By Alysse Loomis, Ph.D. Kellie Randall, Ph.D. Jason Lang, Ph.D., CHDI, June 2019.
This IMPACT provides a summary of the research on the effects of early trauma exposure, discusses what Connecticut is doing across systems to support young children who have experienced trauma, and outlines a framework to expand Connecticut's robust system of trauma-informed care for older children to include younger children.
There are more than 228,000 children under the age of six years old in Connecticut, at least a quarter of whom research suggests will have experienced or witnessed one or more potentially traumatic events during their first years of life. Exposure to trauma can lead to disruptions in development and cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioral functioning, and has been associated with costly long-term mental health and health outcomes across the lifespan. Effective trauma-informed systems can help mitigate these effects and support the health and resilience of all children.
Connecticut has made significant investments to address childhood trauma across a number of systems including child welfare, behavioral health, juvenile justice, education, and pediatrics.
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