C hildren who suffer from complex trauma have been exposed to an environment marked by multiple and chronic stressors, frequently within a caregiving system thal is intended to be the child's primary source of safety and stability. The cumulative influence of these experiences is seen on immediate and long-term behavioral. functional, and mental health outcomes. There is growing consensus that early-onset and chronic trauma result in an array o[ vulnerabilities across many different domains of functioning: cognitive, affective, behavioral, physiological, relational, and self-attributional. While, in the course of development, most children have the chance to invest their energies in developing various competencies, complexly traumatized children must focus on survival. These children need a flexible model of intervention that is embedded in a developmental and social context and that can address a continuum of trauma exposures, including ongoing exposure. This model must draw from established knowledge bases about effective treatment while accounting for the skills of clinical practitioners and the needs of individual children. Consensus from experts suggests that effective treatment of complex trauma in youth should address six central goals: safety, self-regulation. self-reflective information processing, traumatic experience integration, relational engagement or attachment, and positive affect enhancement (Cook et aI., see page 390, and van der Kolk. sec page 401).1 Further, there is a need to recognize contextual variables. including developmen-. ,. .

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The Attachment, Self Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Framework is a theoretically grounded, evidence-informed, promising practice used to treat complex trauma in children and adolescents. This article introduces the ARC model and describes its application with young children of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds involved in the child protection system due to maltreatment. Examination of the clinical application of the ARC model with this population underscores the importance of grounding child complex trauma treatment in the caregiving system. Strategies for successful clinical intervention are identified, with attention devoted to cultural and systemic resources to advance the treatment process. This article presents preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of the ARC model derived from program evaluation conducted at a community-based clinic.

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This project describes application of an evidencedbased, trauma-informed treatment framework, Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC), with adopted children impacted by complex trauma and their caregivers. Results demonstrate that ARC treatment was associated with significant decreases in child symptoms and caregiver stress from pre-to post-treatment, which were maintained over a 12-month follow up period. Preliminary findings contribute to an emerging empirical basis for the ARC model and are supportive of its clinical utility as a practice with adopted children. Next steps include; a) expanding study findings by conducting controlled efficacy research, b) examining the transaction between child and caregiver factors as agents of change, and c) conducting longitudinal research of children and families receiving ARC to more deeply examine impact on resiliency.