Assignment Task:
Below you will find a case study of Jacob, an adolescent with mild intellectual disability. Please read the case study and consider what you have learned about trauma-informed care. After reading the case study, you will respond to the prompt/question that follows.
Jacob was a 16 year-old male with mild intellectual disability and a potential history of abuse, however, the details were unclear. He had been in the foster care system for about five years prior to being adopted by his current family. Notably, Jacob's adoptive parents had difficulty with him over the past 6 months. He often disregarded their expectations and ran away on a few occasions. Given these challenges, the adoptive parents were able to secure a temporary placement for him with a local non-profit agency that supported people with IDD. As such, Jacob was placed in a community-based group home that provided 24-hour supervision. A behavior specialist was sent by the agency to the house to do a brief assessment of Jacob's needs.
Upon arrival, the male behavior specialist spoke with staff who directed him to Jacob's room. As the behavior specialist approached Jacob's bedroom, he saw him sitting on the floor, visibly upset and crying. The behavior specialist tapped on the door and asked Jacob if it was ok to enter the room. Jacob told him that it was ok. Keeping the door open, the behavior specialist sat on the floor while facing Jacob with a few feet between them. He asked Jacob a few questions about how he was doing; Jacob was responsive and engaging. The behavior specialist talked with Jacob about his feelings and validated his feelings given the challenges of being a teenager and not being with his family. As Jacob continued to be upset, albeit less so than at the initial greeting, the behavior specialist asked Jacob if he needed a hug. Jacob put out his arms and the behavior specialist gave him a gentle hug to provide further consolation. The behavior specialist talked a bit further with Jacob and then indicated that he would come back in a day or two to see how things were going. Jacob smiled and agreed to the plan.
Prior to leaving the residence the behavior specialist talked with the staff about the meeting and provided some tips on how to work with Jacob until a formal plan could be developed. About an hour later when the behavior specialist returned to the administrative office, the behavior specialist was informed by his supervisor that the group home had called the office to report an allegation of sexual abuse against him.
(1) Identify a few ways in which the behavior specialist's interactions at the residence demonstrated trauma-informed care.
(2) Are there ways in which the behavior specialist's interactions and/or the residence could have been improved to better demonstrate trauma-informed care? If yes, provide a few examples.