Trauma-informed care is an approach used to engage people with histories of trauma. It recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role that trauma can play in people’s lives. Trauma-informed criminal justice responses can help to avoid re-traumatizing individuals. This increases safety for all, decreases the chance of an individual returning to criminal behavior, and supports the recovery of justice-involved women and men with serious mental illness. Partnerships across systems can also help link individuals to trauma-informed services and treatment.

Trauma-Informed Response Training

The GAINS Center has developed training for criminal justice professionals to raise awareness about trauma and its effects. “How Being Trauma-Informed Improves Criminal Justice System Responses” is a training for criminal justice professionals to:

• Increase understanding and awareness of the impact of trauma
• Develop trauma-informed responses
• Provide strategies for developing and implementing trauma-informed policies

This highly interactive training is specifically tailored to community-based criminal justice professionals, including police officers, community corrections personnel, mental health care providers, and court personnel.

Featuring: Leslie Henriquez, LCSW-C, Doctoral Candidate

Leslie is a bilingual (English/Spanish) therapist with more than 20 years of clinical experience serving children, adolescents, adults, and families across multiple systems of care. Her career spans child welfare and reunification services, criminal justice rehabilitation programs, and both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment settings.

Throughout her work, Leslie has developed specialized expertise in trauma-informed care, family services, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). She integrates evidence-based practices with a culturally responsive, strengths-focused framework that honors the lived experiences of the communities she serves. Her clinical lens is informed by systems theory and an understanding of how family dynamics, community context, and structural factors influence behavioral health outcomes.

Leslie is particularly passionate about suicide prevention, resilience-building, and supporting families navigating complex mental health challenges. She also provides youth mental health education and trauma informed training in the community and remains committed to advancing equity within behavioral health systems.

With gratitude, Brook Lane acknowledges this program is funded in part by the William B. and Sylvia A. Hunsberger Fund. Thank you.