Trauma Sensitive Approaches for Home and School videos– produced by Formed Families Forward as part of our work with the Virginia Tiered Systems of Supports project. Under 10 minutes in length, each video provides an introduction to critical trauma content.
The videos include:
1) Understanding Trauma
2) Responding to Trauma
3) Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools
Three fact sheets are designed to support the Trauma Sensitive Responses at Home and School video series.
Individual Fact Sheets are available as separate documents, and all three fact sheets in one document. Accessible text versions of all fact sheets are also available in English and Spanish.
Video Series
Fact Sheets for Videos 1 through 3
Video 1 Fact Sheet Understanding Trauma
Video 2 Fact Sheet Responding to Trauma
Video 3 Fact Sheet Trauma Sensitive Schools
Video 1 Fact Sheet Understanding Trauma accessible version
Video 2 Fact Sheet Responding to Trauma accessible version
Video 3 Fact Sheet Trauma Sensitive Schools accessible version
SPANISH Video 1 Fact Sheet accessible version
SPANISH Video 2 Fact Sheet accessible version
SPANISH Video 3 Fact Sheet accessible version
ARABIC Video 1 Fact Sheet
ARABIC Video 2 Fact Sheet
ARABIC Video 3 Fact Sheet
Trauma Sensitive Approaches for Home and School videos– produced by Formed Families Forward as part of our work with the Virginia Tiered Systems of Supports project. Under 10 minutes in length, each video provides an introduction to critical trauma content.
The videos include:
1) Understanding Trauma
2) Responding to Trauma
3) Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools
This webinar was presented live on April 29, 2025, by Dr. Lisa Weed Phifer, NCSP, of Fairfax Co. Public Schools.
The content explored how trauma-informed practices and social-emotional learning (SEL) support student well-being and academic success. The session covered impact of stress and trauma on children, how it can manifest in their behavior, and the importance of creating safe and supportive learning environments. The session highlighted protective factors that foster student resilience and growth. Additionally, Dr. Phifer shared helpful practices at school that teach and reinforce essential skills such as self-awareness, self-management, and relationship building. Practical strategies were provided for parents and caregivers to strengthen these skills and nurture resilience in their children.
Presentation slides for Supporting Student Well Being
Webinar recording
This fact sheet from the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations, this 10 page brief provides guidance to adults working with children who have experienced trauma. It offers specific suggestions for prevention strategies that might be helpful, as well as considerations for actions to take during times of activation or acute stress for young children who have experienced trauma.
Considerations for Working with Children who have Experienced Trauma
A collection of linked resources for families raising LGBTQ+ children, youth and young adults, and professionals and communities who support them.
FFF Building LGBTQ Awareness and Acceptance webinar training and related resources
Family Acceptance Project LGBTQ Youth and Family resources
The Trevor Project
The National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression (The National SOGIE Center)
This series of three webcasts from VCU Autism Center for Education, presented by Dr. Ruth Brown, were made available in February, March and April 2023.
Webcast Part 1: The Essential Messages of Trauma Responsive Practices
Webcast Part 2: Understanding Traumatic Stress Responses
Part 3: Trauma Responsive Strategies for the Classroom
On March 8, 2023, FFF hosted a live webinar featuring the new Critical Crossroads videos and other resources. Provided here is a re-recording, that does not include time for the pre-and post-tests or Q & A that were included in the live webinar.
Recording of Critical Crossroads resources webinar March 2023
This infographic from Formed Families Forward’s Critical Crossroads resources overviews the issues around trauma impact on children and youth with disabilities.
Critical Crossroads Infographic
From the National Center for School Safety and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, this toolkit offers school personnel, families and other stakeholders guidance and strategies for implementing trauma-informed and resilience-oriented schools.
This tip sheet provides parents and allies of youth and young adults with lived experience of a mental health condition tips be able to improve their connection with them. This tip sheet was developed as a collaboration between the family member and young adult advisory boards that work with the Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research at University of Massachusetts. The tips are based on advisory board members’ real experiences.
The TREP Project was launched in 2016 with a policy brief on the educational consequences of the chronic toxic stress of living in high crime communities. The TREP Project works to develop the individual and organizational capacity of educators and schools serving children growing up in neighborhoods that have high levels of toxic stress, such as violent crime, concentrated poverty, concentrated foster care involvement, and housing instability.
Affiliated with the University of Chicago, the Project offers professional learning courses, online resources and a Magazine.
TREP Educator website
This fact sheet from the Northern Virginia Family Network, of which FFF is an active member, provides an overview of social emotional learning efforts in the schools. It offers families information about how they can be involved in SEL efforts in their children’s schools.
SEL Fact Sheet
A description of Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development. TBRI is a an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention that is designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children. TBRI uses Empowering Principles to address physical needs, Connecting Principles for attachment needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors.
From the Regional Educational Lab (REL) Appalachia Cross-State Collaborative, several resources from Spring 2020 on Addressing Student and Educator Trauma.
Menu of Trauma Informed Programs for Schools
Common Trauma Symptoms and Strategies for Educators
Resources on Addressing Student and Educator Trauma from REL Appalachia
Trauma-Sensitive Schools Learning Modules from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Tools for supporting elementary and for middle and high school students in self-regulation. From Heather Forbes, Beyond Consequences Institute.
Regulation Tool for Middle and High School
Regulation Tool for Elementary School
This book from LRP Publications, dated 2020, takes a step-by-step approach to addressing trauma as a part of IEP development — from referral to family engagement, report writing, and IEP design and implementation. Authors offer guidance to develop effective, compliant IEPs for these vulnerable students.. The book is available for purchase. FFF has a copy, feel free to contact us to learn more about the book or borrow at our office.
Link to Book, LRP Publications
This Fact Sheet from Formed Families Forward in July 2020 pulls from a number of mental health and education resources to share specific strategies and suggested language to use with preschool children, school-age students and adolescents to address concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
We thank our summer 2020 interns from GMU Clare Yordy and Austin Guske for their contributions to this resource.
Trauma training modules from MidWest PBIS Network.
Slides from a 2011 National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) webinar presented by M. Elizabeth Ralston, PhD, Dee Norton Lowcounty Children’s Center
Lisa J. Bernard, EdS, Charleston County School District
Ben Atchison, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Western Michigan University
Audra Langley, PhD, UCLA
Full webinar recording is available at https://learn.nctsn.org/mod/nctsnwebinar/view.php?id=9454
Webinar slides
The CreatingAFamily.org website compiles a list of fiction and nonfiction books about foster care and adoption. Books are described and suggested age ranges are listed. Books for adults are also suggested.
Best Adoption Books for Children and Adults (links to all book collections)
Suggested books for children, youth and adults on foster care
Suggested books for children, youth and adults on adoption
Suggested books for children and youth adopted from foster care
This schools checklist is designed by
Lesley University, Center for Special Education and the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative of Massachusetts Advocates for Children and the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School