The Sanctuary Model: A Trauma-Responsive Environmental Model for Secure Residential Facilities Within the Juvenile Justice System

Abstract

Exposure to trauma is considered a critical factor in explaining the onset and maintenance of youth aggression. Integrating trauma-responsive practices into the operations of youth-serving systems improves incarcerated youths’ adaptive functioning and ability to succeed when back in society and serves as an opportunity to reduce the likelihood of future aggression. The Sanctuary Model is an approach to organizational culture change based on the structural development of processes that facilitate trauma-responsiveness within a therapeutic community environment. The Colorado Division of Youth Services adopted the Sanctuary Model as part of the primary foundational organizational model of care in 2014. This conceptual article first describes the Sanctuary Model and discusses its implementation using Bowen and Murshid’s (2016) social justice and trauma-informed social policy framework. The article provides an analysis that leads to seven recommendations that will assist organizational leaders in justifying the model at every stage of implementation, including the ongoing sustainability of the practices.