Risking Connection Change Model (RCCM)

Organizations with professionals, paraprofessionals, and others that work with children, adolescents, and/or adults who are survivors of traumatic life events 

Risking Connection® Change Model (RCCM) is an 24-month systems-change model that supports the transformation of human service and health organizations and systems to trauma-informed care (TIC). It includes work with organizational leadership, Risking Connection (RC) trauma training, Risking Connection train-the-trainer, follow-up coaching and consultation, and preprogram–postprogram evaluation. Risking Connection agency trainers are credentialed and benefit from required webinars and recertifications. Organizations that have completed RCCM join a community of RC client agencies that support each other in their TIC implementation work. There are RC trauma training adaptations for intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) organizations. RCCM can also include training, including a train-the-trainer, in the Restorative Approach, a treatment-oriented alternative to point-and-level behavior management systems used in group care settings as well as a Foster Care model. 

John Engel

• Title: Director
• Agency/Affiliation: Traumatic Stress Institute of Klingberg Family Centers
• Website: https://www.traumaticstressinstitute.org/services/risking-connection-change-model/
• Email: John.Engel@Klingberg.org

The goals of the Risking Connection Change Model (RCCM) are: 

• Build organizational commitment by all levels of the organization to TIC culture change 
• Install organizational structures that can implement and sustain TIC  
• Provide all staff with a common framework and language to understand trauma and its impact 
• Increase staff beliefs favorable to trauma-informed care  
• Increase staff behaviors aligned with trauma-informed practices 
• Decrease the use of restraints and seclusion in organizations 
• Decrease staff turnover  
• Decrease staff vicarious trauma/secondary trauma 
• Increase staff job satisfaction  
• Increase in foster parent retention and decrease in foster placement disruptions 

The essential components of Risking Connection Change Model (RCCM) include: 

• An initial needs assessment and contracting 
• Training and consultation with leadership and initiative leads to establish organizational commitment to TIC change process 
• Formation of an organizational TIC task force 
• On-site Risking Connection (RC) training for leaders and a cross section of staff from job roles and programs including planning meetings with task force 
• On site, RC train-the-trainer to prepare internal RC Trainers and Champions to formally roll out RC training to all staff and informally reinforce RC principles including planning meetings with task force 
• Six consultation calls with the TIC task force to develop an implementation plan which includes plan for rolling out RC training, reinforcing RC messages, and other TIC implementation steps 
• Program evaluation using the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) Scale, a measure of staff attitudes about TIC.  
  • Data is collected from all staff on an online platform at baseline, in the middle of the initiative, and at the end of the intervention.  
• RC Trainers are credentialed and must attend annual webinars and a bi-annual recertification to maintain fidelity and promote sustainability. RC Champions can also attend annual webinars. 

The RC trauma training is revised every 4 to 6 years to include updated information from the trauma field. 

Recommended Intensity

RCCM is delivered in phases over 24 months. Once the initiative is ended, training and other interventions are incorporated in usual agency practice. 

Recommended Duration

After the 24 months, training and other interventions are incorporated into usual agency practice. Support is provided so organizations can maintain the program for the long term.

Homework

This program does not include a homework component.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

No additional resources were indicated as needed by the program representative. 

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

The client organization decides who will lead the RCCM initiative, act as RC Trainers and Champions, and disseminate it in the organization. There are no minimum provider qualifications. 

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual details: 

• Staff of the Traumatic Stress Institute. (2024). Teaching manual for Risking Connection. [Unpublished manuscript]. Traumatic Stress Institute of Klingberg Family Centers. 

• Staff of the Traumatic Stress Institute. (2021). Teaching manual for Risking Connection IDD. [Unpublished manuscript]. Traumatic Stress Institute of Klingberg Family Centers. 

Manuals available for contracted client agencies implementing the Risking Connection Change Model.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact

Training Type/Location:

Training is provided both onsite at the organization or at an offsite facility.  Training can also be offered virtually depending on the type and context for the training. 

 Implementation resources are available from the program representative.

Number of days/hours:

16 to 18 hours

What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?

• Keesler, J. M., Presnell, J., & Brown, S. (2025). Advancing trauma‐informed care system‐change in disability organizations: A national learning collaborative. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 22(1), Article e70008. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.70008 

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was todescribe and evaluate the Whole-System Change Model to TIC [now called Risking Connection Change Model], a first-of-its-kind learning collaborative (LC) to advance system-wide trauma-informed care (TIC) among four intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) organizations, occurring during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Measures utilized include the Risking Connection Curriculum Assessment (RCCA), the Trauma-Informed Belief Measure, and the Staff Behavior in the Milieu. Results indicate that there weremixed results associated with staff-level change. The process notes revealed the complexity of organizational change and a positive learning experience that was further supported by the liaison survey. Limitations include the lack of a control group, nonrandomization of subjects to the different trainings, and a lack of connection to agency or client-level outcomes. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group. 

• Baker, C. N., Brown, S. M., Wilcox, P., Verlenden, J. M., Black, C. L., & Grant, B. J. E. (2018). The implementation and effect of trauma-informed care within residential youth services in rural Canada: A mixed methods case study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(6), 666–674. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000327

• Brown, S. M., Baker, C. N., & Wilcox, P. (2012). Risking connection trauma training: A pathway toward trauma-informed care in child congregate care settings. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(5), 507–515. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025269