplication, maximizes coverage areas, and prevents at-risk individuals from falling through gaps. Partnerships enable organizations to complement each other's strengths, providing a wider array of wraparound services. Presenting a united front also amplifies the voices advocating for policy changes and increased support.

Strengthening relationships with outside stakeholders amplifies violence interruption efforts when done with intention and genuine investment. This includes community groups, social services, mental health providers, and government agencies. This multidisciplinary approach fosters a holistic approach to addressing violence's root causes. Although outside the scope of this curriculum, steering committee members had strong beliefs on the appropriate relationship between credible messengers and police departments. At a minimum, committee members believed that the relationships and expectations around engagement and communication should be clearly defined, with police departments providing relevant information to credible messenger staff to ensure participant success. For example, this might look like NYPD (as a NYC example) clearing warrants or notifying a credible messenger if a participant needs to turn themself in or missed an appointment. Additionally, steering committee members highlighted that many credible messengers in NYC have complicated and traumatic histories with members of the NYPD, which may be triggered when they respond to an incident and law enforcement is present. It should not be a credible messenger requirement to engage, particularly given this vulnerability.

Conducting rigorous data collection, evaluation, and outcome tracking can help violence interruption organizations demonstrate impact and drive continuous improvement. Tracking data strengthens grant applications and fundraising efforts by providing concrete evidence of impact. This data enables organizations to identify strengths, pinpoint areas needing refinement, and align practices with evidence-based models. However, organizations must be mindful not to overburden credible messengers with these responsibilities. Instead, dedicated roles and resources should be established specifically for evaluation and analysis efforts. Providing this support allows credible messengers to focus their energy on the frontline work while enabling the organization to assess its programs and comprehensively make evidence-based decisions.

This can be done by tracking program outcomes, including but not limited to criminal legal outcomes (recidivism, FTA, technical violations) and violence reduction metrics, as well as outcomes beyond criminal legal outcomes - physical and mental wellbeing, upward social mobility, etc. CBOs lacking internal data expertise should leverage partnerships with universities or research institutions to establish effective data tracking and evaluation for their credible messenger violence interruption programs. They can offer guidance on designing data collection tools, choosing appropriate metrics, and interpreting results.

Moreover, CBOs should consistently monitor participant well-being and regularly assess and report on credible messenger satisfaction, well-being, and retention. The work of credible messengers in violence interruption is both emotionally and psychologically demanding. They are regularly exposed to traumatic situations and asked to intervene in potentially volatile and violent circumstances. This takes an immense personal toll. Given this, CBOs engaged in this work should be aware and mindful of the well-being of their credible messenger staff. Conducting regular assessments of job satisfaction, burnout risk, mental health needs, and overall work-life balance is essential. This allows organizations to identify areas requiring more organizational support and self-care resources. Tracking staff retention rates also provides insights into whether fundamental changes may be needed to create a more sustainable work environment. By prioritizing the health and well-being of those on the front lines, organizations can reduce staff turnover and empower credible messengers to be effective in their roles and healthy members of the communities they serve.

STORY FROM THE FIELD: “SUPERVISORY CONFLICT”

STORY FROM THE FIELD: “PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE FIRST”

STORY FROM THE FIELD: “REALITY CHECK”

STORY FROM THE FIELD: “BEING WITH”