This blogpost from the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families profiles the Handle with Care (HWC) program, which is an intervention focused on trauma-informed responses among law enforcement, schools, and mental health providers to address exposure to adverse childhood experiences. The HWC program initially began in 2013 in Charleston, West Virginia and aims to ensure that children exposed to crime, violence, or abuse can receive interventions to support their ability to succeed in school. The HWC model relies upon law enforcement to share a “handle with care” notice with an affected child’s school if law enforcement has been at the affected child’s household the night before to address an incidence of violence or crime at home.

This guide offers a framework and process for establishing a multi-system trauma-informed collaborative that addresses the impact of trauma on children and families. The guide identifies the collaborative as including the health care system as well as child welfare, education, early child development, first responder, and related systems; these components must support each other in policies and practices to best serve children exposed to violence and other adverse childhood trauma. The guide is designed for public agency administrators, local and state policy makers, trauma professionals, and other service stakeholders.

In this Aspen Ideas to Go podcast, a panel of child and adolescent experts define anxiety and stress and offer coping strategies to parents to help support them in their interactions with their children at various stages of their development. In the wake of COVID-19, children and teenagers have experienced disruptions in their normal activities and routines, including attending school and play time with friends and family. Many adolescents and teens are experiencing emotional distress, worry, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Taking a whole family approach, the panel addresses these behaviors and stressors and provides guidance to parents on being honest and clear with their communications, speaking in age appropriate language, filtering out misinformation, and monitoring the news. In addition, the experts also offer parents guidance on managing their own self-care and mental health during this time of uncertainty.

This issue brief from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) highlights key points addressing intimate partner violence and child abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, where staying at home may not be safe for those who have previously experienced mistreatment or where current economic conditions might spark mistreatment that would not have otherwise existed. The brief also provides links to resources from the Addiction Technology Transfer Center, the National Hispanic and Latino Addiction Technology Transfer Center, and SAMHSA’s partner, the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set of resources identifies three case studies of how states have utilized research on adverse childhood experiences to inform child abuse and neglect prevention. The case studies reflect research to practice implications for service delivery in Alaska, Oklahoma, Washington State, and Wisconsin.

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet offers a summary of research findings that examine adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the extent of ACEs among adults in a survey of 25 states, the consequences of ACEs, and ACEs prevention strategies.

This Harvard’s Center for the Developing Child report identifies a three-step guide to understanding toxic stress. These steps include a definition of toxic stress (step 1), the science and social causes of toxic stress (step 2), and the prevention and ways to address toxic stress (step 3) with a fact sheet and video. The definition of toxic stress is also presented on the report’s home page.

This blogpost by the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) highlights the activities of ACYF’s Children’s Bureau and Family and Youth Services Bureau, which both support states, faith-based and community organizations, tribes, and other entities that provide necessary services to assist children, youth, and families in finding hope while experiencing trauma. The Commissioner outlines the importance of communities taking a whole child and whole family approach when developing multi-disciplinary systems of care.