Resource Library

Provides practical tips and tools for working with children and youth who have experienced trauma. This guidebook is divided into four distinct areas, which organizes the relational trauma healing four core areas of the framework: Protect, Grieve, Connect and Regulate. When used to guide work with those who have suffered trauma, the framework also continues to bring positive results and healing.

Provides professionals with information to help children, youth, and adoptive families develop and maintain appropriate and evolving connections with birth families.

Discusses the parenting strategies needed for children who have experienced trauma, including trauma in-utero, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Explores how staff in support programs can help parents and caregivers learn and apply trauma-responsive parenting strategies and support caregivers through challenges with these new techniques.

Evaluated the effectiveness of Hope Connection ® 2.0, a trauma-informed, post adoption family camp intervention designed to support emotional and behavioral health in adopted children between the ages of 6-12.

Provides insights and perspectives from adult adoptees who have become more involved in efforts to shape post-adoption programs to ensure that services are provided by adoptees for adoptees. Shares information about programs that are using a more adoptee-centered view of post-adoption support.

Explains how agencies and organizations can prepare for authentic youth engagement, especially when working with young people who have lived experience in the child welfare system. It emphasizes co-design, organizational readiness, and power sharing.

Discusses how child welfare professionals can better utilize guardianship and highlights the importance of kinship care. This brief outlines the benefits of guardianship and addresses the challenges and areas of improvement in guardianship utilization. It advocates for a stronger kin-first approach in child welfare, promoting guardianship as a supportive and permanent placement option that benefits children, families and communities. Several examples are provided on how states use guardianship as a prevention strategy.

Outlines strategies to address high turnover rates in child welfare agency and improve workforce stability.

Highlights the importance of respite for families raising children who have experienced trauma. The guide outlines two main categories of respite: planned respite and crisis or emergency respite. It also describes various forms of respite such as support network development, special events, specific respite events, recreational activities, hub homes, camps or retreats, training and maintaining a directory of respite care providers, and flexible funding to families. This article also provides examples of programs implementing these forms of respite care and offers additional resources for further information.

Describes 12 categories of support for children and youth—including life skills development, job training/employment support, and recreational experiences—and points to examples of successful support programs.