A Critical Look At Trauma-Informed Care Among Agencies and Systems Serving Maltreated Youth and Their Families

Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed an increase in programs targeting children and youth impacted by traumatic events, with a heightened focus on ensuring that all such programs and relevant service systems are trauma informed. While such efforts are laudable, trauma-informed care (TIC) is defined in a number of ways, limiting evaluation of these initiatives, specifically as they relate to the potential for improved outcomes or reduced costs often used to advocate for TIC. Widespread interest in TIC, despite an apparent dearth of empirical research, served as the impetus for this special section. Our goal was to identify the most rigorous empirical studies available. These six papers were selected based on their inclusion of a definition of TIC, focus on at least one component of TIC in a child-serving system, and availability of empirical data demonstrating the effectiveness of their efforts. In addition to introducing these papers, we share preliminary data from a brief, anonymous survey of child-serving professionals across various systems and roles to obtain feedback about definitional and conceptual issues related to TIC. While this special section provides a representation of available empirical work, significant gaps between research and practice of TIC remain, with important implications for future work.

Adverse childhood experiences and trauma informed care: the future of health care

“…TIC, which is being integrated in settings such as health care, service agencies for high-risk families, and in correctional facilities, help service providers become aware of the effects of ACEs and how to integrate compassionate care. Although TIC is among the most prevalent strategies to address ACEs, few outcome evaluation studies have been conducted (51,(69)(70)(71).…”

Trauma-informed juvenile justice systems: A systematic review of definitions and core components.

“…Although there is general agreement in the literature that TIC refers to the integration of trauma awareness and understanding throughout an organization or service system, there is currently no consensus-based definition on the particular practices or policies that comprise this approach for any service system (Hopper et al, 2010). Multiple authors have identified the lack of consensus on the definition of TIC as a primary barrier to creating trauma-informed systems (Hanson & Lang, 2016; Hopper et al, 2010; Wall et al, 2016). …”

Challenges of operationalizing trauma‐informed practice in child protection services in New Zealand

“…The National Child Traumatic Stress Network created a collaborative approach to improve foster care stability . Hanson and Lang (2016) sound a note of caution highlighting the lack of consistency in terminology, lack of empirical studies, and lack of youth outcome evaluation. Although significant gains were achieved through training front line staff and caregivers, it was clear that training alone was not sufficient.…”