Child Trends responded to a request for comments from the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), about the development of a clearinghouse of evidence-based practices in accordance with the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018. The Family First Act is a powerful new opportunity for states to extend the largest federal funding source, Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, to include services and supports that can prevent children from being removed from their families and placed in foster care. Given the needs of children involved in the child welfare system, it is paramount that these children and their families receive comprehensive evidence-based services that 1) help families remain intact and 2) provide children with the resources they need to develop into healthy adults.
Children and families involved in the child welfare system have a complex set of needs. For example, many system-involved children have been victims of abuse and neglect, witnessed violence in their homes and communities, lived in resource-deficient and dangerous neighborhoods, and/or experienced housing instability. The detrimental impact of adverse experiences on children’s development is often compounded by the additional trauma they experience when removed from their homes, as well as the placement instability they experience in foster care.
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2.2.7. Trauma-Informed Given that the evidence base on trauma-informed care is still emerging, it will be difficult to prioritize trauma-informed programs in this review. As such, we recommend highlighting trauma-informed programs in the clearinghouse, rather than prioritizing trauma-informed studies for review. Over the past two decades, we have witnessed a proliferation of programs and services that target children and youth who have experienced traumatic events. Evaluations of trauma-informed programs for children involved in the child welfare system have yielded promising results.15, 16, 17 However, the evidence base in this field is still developing and the field has yet to reach consensus on the definition of trauma-informed care.18 Furthermore, given that this field is still new, it is likely that some programs developed before the term “trauma-informed care” became popular are nevertheless responding effectively to children’s trauma without labeling their approach in such a way.
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