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1 in 10 children suffer from symptoms of childhood trauma. Studies have shown that exposure to trauma can have severe impacts on the development of a child’s brain. Exposure to childhood trauma also increases the likelihood that a child is labeled with a learning or behavior disorder, and can be a very strong predictor of academic failure. When left untreated, children who have been exposed to trauma are more like to experience negative outcomes like: behavioral problems, attention/concentration issues, separation anxiety, and extreme impulsivity. These symptoms, when manifested in children lead to high suspension and explosion rates in schools, and increased interaction with social service, law enforcement, and juvenile justice systems. In addition to the impact on child outcomes, the financial cost of untreated childhood trauma is high, estimated to be about 103.8 billion dollars by the Pew Charitable Trust.
The State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center (SPARC) and the ABA Center on Children and Law recently released a brief, Implementing Trauma-Informed Practices in Child Welfare. The brief states, “Children in care are more likely to experience trauma given the circumstances of abuse or neglect that led to their removal… and are subject to further stresses after entering the system, including separation from family, friends, and community, as well as the uncertainty of their future.” The brief advocates for integrating trauma informed practices into child welfare systems to create better outcomes for children in care. Trauma informed care redirects attention from treating symptoms of trauma to treating the underlying causes and context of trauma. The brief outlines trauma informed, evidence-based interventions that emphasize a collaborative approach involving all major stakeholders (e.g. caseworkers, lawyers, judges, providers, educators, birth parents, foster parents, and kinship caregivers).
Trauma informed delivery systems can help states keep costs down and effectively treat childhood trauma before the child is involved in multiple systems. States like California and Maine have implemented this trauma informed approach into their education and child welfare system, and with good results. And 8 of the 15 active Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration Projects have indicated that increasing trauma informed services will be a priority in their attempts to create better outcomes for the children and families they serve.
This information has important implications for public policy. There are a number of federal funding sources that can be used to finance these programs and practices. Policymakers interested in addressing the comprehensive needs of children who have experienced trauma should consider ways to support the implementation of trauma informed care across systems.
For more results-based policy strategies that support children and families, please visit policyforresults.org