Our nation is currently grappling with the shocking visuals- and audios- of children been separated from their parents at the U.S. southern border. In the trauma informed world, the images are more than just heartrending- we recognize the connection to trauma. Here is a roundup of a few articles by experts in various fields that provide context and detail to the understanding that child separations are more than a saddening inconvenience- they are detrimental to the emotional and physical well-being of young people. 

In case you missed it, ACEs Connection founder Jane Stevens provided an overview on this topic here. 

Also on ACEs Connection, Michelle Dominguez shares a statement from David Maradei, Chair of  The Greater Bay Area [CA] Child Abuse Prevention Council Coalition, making clear that the separation policy constitutes child abuse. 

The Center for the Study of Social Policy writes: 

"This policy also directly contradicts decades of child welfare and child well-being research on the importance of keeping families together, as well as the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), the bipartisan overhaul of the child welfare system, signed into law earlier this year. A primary objective of FFPSA is to keep children with their families whenever safe and possible, and to limit the use of group homes or congregate care. In this legislation Congress explicitly affirmed once again the value of keeping families together. Those values are fundamental to what it means to be American and should extend to all children and families in the United States as a matter of basic human dignity."

Read more of the CSSP statement here. 

This BBC report interviews doctors, asking about "The health impact of separating migrant children from parents". 

In "Nazis separated me from my parents as a child. The trauma lasts a lifetime", a psychotherapist speaks from expertise AND personal experience to describe and decry the impact of the border policy.

This Huffington Post article taps into academic expertise on both the impact of the separations and the larger context of these families' migration journey. 

An immigration lawyer describes here what she is witnessing inside the detention centers. 

Below, Congresswoman Karen Bass speaks to talk show host Trevor Noah about the crisis and the congressional options for response.