Trauma and Trauma-Sensitive Schools
This page features a number of external and FFF resources on childhood trauma, responding to trauma and trauma-sensitive schools. Click the "For educators" box below to limit search results to those resources that may be particularly helpful to school personnel. In addition to services and supports at schools, Virginia regional Community Services Boards offer behavioral health services for children and families. Emergency services and crisis response are among the supports offered by CSBs. Local CSBs can be found at https://dbhds.virginia.gov/community-services-boards-csbs .
Trauma Informed Agency Self-Assessment
From the Virginia HEALS project of Virginia Department of Social Services.
The Trauma-Informed Agency Self-Assessment was created for agencies and organizations from a variety of fields (child welfare, behavioral health, public health, juvenile justice, education, early childhood development, housing, and victim advocacy) to assess where they fall in a continuum of trauma-informed care and to engage them in a process of setting agency improvement goals.
Trauma-Informed Practices: Considerations for the IEP meeting
This fact sheet from Kennedy Krieger Institute offers suggestions of trauma-sensitive practices and procedures for preparing for and holding Individual Educational Program (IEP) meetings. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that students who access special education services have a documented IEP.
The Trauma Aware Educator online course
The Trauma Aware Educator: Understanding the Science of Childhood Trauma and Its Impact on Students online course from the Australia-based Trauma Informed Positive Behavior Support (TIPBS).
This is an online course designed to answer frequently asked questions about the foundational concepts of trauma informed practice for educators and educational leaders.
Childhood trauma affects the physical, emotional, and social development of children and adolescents. In order to minimize harm, teachers and school leaders need to respond appropriately using trauma-informed practices and policies.
In this course, you will:
- explore the impact of trauma on students and
- understand the neuroscience behind the behaviours presented by students who have experienced complex trauma
This course is a primer for the Trauma Informed Positive Behaviour Support (TIPBS) online course and is suitable for teaching staff and education leaders who want to improve their professional practice, and is relevant to most school contexts worldwide. It may also be of interest to health and social care workers.
Resource Collection on Trauma Informed Care
This comprehensive collection of resources (documents, webinars, videos, websites) on childhood trauma, trauma-informed care, trauma sensitive schools and more is organized by topic. Topical collections include:
- Basic Information about Trauma
- What is Trauma Informed Care?
- Trauma and Specific Populations
- Building Trauma Informed Schools
- Responding to Disasters
From the national Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR).
Children and Trauma: What Can You Do? FFF Fact Sheet
Child traumatic stress refers to the physical and emotional responses of a child to events that threaten the life or physical integrity of the child or of someone critically important to the child (such as a parent or sibling). Traumatic events can overwhelm a child’s capacity to cope. Children may feel terror and powerlessness; they may act out. The fact sheet provides information to understand the types of trauma, potential responses to the trauma and ways to support a child who has experienced trauma.
Virginia HEALS Systems of Care Virginia toolkit
A number of resources have been developed to support community and state-level implementation of the Virginia HEALS Model for the provision of services and referrals to children, youth, and families. The toolkit includes a family engagement guide, resource mapping, a screening tool for use with individuals who may have been victimized or have trauma impact, and a trauma informed agency assessment, among others.
Understanding Trauma in Children and Youth video
From the Fairfax Trauma-Informed Care Network
This session gives a primer on the lasting effects of trauma, and provides practical strategies for developing positive coping skills in children and youth with a history of trauma. Participants will enhance their ability to understand and handle challenging behavior in young people and learn how to develop a trauma-informed environment, focusing on strategies that minimize triggers and emphasize effective, asset-focused behavior management.
Attachment and Trauma Network website
At the Attachment & Trauma Network, it is our mission to: Promote healing of traumatized children and their families through support, education and advocacy. The Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) is the nation’s oldest parent-led organization supporting families of traumatized children.
The ATN website features resources and links to training and other information about trauma-related therapeutic parenting, trauma-sensitive schools and other trauma and attachment content.
Fact Sheet on Recognizing Trauma
June 01, 2017What is Trauma?
Trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that may overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope.
Potentially traumatic events may include:
- Abuse (physical, sexual or emotional)
- Neglect
- Effects of poverty (homelessness, food insecurity)
- Witnessing domestic violence/abuse
- Separation from a loved one
- War zone or refugee experience
- Natural or man-made disaster
Fact Sheet on Recognizing Trauma from SCAN of Northern Virginia
1-2-3 Care – A Trauma-Sensitive Toolkit for Caregivers of Children
The 1-2-3 Care Toolkit is intended to support caregivers on their journey towards trauma sensitivity. It is organized by topic, each offering a brief overview, specific tools that can be used with children, and where to find more information. Also included are handouts that can be used as teaching aids.
1-2-3 Care – A Trauma-Sensitive Toolkit for Caregivers of Children from Spokane WA Regional Health District
CAPPD: Practical Interventions to Help Children Affected by Trauma guide
CAPPD is an acronym developed by the Multiplying Connections Initiative that stands for CALM, ATTUNED, PRESENT, PREDICTABLE and DON’T Let the Child’s emotions escalate your own.
CAPPD: Practical Interventions to Help Children Affected by Trauma guide is put together by the Health Federation of Philadelphia
SCAN Fact Sheet on Trauma-Informed Organizations
What does it mean to be trauma informed? Trauma informed organizations make a commitment to understand trauma, how to respond to trauma, and how it affects those they work with. Being trauma informed is an organizational cultural change.
Fact Sheet on Trauma-Informed Organizations from SCAN of Northern Virginia.