SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac Supporting The Arc Fond du Lac

 SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac is giving $15,000 to The Arc Fond du Lac to help introduce Trauma Informed Care (TIC) for its employees and program participants.  

TIC is a medical care in which all parties involved assess, recognize and respond to the effects of traumatic stress on children, caregivers and health care providers. TIC includes the prevention, identification and assessment of trauma, response to trauma and recovery from trauma as a focus of all services. 

“Providing Trauma Informed Care will allow The Arc to support our employees and program participants by offering mental health resources, medical referrals, and more,” according to Dawn Scannell, The Arc Fond du Lac executive director. “Participants with a trauma history often have behaviors as an expression of emotion, labeling these behaviors as ‘maladaptive’ can make trauma worse. Using Trauma Informed Care, our agency will move away from trying to ‘fix’ these behaviors to becoming aware of why they are occurring and providing more appropriate services.” 

The Arc Fond du Lac is a human service organization that empowers adults and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities to become independent and integrated into the community through advocacy, education, training, and support. 

The Arc Fond du Lac provides services to over 800 families and individuals with disabilities living in Fond du Lac, Dodge, and Winnebago counties. Participants ranging in age from five years to over 80.  

“We know that Trauma Informed Care can be an effective strategy for any organization,” says Tara Rhodes, SSM Health vice president of Operations for St. Agnes Hospital, Ripon Community Hospital and Waupun Memorial Hospital. “This approach helps to increase the quality of services, reduce unnecessary interventions, reduce the number and types of negative encounters creating a resiliency and strengths-based focus, while increasing client and family satisfaction.” 

To learn more, call The Arc Fond du Lac at 920-923-3810 or visit arcfdl.org. 

SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac’s community benefit ministry totaled more than $400,000 across the communities it serves. This investment helps ensure access to health care for patients who are uninsured or underinsured, train the next generation of health professionals to care for those in need, and fund programs to address the most pressing health needs of our communities.