scholarly journals 913 Trauma-informed care for children and young people who have been trafficked: from theory to practice

Author(s):  
Sarah Boutros
2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (02) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia A. O’Hara

AbstractOn 1st July 2015, Out of Home Care (OOHC) services in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) joined together to form the ACT Together consortium and aimed to improve outcomes for children and young people who are unable to live with their birth families. Within the consortium, the Therapeutic Services Team (TST) steers the evolution of trauma-informed therapeutic practice, a key focus of which is the establishment of therapeutic care. Current research indicates that a holistic therapeutic approach has the greatest impact in supporting a young person to overcome adverse childhood experiences. This leads to the necessity of a therapeutic care system providing input across the whole domain of OOHC, including trauma-informed therapeutic carers. A common issue met by the TST is the lack of clarity regarding the difference between therapeutic intervention and therapy. This paper defines the concepts of therapy and therapeutic care, discusses how this forms a continuum which flows throughout the whole OOHC system and reflects on what support carers require to make the shift to becoming therapeutic carers, including outlining their role in underpinning better outcomes for the children and young people who pass through their doors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 292-294
Author(s):  
Pooky Knightsmith

Children and young people who have experienced trauma may exhibit challenging behaviour as a result of learned trauma responses. Pooky Knightsmith provides some practical advice for school staff members on providing a more inclusive trauma-informed approach.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Taylor ◽  
Lisa Shostak ◽  
Andrew Rogers ◽  
Paul Mitchell

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline the challenges to achieving positive outcomes for young people within the secure estate in England, and introduces a psychologically informed framework, SECURE STAIRS (SS), aimed at improving outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The paper argues that there is a need for a fundamental shift in the way care and intervention for young people within the secure estate is delivered. It gives an overview of current challenges and needs and summarises the theoretical concepts and evidence base which can guide practice and form the foundations of the SS framework. Findings The framework recommends that intervention shift from focussing primarily on individual assessment and treatment to a greater emphasis on supporting the work of the wider system of care. Recommendations include promoting trauma-informed care, a focus on the system dynamics within institutions and how these impact on the care young people receive, and on the collaborative development with residential staff and young people of formulation-led care plans that include a focus on issues of sustainability after leaving the secure estate. Practical implications These include the establishment of discrete residential groupings with truly integrated and trauma-informed work across residential, mental health, education and criminal justice agencies. This involves addressing governance issues around shared record keeping, and challenges to sustainability and the accompanying need for local implementation plans for each establishment alongside central support at a strategic level. Originality/value This paper describes a new and innovative way of working within secure settings to ensure children and young people’s needs are better met.


2019 ◽  
pp. 152483801988170
Author(s):  
Kathomi Gatwiri ◽  
Lynne McPherson ◽  
Natalie Parmenter ◽  
Nadine Cameron ◽  
Darlene Rotumah

In Australia and internationally, Indigenous children are seriously overrepresented in the child welfare system. This article provides an overview of literature investigating the needs of Indigenous children in residential care facilities. The provision of culturally safe and trauma-informed therapeutic care to Indigenous children and young people in residential care recognizes that the trauma and violence that they have experienced is exacerbated by their Indigeneity due to the colonial histories presenting. Utilizing a systematic scoping review methodology, the study returned a total of 637 peer-reviewed articles that were identified and reviewed for inclusion. The process of exclusion resulted in the inclusion of eight peer-reviewed studies and 51 reports and discussion papers sourced from gray literature. Findings from this study, though dearth, indicate that trauma-informed and culturally safe interventions play a significant role in Indigenous children’s health and well-being while in care. Their experiences of abuse and neglect transcend individual trauma and include intergenerational pain and suffering resulting from long-lasting impacts of colonization, displacement from culture and country, genocidal policies, racism, and the overall systemic disadvantage. As such, a therapeutic response, embedded within Indigenous cultural frameworks and knowledges of trauma, is not only important but absolutely necessary and aims to acknowledge the intersectionality between the needs of Indigenous children in care and the complex systemic disadvantage impacting them.


2020 ◽  
pp. 107755952092746
Author(s):  
Sarah Bendall ◽  
Oliver Eastwood ◽  
Georgina Cox ◽  
Anna Farrelly-Rosch ◽  
Helen Nicoll ◽  
...  

There is growing consensus that outpatient health services for young people (aged 12–25 years) need to deliver trauma-informed care to ameliorate the effects of trauma, offer safe treatments, and avoid retraumatization. Trauma-informed care has become a familiar term for many professionals; however, its operating definition lacks clarity. MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO were systematically searched to clarify what trauma-informed care is, and what it should achieve in these settings. We reviewed 3,381 unique records, of which 13 met criteria for inclusion. Content analysis identified 10 components of trauma-informed care as it has been operationalized in practice: seven of these occurred at the system-level (interagency collaboration; service provider training; safety; leadership, governance and agency processes; youth and family/carer choice in care; cultural and gender sensitivity; youth and family/carer participation), and three involved trauma-specific clinical practices (screening and assessment; psychoeducation; therapeutic interventions). There is a need for greater consensus regarding an operating definition of trauma-informed care and further research into outcomes for young people and their families/carers.


Author(s):  
Kristine Hickle

This chapter provides a brief overview of the research on trauma, specifically in relation to the impact of developmental and complex trauma and sexual abuse. An overview of the growing body of research on trauma-informed approaches to practice is also given. It considers how trauma responses are developed while enduring extreme stress, and how these responses may be evident among children and young people with child sexual exploitation (CSE) experiences. The chapter also considers how systems designed to protect and support traumatised children and young people often contribute to their re-traumatisation. It explores principles of trauma-informed practice that are useful in meeting the needs of young people victimised by CSE, discusses how trauma-informed approaches align with strengths-based and relationship-based approaches to CSE practice, and how such approaches can help practitioners understand and promote resilience.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-27
Author(s):  
Claire Penketh

Abstract Art education has the potential to promote inclusive education for all children and young people. However, the pervasive discourse of special education, with an emphasis on individual deficit, support and remediation, can dominate our thinking about the relationship between disability and art education. This article reports on an attempt to resist the limitations of such discourses by introducing anti-ableist, crip theory to art educators (n=48). Visual and textual storyboards enabled practitioners to present, reflect and revise projects from a committed anti-ableist position. Modified projects reflected an awareness of the benefits of multi-sensory approaches, the advantages of interdependency and a greater resonance with contemporary arts practice. Acknowledging the challenges of taking theory to practice, the article suggests that anti-ableist theory can promote a vital pedagogy in art education. It concludes that crip theory can provoke practice-based resistance to deficit-based models of disability.


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