MAR 30: INFANT & EARLY CHILDHOOD |
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Welcome to the 5 Things Digest from the NTTAC Infant and Early Childhood Transformation Team, bringing you 5 Things to know right now about supporting trauma-informed approaches for infant and early childhood systems.
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#1: Foundations of trauma-informed approaches
Trauma-informed approaches provide a framework for preventing and addressing childhood trauma and adversity as well as building resilience in families and communities. According to SAMHSA, a program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed “realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatization.”
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The CDC offers 6 Guiding Principles To A Trauma-Informed Approach (infographic). They include: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment, voice, and choice; and cultural, historical, and gender issues. Many of these guiding principles are already infused into infant and early childhood systems, but using reflection, deepening knowledge, and having intentionality around actionable steps can further support resilience and healing for infants, toddlers, young children, and families.
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#2: Trauma-informed approaches in larger systems
Trauma-informed approaches have been incorporated into federal initiatives and programs, and this work has also unfolded at the state and local level. The integration of trauma-informed approaches into larger systems involves building infrastructure and facilitating opportunities for dynamic, cross-sector learning, as well building evaluation capacity.
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These resources from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (HHS/ASPE) examine trauma-informed efforts across sectors to assess what they look like in community settings, understand their impacts, and suggest future directions for this work: Trauma-Informed Approaches: Connecting Research, Policy, and Practice to Build Resilience in Children and Families. The resources include an issue brief that offers a resilience-focused definition of trauma and summarizes expert insights, profiles of trauma-informed programs from diverse sectors, and a guide for developing and using logic models grounded in theories of change to help build the evidence base for trauma-informed approaches.
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The Building Community Resilience (BCR) Collaborative at George Washington University seeks to improve the health of children, families, and communities by fostering engagement between grassroots community services and public and private systems to develop a protective buffer against Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) occurring in Adverse Community Environments (ACEs) – the “Pair of ACEs." Resources on this site include articles on the theoretical basis of the BCR approach, advocacy tools, as well as narratives about BCR sites throughout the country.
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#3: Addressing equity through trauma-informed approaches
We cannot discuss trauma-informed approaches in systems without also thinking through how structural racism impacts our systems and equitable approaches to combat these systematic injustices. This requires expanding the capacity of infant and early childhood systems and the professionals who work within those systems to develop intentional actions for change that are driven by family voice, community voice, and the acknowledgement that the primary question should not be “is racism functioning here?” Rather, it should be “how is racism functioning here?”
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The Center of Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (CoE) recognizes that equity is a central component to infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC). The CoE has created a COE Racial Equity Toolkit to address the role IECMHC system plays in battling racism and promoting fair, equitable, and inclusive learning experiences for all children and families. This Toolkit utilizes videos, tools, and resources that can support IECMHC systems leaders and practitioners to build capacity in understanding race and systemic racism, bias, and culturally responsive practice, and to meaningfully embed equity within their programs and practice. Each resource includes accompanying discussion questions to support reflective practice.
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Holding the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion when thinking about the infant and early childhood mental (IECMH) health field is essential. The Tenets of Diversity model for working with infants, children, and families was created to support IECMH providers' knowledge, skillsets, and cultivation of self-awareness. The Tenets recognize the ongoing need to expand professional capacity and deepen work with families by developing intentional action for individual, organization, and systemic change. To learn more about the Tenets of Diversity, visit: Cross-Sector Allies Together in the Struggle for Social Justice: Diversity-Informed Tenets for Work With Infants, Children, and Families
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#4: Supporting families within a trauma-informed system
Young children do not exist outside the context of relationships. When thinking about trauma-informed approaches in systems that serve infants and young children, families must also be included in the conversation. Supporting caregivers who may be experiencing trauma or have a trauma history through strengths-based relationships, resources, and connection can buffer the impacts of stress they may be experiencing and in turn support the caregiver-child relationship in a positive way.
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Holding the family experience and child-caregiver relationship are key aspects in helping young children and their caregivers heal from traumatic experiences. Services for Families of Infants and Toddlers Experiencing Trauma outlines some of the evidence-based treatments that can support healing within the context of the caregiving relationship. It also offers strategies on how to create trauma-informed service delivery systems for infants and toddlers.
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The stress of parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on many caregivers. Emerging research is showing that the pandemic has caused more stress for caregivers than non-caregivers and the the level of stress experienced is further compounded if a caregiver has a trauma history. This resource offers tips: Supporting Parents and Caregivers with Trauma Histories during COVID-19
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#5: Supporting providers and buffering secondary traumatic stress
When building trauma-informed approaches into infant and early childhood systems, the well-being of providers must be taken into consideration. Supporting young children and caregivers in processing trauma and experiences of chronic stress can take its toll. Having policies and procedures in place to recognize secondary traumatic stress for providers, offering reflective supervision, and having wellness built into all levels of the system are essential for preventing compassion fatigue and burnout.
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Secondary traumatic stress is common for providers working with children and families who have experienced trauma. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network offers strategies to prevent and intervene around Secondary Traumatic Stress. This resource also offers ideas on how to build resiliency on an organizational and individual level to support providers.
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Contact the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for
Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health
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Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and content expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). |
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