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Trauma and Healing
Those working in child welfare often work with children and adults who are healing from a history of trauma. This Innovation Stream focuses on understanding trauma, including how it affects development; relationships, especially children’s relationship with caregivers; and parenting.
Featured Resources

Redressing the Wrongs of History
Child welfare in the states can help to redress the wrongs of history by taking action and implementing the Indian Children Welfare Act (ICWA) effectively.

Supporting Children and Youth Coping with Unresolved Loss
Ambiguous loss can cause challenging reactions and affect a child's behavior, relationships, and learning. Understanding ambiguous loss, its impact on children, and how to promote resiliency and healthy coping for them, is important for both child welfare intervention and prevention communities.

From the Field: Understanding and Responding Proactively to Polyvictimization
This document captures key concepts and discussion with the field on the special needs of individuals experiencing polyvictimization.
Complete List of Resources
Videos and Social Media
- Partners United for Supportive Housing
How does it change the game when you provide stable housing to families first, then address their other complex needs?
Practice Tools and Briefs
- From the Field: Are the Words “Toxic Stress” Toxic? [PDF]
A summary, resource list, and tools from our discussion of the downside of focusing on toxic stress. - From the Field: Understanding and Responding Proactively to Polyvictimization [PDF]
A summary, resource list, and tools from our discussion of the issue of polyvictimization. - From the Field: Helping Young Children Who Have Experienced Trauma [PDF]
A summary, resource list, and tools from our discussion of how to help young children who have experienced trauma. - From the Field: Community Approaches to Toxic Stress [PDF]
A summary, resource list, and tools from our discussion.
Digital Dialogue Recordings
- NEW Redressing the Wrongs of History
Child welfare in the states can help to redress the wrongs of history by taking action and implementing the Indian Children Welfare Act (ICWA) effectively. - Supporting Children and Youth Coping with Unresolved Loss
Ambiguous loss can cause challenging reactions and affect a child's behavior, relationships, and learning. Understanding ambiguous loss, its impact on children, and how to promote resiliency and healthy coping for them, is important for both child welfare intervention and prevention communities. - Missing From Care: Preventing and Responding to Sex Trafficking of Youth
Learn more about how we can work together to locate missing children, and how a trauma-informed and youth-centered recovery plan has the power to impact running behavior. - Supporting Children and Youth Dealing with the Loss of a Parent or Caregiver
The loss of a parent or caregiver can have cascading impacts on child well-being. Learn more about how to work with caregivers so they can best support a grieving child. - Partnering to Address Childhood ACES
Learn about ACES Aware, the California partnership between medical and community-based providers and the prevention sector. - Are the Words “Toxic Stress” Toxic? Re-thinking the Narrative About Early Life Stress
In our concern about early adversity, are we selling short the capacity of individuals and communities to heal and grow? - Using Science to Understand the Effects of Adversity and Build Resilience
How new science is changing how we think about early childhood adversity and resilience. - Understanding and Responding Proactively to Polyvictimization
New research is helping us better understand how to interrupt the patterns of polyvictimization and its impacts. - Balancing ACEs with HOPE
ACEs are not the only important childhood experiences that have lifelong health consequences. - Helping Young Children Who Have Experienced Trauma
How trauma can affect the youngest children, and how programs and practitioners can support them. - Community Approaches to Toxic Stress
Explore a new framework of community approaches to toxic stress within the broader context of healthy development and well-being. - Hatred, Hope and Healing: Personal Reflections from an Adult Who Witnessed Domestic Violence as a Child
Learn about a family-centered approach to domestic violence that engages and supports survivors, children, and perpetrators.
External Resources
Partners
- Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Welfare
Child Welfare Information Gateway
This page provides information on building trauma-informed systems, assessing and treating trauma, addressing secondary trauma in caseworkers, and trauma training. - National Child Traumatic Stress Network
The Network’s website is a resource for the public, professionals, and others who care about children and are concerned about child traumatic stress. - Workforce Resources for Trauma-Informed Practice
National Child Welfare Workforce Institute
List of workforce development resources related to trauma-informed practice for child welfare practitioners, supervisors, managers, leaders, students, faculty, researchers, policymakers, and other professionals.