It is important that children and youth who have experienced trauma receive appropriate evidence-based practices to support their healing. Child welfare professionals can connect children, youth, and families to these services. These resources help professionals identify and implement treatment programs to meet the needs of children, youth, and families affected by trauma.
Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC)
Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute
Describes ARC as a framework for intervention with youth and families who have experienced multiple and/or prolonged traumatic stress.
Children’s Institute
Describes a model of services that offer accessible, evidence-based, well-coordinated prevention, intervention, and treatment services for children and families who reside in high-need, low-resource communities.
Interventions
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Provides factsheets describing common therapeutic treatments, including information about their efficacy and intended populations, used to treat children and youth who have experienced trauma.
Interventions and Treatment
Penn Center for Youth and Family Trauma Response and Recovery
Provides information about various treatment approaches, including the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which address posttraumatic stress symptoms in children and youth.
Mental Health Practices in Child Welfare Guidelines Toolkit (PDF - 1,019 KB)
Casey Family Programs
Details evidence-based psychosocial interventions, resources, and guidelines for childhood posttraumatic stress disorder and other related disorders, including depression, anxiety, and disruptive behavior disorders as well as resources for parent and youth engagement and support.
Recognizing and Treating Child Traumatic Stress
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Outlines the signs of traumatic stress, its impact on children, treatment options, and how families and caregivers can help.
Trauma and Violence
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Provides summaries of trauma-specific interventions based upon psychosocial educational empowerment principles that have been used extensively in public system settings.