Trauma-Informed Design and Social Work: Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis

Background and Purpose

In the United States, we are currently experiencing a housing affordability crisis that disproportionately impacts people living in poverty and BIPOC. While social work research leads scholarship on the topic of homelessness, the field is not fully embedded in the work of affordable housing development. This is concerning because our expertise has direct overlap with the people most impacted by issues related to housing affordability. One emerging affordable housing innovation, building on trauma-informed care, is the use of trauma-informed design (TID) to promote healing, dignity and joy in permanent supportive housing (PSH).

The aim of this research is to test the validity of the TID conceptual framework. Specifically, we test how supportive housing design can facilitate the six core values of TID: 1) safety, security, and privacy; 2) connection and community; 3) empowerment and personal control; 4) peace of mind; 5) hope, dignity and self-esteem; and 6) joy, beauty and meaning.

Methods

The study took place in PSH buildings funded through low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) delivered through the Colorado Housing Finance Authority (CHFA). Each site visit included a property tour and qualitative interviews with residents and staff. The study used a qualitative participatory approach to explore how housing design can facilitate the six core values of TID. The participatory design used focus group interviews from impacted stakeholder groups to explore the meaning of the six core TID values in real-world housing development. The study employed a two-cycle coding approach to identify participant feedback that supported, refuted, or supplemented the six TID concepts.

Results

Focus group interviews clearly demonstrated that all six TID core values were an important part of the resident experience in PSH. Residents identified how elements of TID, such as fully furnishing units, were critical for their success: “housing has really helped [me] to live a better life. Arriving with stuff and a bed ready was a great experience.” However, in some cases, TID elements were identified as a challenge, rather than a support. For example, residents identified tangible design elements that challenged their peace of mind: “noise is a trigger; smell is a trigger. Undercut doors create smells in the corridor, and residents hate that people can put things under it.”

Conclusions and Implications

Housing affordability is currently a major challenge to people earning incomes below the federal poverty line. Additionally, BIPOC are disproportionately impacted by poverty and housing challenges. Yet social workers are not fully embedded in the affordable housing field and are, therefore, not addressing the social, economic and environmental implications of the housing affordability crisis. Housing is the central part of many people’s ecological environment. TID is an ideal place for social workers to contribute their knowledge of people in places and trauma-informed care to the field of affordable housing and housing development to impact racial, social, economic and environmental justice.