To be Culturally Responsive is to be Trauma Informed: A Trauma Informed Approach to Culturally Responsive Evaluation

Trauma is defined as a markedly distressing experience or event that an individual or community perceives as life threatening or harmful to their physical or emotional wellbeing and impacts more than half of adults. These traumatic experiences disproportionately impact individuals who belong to historically marginalized communities due to prevailing mental health disparities as a result of systemic oppression. Despite the impact and prevalence of trauma, trauma-informed evaluation practices have yet to be explored in the context of culturally responsive evaluation. Trauma-informed approach to evaluation is a strengths-based approach which recognizes the potential impacts of trauma on communities through a sense of agency, control, and resilience. This manuscript will outline a trauma-informed evaluation approach within the context of culturally responsive evaluation to define trauma-informed evaluation, delineate guiding principles, and offer practical evaluation application strategies.