UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications

Title

Trauma-Informed Care in the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry; Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center

Publication Date

2015-11-12

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Child Psychology | Pediatrics | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a serious public health concern, and its detrimental effects can be compounded by traumatic experiences associated with the child welfare (CW) system. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a promising strategy for addressing traumatized children's needs, but research on the impact of TIC in CW is limited. This study examines initial findings of the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project, a statewide TIC initiative in the CW system and mental health network. After 1 year of implementation, Trauma-Informed Leadership Teams in CW offices emerged as key structures for TIC systems integration, and mental health providers' participation in evidence-based treatment (EBT) learning collaboratives was linked to improvements in trauma-informed individual and agency practices. After approximately 6 months of EBT treatment, children had fewer posttraumatic symptoms and behavior problems compared to baseline. Barriers to TIC that emerged included scarce resources for trauma-related work in the CW agency and few mental providers providing EBTs to young children. Future research might explore variations in TIC across service system components as well as the potential for differential effects across EBT models disseminated through TIC.

Keywords

child PTSD/trauma, child maltreatment, child trauma, child welfare, evidence-based practice, evidence-based treatment

DOI of Published Version

10.1177/1077559515615700

Source

Child Maltreat. 2015 Nov 12. pii: 1077559515615700. Link to article on publisher's site

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Child maltreatment

PubMed ID

26564909

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS